Shoichi Yokoi hid in Guam’s jungles for 28 years after WWII. After the US re-invasion of the island in July 1944, hundreds of Japanese soldiers went into hiding, refusing to surrender. Slowly these stragglers were either caught or killed. Yokoi was the last Japanese straggler in Guam.

In January 1972, he was caught by two CHamorus Jesus M. Duenas and Manuel D. Garcia, who were hunting in the Talo’fo’fo’ area near where Yokoi had dug a cave as his hiding place. Yokoi’s capture made international news, and he became a national icon in Japan. After returning home he married Mihoko, and spent much of his remaining years retelling his story to others and commenting on the changes that had taken place in Japan in the time that he had been away to war.

After Yokoi’s passing in 1997, his widow created a museum in Nagoya, Japan to commemorate his experiences in Guam. It opened in 2006 and featured a recreation of the cave in which he spent years hiding in southern Guam. The museum closed temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic but closed permanently following the passing of Mihoko in May 2022. Family of the Yokoi has expressed an interest in donating the items in their museum to institutions that would be able to continue to tell Yokoi’s story.

David Tydingco, Chair of the The Guam Museum Foundation has reached out to the local Japanese Consulate, who is helping facilitate communication with Yokoi’s family. The Guam Museum already holds some items from Yokoi and his time on Guam, but is interested in helping maintain the collection of the Yokoi Museum in Nagoya, to continue to to highlight and retell this part of Guam’s history.

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