Masashi Itō (伊藤 正, 1921–2004) was a machine-gunner[1] and sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War.
When the Americans liberated Guam in July 1944, Itō was separated from his unit.
[1] For sixteen years, he hid even after finding leaflets declaring that the war had ended.
[2] When the last of his companions, Bunzō Minagawa (皆川文蔵), was captured by woodsmen in 1960, Itō was convinced to surrender on 23 May 1960, after 14 years and 264 days of Japan's surrender in World War II and was treated at a nearby American military base.
[citation needed] He later worked as a watchman for the Toei Motion Picture Company in Tokyo.