Woman Still Waiting for Former Japanese Soldiers 80 Years After the Imphal Operation

“Mr. Kimura, I am still here. Please come back soon. Mr. Kimura, I love you.”

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Imphal Operation conducted by the former Japanese army. In March, I followed the ‘White Bone Road,’ which has a deep connection to the Imphal Operation, traveling from Kalemyo in northwestern Myanmar to a small village nearby. This journey was to reunite with a woman I met in that village four years ago.

Chin State in northern Myanmar, many remains are still waiting for approval and repatriation by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in plastic cases.

Her name is Dora Kyi (age 93 at the time). During World War II, she is said to have cared for former Japanese soldiers participating in the Imphal Operation at a local hospital. The opening line was spoken by her when we first met.

The Imphal Operation, still mocked as a “foolhardy plan,” took place from March to July 1944. The objective was to capture the city of Imphal in northwest India, which was under British control, by crossing the Arakan Mountains from a former Japanese military base near the Burma (now Myanmar) border. They were given only three weeks’ worth of supplies. Despite 90,000 soldiers undertaking the grueling 470 km journey, the operation disintegrated due to fierce British attacks and food shortages. Soldiers left behind in the battlefield attempted to return, but more than 30,000 died, and over 40,000 fell victim to starvation, disease, and British attacks.

Tiddim Road in northwestern Myanmar is known locally as the “White Bone Road.” At that time, the road was strewn with the remains of former Japanese soldiers who had died from starvation and disease. Eventually, their bodies turned into bones. The “white bones” of the “White Bone Road” refer to the remains left along the road.