Overview

• The two soldiers went missing on Aug. 18 during training at the Hijudai Training Area in Oita Prefecture.
• Searchers later found both together on a high ground within the range after contact had been lost.
• Each was a third-class warrant officer in his 20s assigned to the Western Area Tank Unit based at Kusu Garrison.
• They were participating in a reconnaissance platoon infiltration exercise and were not in tanks when discovered.
• Authorities have not identified a cause, and a judicial autopsy has been ordered to determine the circumstances.