遺品ない遺骨、ＤＮＡで初特定　タラワ環礁の戦没者―厚労省

　太平洋戦争の激戦地タラワ環礁（キリバス領）で見つかった戦没者遺骨について、厚生労働省は２６日、ＤＮＡ鑑定の結果、日本人１人の身元を特定したと発表した。遺品など身元につながる資料がなく、ＤＮＡ鑑定のみで身元が確認されたのは初めて。
　厚労省によると、米側が発見したアジア人とみられる遺骨について、米政府が２０１９年、日韓両国に１６２点のサンプルを提供。同省が遺族との血縁関係を調べていた。遺骨はハワイで保管され、新型コロナウイルスによる渡航制限解除後に送還される。（2020/08/26-16:36）

Japan's welfare ministry said Wednesday that remains collected from a former World War II battleground in the Pacific has been identified as that of a Japanese through DNA analysis.
   It was the first time that remains have been identified without personal effects linking them to an individual.
   According to the ministry, remains believed to be from Asians were found on Tarawa Atoll in Kiribati by the United States, which supplied 162 samples to Japan and South Korea in 2019. The ministry used the samples to investigate links to those who lost their relatives in the war.
   The remains are being stored in Hawaii and will be flown to Japan after travel restrictions related to the novel coronavirus pandemic are lifted.
   Tarawa Atoll was the site of heavy fighting between the Japanese and U.S. forces, with some 4,200 Japanese losing their lives there.