This is exactly what happened 50 years ago today when a Japanese soldier was found safe and sound in the jungles of Guam almost three decades after the end of World War II.
The soldier, who lived in hiding in the jungle for 28 years after the end of the war in fear of the enemy, was hailed as a hero and welcomed back to Japan, but he never lived a normal life in this modern society. Unable to survive.
During those 28 years, Lance Corporal Shuichi Yokoi of the Japanese army, hiding in the jungles of Guam, was convinced that his comrades would one day come looking for him.
When local hunters found him on a Pacific island on January 24, 1972, the 57-year-old veteran had in mind that his life was in danger.
Yokoi's nephew, Omi Hatashan, says he was "terrified" to see the hunters.
After a gap of 30 years, he was shocked to see glimpses of other human beings like himself because he had not seen any human being for many years. That is why they tried to grab the hunter's rifle but after years of eating unhealthy food they became weak and could not compete with the locals.
Hatashan says he feared the hunters would arrest him as a prisoner of war because if that happened it would be a disgrace to him as a Japanese soldier and to his family in Japan.
As the hunters led Yokoi through the thick grass of the forest, Yokoi begged them to kill him but not to take him prisoner.
Hatashan has tried to tell the dramatic story of his recovery in Japan two years after he met his uncle Yokoi. It also contains the eyewitness accounts of people (hunters) who found them.
His book, Private Yukois War and Life in Guam 1944-1972, was published in 2009 with English translation.
"I'm very proud of them," he said. He was a shy and quiet man and had a wonderful personality.
Underground shelter
Yokoi's arduous journey began in July 1944, when US forces invaded Guam in the Pacific as part of their offensive against Japan.
Yokoi also built a fishing net
There were casualties on both sides in this bloody battle. But when the Japanese command disbanded, Yokoi and the other soldiers of his platoon were trying to evade the enemy's relentless attacks on the principle of self-help.
"First of all, they were very careful about the fear of being caught," says Hatashan. They used to erase their footprints while moving in the forest so that no one could reach them while chasing them.
In the early days, the Japanese soldiers, who were only a few dozen left behind, managed to catch and kill the local cattle and provide food.
At first they were afraid of being captured by US troops and later they fled for fear of local poachers. Meanwhile, they were getting deeper into the forest.
There they ate poisonous frogs, sea urchins and rats.
Yokoi also built a bait fishing net with the help of wild bushes. He dug an underground shelter for himself with the help of bamboo sticks.
"He was a very useful man," says Hatashan.
According to him, keeping himself busy kept him from thinking about the problems he faced, the memories of family and home.
Return to Guam
Yokoi wrote memoirs while in hiding, showing that he was not ready to give up hope even in this difficult time.
Especially those eight years when he was all alone. The last two survivors were killed in the 1964 floods in the jungle.
Remembering his elderly mother at home, he once wrote, "It is pointless to hurt your heart by thinking about these things."
On another occasion when he became seriously ill in the forest, he wrote, 'No! I can't die here I can't let my body reach the enemy. I have to go back to my hole (shelter) to die. I have managed to escape so far but now all my efforts may be in vain.
Two weeks after his discovery in the jungle, Yokoi returned home to Japan, where he was hailed as a "hero" and welcomed with military honors.
He was surrounded by the media where he was being interviewed on radio and TV. He was regularly invited to address schools and universities across the country.
Hatashan was six years old when Yokoi married his aunt. He says that as a former soldier, Yokoi never managed to adapt to modern Japan.
The rapid post-war economic growth in the country did not affect Yokohama. Once he saw a 10,000 yen note and asked, "Has the country's currency lost its value?"
According to Hatashan, as his uncle got older, he began to remember the past. He returned to Guam several times with his wife before his death in 1997.
Their valuables in the jungle, such as fishing nets, are now part of a small museum on the island.
