The following is a story published in The Japan News on Aug. 14, 2013. Read the story and answer questions about it.

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3 students to join recovery of WWII remains

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Three university students will depart for Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands on Aug. 24 as part of a government team tasked with recovering the remains of Imperial Japanese Army soldiers killed on the island, the site of one of the fiercest battles of the Pacific War.

As the 68th anniversary of the end of the war approaches, bereaved family members of the soldiers as well as people engaged in the recovery of remains have grown old, making it difficult to continue the search for the fallen soldiers.

Two of the three students will be participating in the recovery of war remains for the first time. The students say their physical strength will allow them to go deep into the jungle to find as many remains as possible and return them to Japan.

The three are Yoshihiko Yamazaki, 20, a sophomore of Gakushuin University’s Faculty of Law; Takuya Ishida, 21, a junior of Nihon University’s College of Humanities and Sciences; and Gentaro Mizuno, 23, a sophomore of Waseda University’s Graduate School of Political Science.

All three are members of the Japan Youth Memorial Association (JYMA), a Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo-based nonprofit organization that has been recovering the remains of former Imperial Japanese Army soldiers for years.

In Guadalcanal, the team will stay at a jungle camp and manually dig for remains with shovels and other tools based on information from local residents.

Because the island is so close to the equator, the team will have to work in saunalike conditions of high temperatures and humidity. The team members will also need to exercise care to avoid contracting malaria.

“Hearing about the conditions, I thought the work would be physically hard,” Yamazaki said. “But I also thought we have to do something before the remains of the soldiers who fought on the island for the sake of their families are lost forever. Maybe I’ll be able to understand the feelings of the soldiers who fought in the jungle, even if only a little.”

The three attended an explanatory meeting about the mission in Tokyo on June 3. It was hosted by Kanko Sakitsu, director of general affairs at the All Japan Solomon Association, an organization of Imperial Japanese Army soldiers who were deployed on Guadalcanal, bereaved family members and others.

Yamazaki said he and the other two students decided to join the activity at the meeting.

Ishida said: “Unless we do it, the recovery work won’t progress. It’s sad that the soldiers died on an island far from Japan and their remains have yet to be brought home. I want to dedicate myself to the recovery work.”

(Omission)

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QUESTIONS

Q1. Why are the students going to Guadalcanal Island?

a. To find historical remains in a lake

b. To retrieve remains of Japanese soldiers

c. To visit jungles as part of a nongovernmental team

Q2. What is Guadalcanal known as?

a. One of the fiercest battle grounds in the Pacific War

b. One of the most popular destinations for Japanese

c. One of the most frequently used locations for filming

Q3. Why are they going on behalf of bereaved families?

a. Because they are in the midst of a summer recess

b. Because they like to stay in jungles

c. Because the bereaved relatives are getting old

Q4. Which risk is not mentioned in the story?

a. Exhaustion from working in high temperatures and humidity

b. Encountering dangerous animals in the jungle

c. Being infected with malaria

Q5. What tools will they use to excavate remains?

a. Heavy machinery

b. Their hands

c. Shovels

ANSWERS: Q1. b Q2. a Q3. c Q4. b Q5. c