Japan is facing an urgent task of maintaining memorials to those who died in World War II that were built by surviving family members and other members of the public.
The aging of the bereaved family members taking care of such monuments and pricy repair bills due to deterioration of the structures have hampered efforts to preserve them.
According to a survey conducted in 2019 by the welfare ministry, 780 of the 16,235 memorials for the war dead built by members of the public in Japan were damaged.