Japan probes mystery of ‘lost soldiers’

JAPANESE diplomats are investigating an astonishing claim that two former Japanese soldiers have been hiding in the mountains of the southern Philippines since World War Two.

However, they have so far been unable to arrange a meeting with the pair.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s spokesman, Yu Kameoka, told reporters they were apparently reluctant to meet with the diplomats at a hotel in the port city of General Santos because of the large crowds waiting to see them.