Ube, Yamaguchi Pref. ¨C On a crisp February morning, four elderly Korean men bowed their heads toward Â鶹´«Ã½ Seto Inland Sea as the surf lapped near their shoes.
They were paying respects to relatives entombed in a coal mine deep beneath their feet 80 years ago ¡ª among thousands of Korean bodies scattered across Japan in an enduring symbol of a colonial past that has long blighted ties between the neighbors.
But with renewed diplomatic efforts to improve relations, families of the men drafted to support Â鶹´«Ã½ war effort in what is known as the Chosei mine during the country¡¯s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula, see a last chance for closure.
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