The governor of Palau's Peleliu State has pledged to co-operate in efforts to recover the remains of wartime Japanese soldiers ahead of a visit in April by the Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
Temmy Shmull made the remark in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun.
The imperial couple is scheduled to visit the Second World War battleground on April the 8th and 9th.
Mr Shmull has already told the Japanese Ministry of Health, which is in charge of the recovery of wartime remains, that he is keen to search island caves for the remains.
Japanese and American forces waged fierce fighting on Peleliu for about two months from September 1944, that left an estimated 10,000 Japanese soldiers dead.
About 7,600 were returned to Japan after the war.
It is estimated that the remains of 2,600 soldiers have yet to be found.
