二次大戰失蹤日軍資料

Recently Mainichi News reported the following:
　
長妻昭厚生労働相は５日の閣議後会見で、太平洋戦争中に外地で戦死したり生死不明になった日本兵らについて国が帰還兵から聞き取った資料を、８月をめどに公開する方針を明らかにした。省内に残る膨大な関連資料を整理・分析し、個人名などを伏せて公開する。資料の全体数や種類は明らかでなく、戦争実態の解明が進む可能性があるという。 第１弾の公表対象は、死亡兵の「死亡証明書」や「死亡推定とする根拠資料」。終戦直後から１９５０年代に旧厚生省が帰還兵から同僚兵らについて聞き取りした資料で、８月の公開に先駆け、一部は５日に公表された。 死亡証明書は死亡日時、場所、死亡理由や状況、遺体の処理のされ方などが記されている。「死亡推定資料」は、生死不明となった当時の状況が書かれている。 長妻厚労相は「省内には非常に貴重な資料が膨大にあるが、きちんと保管もされていなかった。逐次公表し、公文書館に移行するなどしたい」と話した。 国外で戦死した軍人・軍属は約２００万人。聞き取りをした帰還兵数は不明という

After the Cabinet Council meeting held on the 5th, Health Minister [Nagatsumaakira] clarified the policy on disclosing in around August materials that the country had obtained from returning veterans about Japanese soldiers who had fought the Pacific War overseas, but their life and death was unknown. Large amount of related material left behind inside the Ministry would be arranged and analyzed, with personal names hidden before being made open to the public. It was said that details on the total amount, and the kind of material were not clear, and that there was a possibility that war realities would be advanced and clarified because of this. The first batch of material to be made public would be dead soldier's "Death certificate" and "supporting material used to make an assumption of death. " Part of the material that would be made public on the 5th in advance of official opening would be materials collected from returned veterans about their colleague that the old Ministry of Health and Welfare had obtained in the period between immediately after the War to 1950s. The death certificate recorded the death date, the place, the death reason, the situation, and how the remains were processed. As for "Death assumption material", it wrote down the situation at that time and the moment life and death became uncertain. The Health Minister said that "The amount of valuable materials in the Ministry was expanding, and it could not be properly secured. I want to make public the material one by one, and to shift them to the public record office". The servicemen and civilian employees who were killed outside the country was about two million people. It was said that the number of returned soldiers that had been asked for information was not known.

To many historians, records on missing WWII Japanese soldiers are important primary source documents as far as scholarly research is concerned. I wish I could have a chance to contribute my effort in this respect.