Japan, Russia agree on data on Soviet internment

Japan and Russia have agreed to allow Japan to use data held by Russia on Japanese detained in Soviet Siberia after the Second World War.

It was recently revealed that Russian State Military Archives in Moscow had about 700,000 cards which carry the names and date of birth of Japanese internees and the camps they were at in Siberia.

Under the agreement, Japan's Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will make copies of the data on DVD for use in Japan, starting next month.

About 53,000 Japanese are believed to have died while they were interned in Siberia. The burial sites for 21,000 of them are not known.

The ministry plans to examine the data to clarify the entire picture of internment and collect remains.

Mitsuo Hiratsuka, head of an organization representing former internees, says most survivors are over 85 years old, and he wants to have the truth of the internment unveiled and remains of the dead recovered as soon as possible.