IWOJIMA ISLAND -- At 2:30 a.m., Yoshikatsu Takeda was awakened by a knock on his door. He knew no one was there, but he got up and opened it anyway.
"Let's go home," he called out before going back to sleep.
On the island of Iwojima, 1,250 km south of Tokyo, it is said that people often encounter the spirits of the war dead, mirroring the experiences of Takeda, a Maritime Self-Defense Force officer who has been stationed there for two years.