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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Ayaka McGill,Hiro Komae and Mari Yamaguchi

Okinawan bone digger searches for the remains of WWII dead and worries their lessons are unheard

Japan Bone Digger - (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Takamatsu Gushiken turns on a headtorch and enters a cave buried in Okinawa's jungle. He gently runs his fingers through the gravel until two pieces of bone emerge. These are from the skulls, he says, of an infant and possibly an adult.

He carefully places them in a ceramic rice bowl and takes a moment to imagine people dying 80 years ago as they hid in this cave during one of the fiercest battles of World War II. His hope is that the dead can be reunited with their families.

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