Masashi Itō was a machine-gunner and sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

 during the Second World War. He was among the last hold-outs

Japanese holdout

Japanese holdouts or stragglers were Japanese soldiers in the Pacific Theatre who, after the August 1945 surrender of Japan that marked the end of World War II, either adamantly doubted the veracity of the formal surrender due to strong dogmatic or militaristic principles, or were not aware of it...

 to surrender after the war ended.

War years and post war survival

When the Americans invaded Guam in July 1944 Masashi was separated from his unit. He hid with two other soldiers and learned to survive in the jungle. For sixteen years, he hid even after finding leaflets declaring that the war had ended.

Surrender

When the last of his companions, Bunzō Minagawa, was captured by woodsmen in 1960, Masashi was convinced to surrender and was treated at a nearby American military base.
Masashi Itō surrendered on 23 May 1960 in Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

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Later life

Masashi married on 7 Jan 1961 and had a daughter. A movie was made about his life. He later worked as a watchman for the Toei Motion Picture Company in Tokyo. He wrote a book about his experiences entitled The Emperor's Last Soldiers, published in 1967.