Japanese soldiers found

Two elderly men found on a remote island are believed to be Japanese soldiers, in hiding since 1945 and desperate to go home.

Diplomats from Tokyo are investigating the claims of the men, identified by a news agency as Yoshio Yamakawa, 87, and Tsuzuki Nakauchi, 83. Their story emerged when a logger ran into them in the mountains of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

They told him they wanted to return to Japan but were afraid of being court-martialled for getting separated from their division and withdrawing from action. They had equipment that suggests they are former soldiers.

According to reports there may be more than 40 other Japanese soldiers living in the mountains, all wanting to go home almost 60 years since Japan formally surrendered.

Japanese embassy representatives are going to the region to interview the men. Prime minister Junichiro Koizumi said in Tokyo he hoped the mystery would be cleared up soon.

He said: "It is a surprise if it's true. We are checking it now."

The reports are reminiscent of Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, who believed the war was still on when he was found in the jungles of the Philippines in 1974.

He refused to give up until the Japanese government flew in his former commander to tell him personally that the war was over.