Following the end of the Japanese occupation of Guam in 1944, a number of Japanese soldiers refused to surrender and instead fled into the jungles and caves of Guam. They became known as stragglers. The most famous of these stragglers, Shoichi Yokoi was also the last, when he was found in 1972.

By the 1960s, it was assumed that most of these stragglers had been caught. Although there were still sightings from hunters and farmers in the southern jungles and hills of Guam. In May 1960, two men, Clemente Santos and Ben Manibusan were hunting for ayuyu in the Togcha area, when they spotted a figure. They pursued this figure and eventually, a scuffle ensued. The two hunters had suspected the figure to be a straggler and they were right, his name was Bunzo Minagawa and he had been hiding in Guam’s jungles for 16 years.

After being questioned by the police and the US Navy Minagawa revealed that there was another straggler named Masashi Ito. After leading a search party to the area where they stayed, he too surrendered. Soon after being captured, the men were sent home to Japan to start new lives.

This image is from 1964 when they made a return trip to Guam. To the left are hunters Clemente Santos and Ben Manibusan. With Minagawa standing next to then-Governor Manny Guerrero on the right. Despite the cloud of war that had initially brought these men together, this return trip was a happy one, with the stragglers spending time socializing with the hunters who had found them and their families. Minagawa, in particular, thanked the two hunters, since upon his return home he had married and was able to start a new life.