Since both governments terminated the rescue, the gunfight on the island continued. The news sometimes reached the Japanese government, too. The Philippines government asked Japan to send Onoda’s photo to know his appearance. However, the Japanese government did not do it because they already sent many rescue groups and spent too much money. The Japanese soldiers’ issue was thought to be to complex and a burden.
In the second half of 1950 and after compensation to the Philippines, the relationship between Japan and the Philippines was getting closer. Originally the Philippines did business with the United States, but, high quality, high performance and reasonable; “made-in-Japan” products brought a significant benefit to the Philippines. In a good atmosphere of cooperation, the existence of Japanese soldiers was a kind of distraction. If they appeared, people might feel that the war is still continuing. Both countries ignored the survivors as though there were no Japanese stragglers on the island, hoping to put an end to the Lubang straggler’s myth. However, the Lubang residents knew Japanese soldiers were staying in the mountains.
In 1964, the Olympics were held in Tokyo, Japan, this showed that Japan achieved a full recovery to the rest of the world. The following year in 1965, Mr. Marcos became the president and introduced funds from overseas to encourage development. The president really wanted to make friendly relations with Japan. Of course, there was still antagonism towards Japan, but, the Philippines needed investments. It has been shown that Japan was able to rebuild and they already had good technology. That had been one of the objectives of the Philippines. .
In 1969, the PHILIPPINE-JAPAN FRIENDSHIP HIGHWAY, which covered 2100 km from South to North of the Philippines was constructed. It was the first project of the Japanese-government-backed yen loan. Under the Marcos administration, technical cooperation with Japan was developed. The relationship with Japan was getting closer, and the value of trade toward Japan doubled the following year from 100 million dollars to 200 million dollars. There was a plan to develop Lubang island, but it did not come to light because Onoda’s group was still there. So the Lubang residents did not graze livestock and also did not develop roads.
Around 1965, Hiroo’s group was able to know about the world news through a transistor radio. Accidentally, Hiroo found a made-in-Japan radio and extra batteries in a house after they dispersed police officers or military forces with warning shots. They listened to English talk, songs, and Japanese news from the radio. At the time, Hiroo realized that there was a 6 day-gap between the exact date and the date which Hiroo had memorized. It was the first source of information in 6 years since the rescue group put out newspapers in 1959. They mostly listened to it in the depths of the mountains during the rainy season. In the dense jungle, they could not get good radio reception so Hiroo stole copper line from a house near the military base and made a 10 meter(approx.32ft) antenna.
They could hear Japanese from news channels such as British, Australian, Chinese and Japanese radio stations voraciously. The news about the 1964 Tokyo Olympics made an impression on them. However, they did not believe the reports about diplomatic and military news because they thought they were a propaganda broadcast only.
The batteries died quickly so they needed to get fresh ones from the local people’s flashlights. Usually, the local people dropped their flashlights after Hiroo group’s warning shots. They picked them up and removed the batteries. Just in case the size of the batteries did not fit, they connected the radio and the batteries with wire. The extra batteries were kept after the two electrical poles were covered with wax so as not to be discharged. Usually, the batteries lasted for 3 years under good condition.
Kozuka preferred listening to a horse racing channel and enjoyed it. The results of a horse race was sometimes used for the decision of their guerilla activities when Hiroo and Kozuka had arguments. One wrong choice could lead to death, they needed luck so they chose a winner’s opinion.
After more than a decade, Japanese soldiers on Lubang Island had faded from the memories of the Japanese. The reason being was that they experienced peace and prosperity from the high economical growth after the war. But, suddenly, Tamae Onoda, Hiroo’s mothers’ eyes were glue to an article in the newspaper. The article said: in a gun battle with Filipino police, Kozuka Kinshichi died immediately, and Onoda was wounded and fled into the jungle.
On December 19, 1972, it was unforgettable day for Hiroo.
After the end of rainy season, Onoda and Kozuka cleaned up their hideout and moved towards Tilik City to do their important annual activity of showing their existence to Lubang citizens. They hid in a place where they could see the ridge for a day and then they went to the hill where they could have a good view of Tilik City and the sea. At that time, they might have been seen by residents because the police authority appeared faster than they had expected the following day.
They monitored the rice field at the foot of the mountain and then made a decision to set fire to the dry rice at several points. Usually, it took at least 10 minutes for the police to come, so they needed to complete it with time to spare as fast as they could. They fired a warning shot at first so local people immediately ran away; next, they picked up the items dropped by locals quickly. Then they lit a fire on the dry rice at several points and finished the mission. They just needed to go back to the jungle. When they dropped by a hill, they saw stacks of dry rice. It was the time they thought the police would appear and when they tried to set fire to it there were shots from the authorities which came sooner than expected. The police had come early and stopped their retreat. Hiroo grabbed his gun and shot back, but Kozuka was not able to grab his gun because he was shot in the shoulder. Hiroo opened fire towards his enemies with his and Kozuka’s guns to buy time for Kozuka to escape.
Kozuka was still standing while holding with his hands on his breast, he was hit again in the chest area by another bullet. Kozuka coughed up blood and fell down. Hiroo shook his body and shouted his name and tried to revive him, but he was motionless. Hiroo grabbed his gun and fled into the bush, he looked back towards Kozuka, but Kozuka was still lying on the ground. The fierce roar of gunfire still continued, so he gave up on him and went down to the valley.
Hiroo moved to the warehouse where extra bullets were hidden in the deepest mountain all night long. He took great care of Kozuka’s gun and hid it there. It became one of Kozuka’s remembrances and an extra gun for Hiroo.
They had spent 27 years together, which was much more time then they spent with their family members. They had arguments about small things and fought a lot while rolling down the slope. After that, they sometimes parted with each other, but they met again at a certain place afterwards. There was a strong relationship between them. Hiroo lost his last battlefield comrade.
Kinishichi Kozuka was the last dead soldier of World War II. He spent 27 years in the jungle before he was shot dead.
