Koichi Ogawa began searching for the relatives of a Japanese soldier who died in the battle of Okinawa after receiving the soldier's identification tag from William Fischer, a former U.S. Navy officer, in June.
On Oct. 15, Ogawa, 66, who lives in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, found the second son of Hidemasa Ueno with help from the Health, Welfare and Labor Ministry. He mailed the wooden ID tag to him earlier this week.
"Our family didn't have anything to tell us about my father's last days, although we were given stones from Okinawa (by the government) instead of his remains," said Toshiki Ueno, who lives in Kumatori, Osaka Prefecture.
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