IMPHAL, Nov 20 - A six member Japanese expert team visited Manipur in the second week of November to collect the remains of the country�s soldiers who died 70 years ago in the Battle of Imphal during World War II.
Soon after their arrival, the team led by Asunari Tokunaga of Tokyo-based Japan Association for Recovery and Repatriation of War Casualty called on the State authority on November 7 and collected remains of the soldiers from the 2nd World War Imphal Campaign Foundation (WWICF) Museum in Imphal.
�The purpose of the visit, according to the members, is to collect the remains of their soldiers following requests, considering the huge loss of Japanese youths during the War,� said General Secretary of Indo-Japan Friendship Association Manipur Irungbam Mangal who accompanied the Japanese team. �Interestingly, a young team member Kenji Karasawa of Japan Youth Memorial Association believes that war brings nothing but destruction, and joined the recovery project�, he said.
It is presumed, there are remains of approximately 10,000 Japanese soldiers in Manipur and Nagaland. It is estimated that 5,000 soldiers belonging to Indian National Army, 5,000 to British Commonwealth Forces and 30,000 Japanese sacrificed their lives in World War II battles in Manipur called �Japan Lan� (War of Japan) in 1944. It has been described as the greatest ever battle involving British forces in recent times. Japan had reportedly lost around 2.4 million lives in battlefields outside the country during the War.
The team visited various locations in the State where the battle was fought between the Allied Forces and the Japanese aided by the Indian National Army. They even conducted excavation works at Kameng but couldn�t collect any remains.
Later, the team turned the previously collected remains of the soldiers from Phubala, Shangshak and 2nd WWICF Museum into ashes at Koirengei in Imphal before being taken to Japan for last rites.
�Now, we will focus more on the mass graves and try to locate the exact place as the bone recovery mission has started,� informed 2nd WWICF President Rajeshwar Yumnam, who also accompanied the team in Manipur.