Iwo Jima Mass Graves Discovered

Iwo Jima in Japan was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. Recently, Japanese authorities have uncovered two mass graves and found the remains of what appear to be 51 Japanese troops, according to government sources.

Japan Times Online: Mass graves yield 51 from Iwojima battle

The remains were found buried in two places on the island, officially known as Iwoto, in similar locations to those indicated on U.S. documents as group burial sites, one holding about 2,000 bodies and the other around 200, the sources said.

The possibility that such burial sites existed had been raised, but they had not been discovered before.

The recovery team was to report the findings to Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday.