In May 1945, about 320,000 Japanese settlers were living in northeast China. They had been brought under a grand immigration program pushed by the Japanese government.

Japanese war orphan publishes memoir

But three months later, when Japan was defeated in the war and withdrew from China, more than 4,000 children were left behind. Nakajima Yuhachi was one of them. Now he has published an autobiography on his life growing up in China.

Yuhachi, 73, was one of the "war orphans." Three years ago, he started writing his own autobiography. He recently published "Why I Have My Life"—in Chinese and Japanese—using his own pension money. In the book, he describes how hopeless his situation was when he was suddenly abandoned.

"When I was taken in by my Chinese adoptive mother at the age of three, I was on the brink of death," Yuhachi said.

Yuhachi's parents moved to China in 1943 when he was just a year old. But two years later, his father joined the Japanese army and never came back. His mother was too sick to care for him.

A local village woman adopted Yuhachi and treated him as though he were her own son.

"I spent 13 years in China. I was born Japanese, but in my veins runs Chinese blood," he said.

In the early 1950s, Yuhachi's biological mother found him through the Red Cross, and tried to bring him back to Japan. But little Yuhachi refused. He told her he was determined not to return to Japan and that he would jump off the train if they forced him to go.

In 1958, 16-year-old Yuhachi finally agreed to return to Japan, when his teacher convinced him he could contribute to improving ties between the two countries if he left.

"They told me there would be no more ships to Japan after that. This was the last chance, and I had no time to say farewell to my adoptive parents. My adoptive mother passed away in 1975. I never saw her again," he said.

Speaking on the recent tensions between China and Japan, Yuhachi said he was concerned after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's statement on August 15, marking 70 years since the end of World War II.

"I became an orphan because of the war. For Japan as an aggressor, one apology isn't enough. Only by reflecting on history through sincere apologies can Japan no longer walk down the path that leads to another war," Yuhachi said.

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