Bone collectors searching for WWII remains in Okinawa

Trekking through mud and rocks in Japan's humid Okinawan jungle, Mr Takamatsu Gushiken reached a slope of ground where human remains have lain forgotten since World War II.

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JAPAN - Trekking through mud and rocks in Japan's humid Okinawan jungle, Mr Takamatsu Gushiken reached a slope of ground where human remains have lain forgotten since World War II.

The 72-year-old said a brief prayer and lifted a makeshift protective covering, exposing half-buried bones believed to be those of a young Japanese soldier.

"These remains have the right to be returned to their families," said Mr Gushiken, a businessman who has voluntarily searched for the war dead for more than four decades.

The sun-kissed island in southern Japan marked the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa in June.

The three-month carnage, often dubbed the "Typhoon of Steel," killed about 200,000 people, almost half of them local civilians.

Since then, Japan and the United States have become allies, and, according to official estimates, only 2,600 bodies are yet to be recovered. But residents and long-time volunteers like Mr Gushiken say many more are buried under buildings or farm fields, or hidden in jungles and caves.