Five Japanese left behind in China during and after World War II arrived Thursday at Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture for meetings with their possible relatives in Japan.
In March 1981, Tokyo launched a program under which Japanese left behind and brought up in China were invited back to Japan.
In fiscal 2002, however, a record-low six people have been recognized as war-displaced Japanese, according to the government.
The sixth person on this list decided not to visit Japan on this occasion, the government said.
Of the five who made the journey, Yuan Shumin, a woman believed to be about 60 years old, is scheduled to meet Friday with a woman from Ibaraki Prefecture.
According to the Ibaraki woman, the Japanese name that Yuan remembers as her own is the same as that of her long-lost niece, who should now be 60.