From the night the ship left Koro Island, many repatriates from Manchuria began to die and draw their last breaths. The bodies were wrapped in blankets and comforters, and watched over by everyone as they were lowered into the sea from the rear of the repatriation ship for burial at sea.

　　A father died near the port of Hakata, Japan. The mother, along with her two remaining children, stared longingly at the surface of the sea where their father's body had sunk. The father's body, wrapped in a blanket, was thrown into the sea and disappeared. All the repatriates joined hands in prayer, saying, "May he rest in peace.

　We had come so far. From the night of the ship's departure from Koro Island, many repatriates from Manchuria, perhaps feeling relieved and relaxed, died of natural causes. Some mothers wrapped their dead children in blankets and hid them, eager to take them back to Japan. The bodies were wrapped in blankets and comforters and lowered into the sea from the rear of the repatriation ship for burial at sea, watched over by everyone. The boat made a long, sad, low whistle as it circled the area where the body had sunk. After one, two, three more turns, the repatriation ship left the scene. The bereaved families were filled with regret. The regret of the bereaved family members was palpable.　

　About 500 to 600 repatriates were waiting under a warehouse at the wharf on the Chinese island of 葫芦島 (Koro Island) to board the ship that would take them back to Japan. Chinese soldiers with bayonets stabbed and inspected the repatriates' luggage. 7:00 a.m. on July 16, 1946, permission to board was granted, and the repatriates to Japan boarded the "Hakuryu Maru. Several of the repatriates who had been waiting under the eaves for less than a week before had died. They were repatriated to the vicinity of Hakata Port on the morning of the fourth day from Koro Island.

　The Great Repatriation of Japanese Residents from Koro Island was a project to repatriate Japanese refugees from Koro Island under the responsibility of the Chinese Nationalist Government (land transportation part) and the United States (sea transportation part), in accordance with the discussions accompanying the Potsdam Declaration of the Allied Powers. The U.S. forces were part of Operation Brieger, which was called "葫芦島日僑大遣返" in China, and the first meeting between the Chinese Nationalist Government and the U.S. in Shanghai in October 1945 decided on the return transportation of Japanese civilians. Koro Island, located southwest of Jinzhou in Liaoning Province, was close to the U.S. naval base and near the boundary of both the Kuomintang and Communist forces; on May 11, 1946, an agreement between the U.S., the Kuomintang, and the Communists was signed and Koro Island was secured. Repatriation from Koro Island began on May 7, 1946, and by the end of 1946, approximately 1,017,549 people (including 16,607 POWs) and a total of 1,051,047 Japanese residents were repatriated to Japan by 1948. About 240,000 people died because they could not be repatriated from Manchuria.