nhk world's takafumi terui reports. >> reporter: hiroo onoda received a hero's welcome when he returned to japan in 1974, three decades after the war. people saw him as the last example of a good japanese soldier. >> reporter: onoda was 22 years old when he was dispatched to lubang island in 1944. japanese soldiers went into the jungle during a battle. u.s. forces left the island, but onoda and three others remained even after japan surrendered in august of the following year. they did see some leaflets stating the war was over and urging soldiers to surrender, but they dismissed them as enemy propaganda and refused to come out of the jungle. onoda's war finally ended in march 1974. his fellow soldiers had been killed by filipino police, leaving him totally alone. he flew to manila to surrender to president ferdinand marcos. the president honored him as a model soldier who kept fighting bravely. professor hitoshi nagai from hiroshima city university studies the post-war history of japan and the philippines. he recently gained access to diplomatic documents from around the time of onoda'