In Hiroshima, search for remains keeps war alive for lone volunteer

Rebun Kayo looks for the bone fragments unearthed at a site on Ninoshima Island, where he searches for the remains of atomic bomb victims, believed to have been buried there since 1945, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, July 5, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

NINOSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) -Dozens of times a year, Rebun Kayo takes a ferry to a small island across from the port of Hiroshima in search of the remains of those killed by the atomic bomb 80 years ago.

For the 47-year-old researcher, unearthing even the tiniest fragments on Ninoshima Island is a sobering reminder that the war is a reality that persists - buried, forgotten and unresolved.