Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese soldier with the rank of sergeant, was finally found by local farmers on January 24, 1972, after 28 years in hiding.
He went into hiding after American troops captured the island in August 1944.
So, how was Shoichi Yokoi's story since he started hiding until he finally returned to Japan?
Quoted from the smithsonianmag.com page, Yokoi was a Japanese soldier who was born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan in 1915.
Before being drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army in 1941, Yokoi worked as a tailor. After joining the army, he was stationed in China until then transferred to Guam. After American troops nearly annihilated Yokoi's regiment in the summer of 1944, he and a group of nine or ten comrades fled into the jungle.
Yokoi was one of about 5,000 Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender to the Allies after the Battle of Guam. He would rather live on the run than be ashamed of being held as a prisoner of war. Although the Allies captured and killed most of these soldiers, about 130 remained in hiding at the end of World War II.
Initially, they survived by consuming local livestock. However, as livestock numbers declined, they retreated to more and more remote parts of the island. They live in caves or temporary underground shelters. They even only eat coconut, papaya, shrimp, frogs, frogs, eels, and rats.
Yokoi uses her sewing skills to weave clothes from tree bark and mark the passage of time by observing the phases of the moon. He eventually parted ways with his comrades who surrendered, fell victim to enemy soldiers on patrol, or eventually died.
After that, Yokoi kept in contact with the other two soldiers. However, after they died in a flood disaster in 1964, he ended up not being accompanied by anyone. He spent the last eight years hiding in total isolation.
Shoichi Yokoi was one of the last soldiers to surrender. He is an extreme example of applying the principles of Bushido, which emphasize honor and self-sacrifice. When Yokoi returned to his home country after nearly three decades in hiding, his initial reaction was one of regret. "It is with great shame that I returned," he said.