AJapaneseseamanwaskilledinbattlein1945intheseassurroundingOkinawa.Hiselderbrotherdescribeshowhis"remains"werereturnedtohisfamily.
"Hewasreturnedinaboxwrappedinwhitecloth.Thatnight,Isuggestedthatweopenthebox.Thatwasanerainwhichsuchanactionwasconsideredasacrilegeagainstthesoulsofthewardead.Everyonehesitatedforawhile.Whenwefinallyopenedthebox,allthatwasinsidewasanarrowsliverofwoodnailedlooselytothebottomofthebox.Afurtherinsultwasthatmybrother'snameonthepieceofwoodwaswronglywritten.Thepieceofwoodwasnailedlooselyonpurpose,tomakeitsoundlikethereactuallywasapieceofthedeadman'sboneinsidewhentheboxwasshaken."
一九四五年，在沖繩縣海域，一名日本水兵戰死。他兄長描述「遺骸」是怎樣送還他家人的。
「他的遺骸盛在盒子裏送還。那盒子用白布包着。當晚，我提議打開盒子。在那個時代，這樣做算是褻瀆陣亡者。大家猶豫了一會，終於打開盒子，裏面只有窄窄一條木頭，鬆鬆釘在盒底上。更令人難堪的，是木條上我弟弟的名字都寫錯了。那木條是故意鬆鬆釘着的，這樣，搖動盒子時，聽來就像裏面真有死者一塊骨頭。」