BURIAL

The day before we sailed home, I met a Japanese naval officer who had been most helpful to us in establishing liaison. Without such exceptional cooperation, the early days of our occupation would have been much more difficult.

I asked him a gloomy question. "Where are all the dead buried?"

"Those who could be identified are probably buried in the family plot, some temporarily elsewhere. Those who couldn't be …" he paused and pointed north.

I looked in that direction but said I didn't understand.

He said, "You've been using that jeep of yours to go to Tokyo."

I nodded in agreement.

"Did you ever get close to Tokyo Bay on one of those visits?" he asked.

"No," I answered.

"Well, if you had, your question would be answered. Ninety thousand dead required re-burial. As rebuilding gets underway, the rubble being cleared will be trucked to the canals adjoining Tokyo Bay which will serve as landfill."

"And the dead?" I asked.

"They'll be part of the landfill."