It has been confirmed that a former Imperial Japanese Army soldier is living in Ukraine, officials at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Monday, according to Kyodo News.
Ishinosuke Uwano, 83, from Iwate Prefecture, was in Sakhalin, Russia, at the end of World War II, and is now living in Ukraine with his family, according to the officials.
Uwano is scheduled to make a visit home on Wednesday, they said.
The Japanese government obtained information last year about Uwano from an acquaintance of his and the Japanese Embassy in Kiev confirmed his identity after interviewing him, the officials said.
Uwano in 2000 was officially registered as having died in the war, and the ministry is now taking steps to restore his residency registration, they said.
