Lost and Found

You may have all read about the Japanese soldier who has returned to Japan after 60 years in Ukraine. I gave this a passing glance as a mildly interesting piece, until I found out the soldier in question actually comes from Morioka, and arrived on a shink at our station a few days before. More interestingly, he gave an interview on the local news, but he had an interpreter. Now I can understand if a young child is taken away from their home country that they would forget their mother tongue easily, but this guy was 25 when he got separated from his troops. JTB and I came to the conclusion that it was probably more that he didn't want to speak Japanese, but couldn't come up with a reason why not.

I also thought it was interesting that the Japanese government immediately started banging on about repatriating him. He has lived in the Ukraine for 50 years, has a wife and children over there and citizenship. I wonder if he actually wants to come back so permanently. It is the same with the Korean abductees. Now I know North Korea is not a good place to live, but I think if I had grown up living as a Korean and probably not being able to speak Japanese anymore, or understanding their culture, I would much rather take my Korean family and go and live in the south. I don't see why the Government always assume people will want to come back to Japan.

For the full story about the soldier see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4921396.stm