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There was a special group of children that have been largly forgotten, Japamese chilftrn separaed from their parents in the in the chaos of Soviet invasion. Several thousand Japanese infants and children were stranded in Manchuria. They were informally adopted by sympthetic Chinese families. In some cases parents found Chinese families to temporarily care for infants and younger children. Some of the children gterw up with no knoewledg of their Japanese ancestry. This was often done to protect the children because the Japanese were so reviled in China. This was due to Japanese bsarbsarity during the War and occupation. The Cultural Recolution was an especially dangerous time. No one knows the number that were assimilated into Chinese society. The war orphans were often not sure of their parentge and most were totally cut off from Japanese society. Oldedr children were aware of thir Jaobese otiginsand in many cases harbored a desirte to reach Japan. And because of Soviet and then Chinese Communust control weere stabded in Manchuria for three decades. China began to reopen to the world providiung opprtunities to return to Japan on their own (1970s). Sino-Jpnese relations were normqlized (1972). Forrmer settlers and soldiers pushed the Jaonese Government to find and repatriat the war orphans. Eventually some 2,500 Japanese 'war orphans' made it back to Japan, in many cases with families they formed as young adults. They have reported serious problems adjusting to Japanese society. [Efird] It would take years for many of the children to get home to Japan. They have criticized the Japanese Government for making little or no effort to find, repatriate, and resettle the war orphans. The war orphans in recent years have voiced grievances filed law suits against the Japanese governments claiming compensation (2002). [Efird] Historians have vgenerally focused on the suffering of Japan's victims during Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific. This rather small group of Japanese victims has been largely ignored, but has received some attention in Japan. One hostorin chatges tht yhe Japanese Governmnt has been reluctant to address this isuue becuse it does not comport with the narrative of the War yht yhe Govrmrnt promotes--nmely Japanese victimhood. [Efrid, p. 365.]
Efird, Robert. "Japan's 'War Orphans': Identification and state responsibility," The Journal of Japanese Studies Vol. 34, No. 2 (Summer, 2008), pp. 363-88.
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