Seeking records of Shoichi Yokoi

Hi Steve,

Hope these will help

https://www.google.com/search?q=japanese+sergeant+shoichi+yokoi&sxsrf=ALeKk00liOjsTeb4hIOjptYQPGLGYp_Vlw:1588360338584&t…

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/japanese-soldier-found-hiding-on-guam

Alice

Dear Mr. Kelly,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

There may be records of communications with Japan regarding his repatriation in the General Records of the State Department (Record Group 59). For more information, please contact National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at Archives2reference@nara.gov.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

Please contact the Government of Guam for information about the disposition of records of territorial government agencies such as the Guam Police Department. Also, the University of Guam’s Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC), the Guam Public Library System, the Senator Antonio M. Palomo Guam Museum & Educational Facility, Guam Community College Learning Resource Center (LRC), and the Pacific Islands University Library may have relevant resources.

The incident was widely covered in the press of the day. We searched the AP Archives and located 6 results. You may wish to contact other press agencies as well. The Library of Congress’s U.S. Newspaper Directory provides information about locating 1970s newspapers.

There have also been books written about him, including 28 Years in the Guam Jungle: Sergeant Yokoi Home by Asahi Shimbun, and Shoichi Yokoi own memoirs Private Yokoi's War and Life on Guam, 1944-1972, which first published in Japanese, and was later published in English in 2009.

Also, the Guampedia and Wikipedia articles on him have citations which may suggest avenues for further research.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!