Children of repatriated families scoot around the deck of the Koan Maru as their parents prepare to disembark at Maizuru Bay, Japan, on March 24, 1953. (14/53)

The first group of repatriates to be returned from Communist China where they had been stranded since the end of World War II completed the formalities through the processing center at Maizuru and were released to go home. The first batch of 2,000 men, women and children came from North China on the Koan Maru. The bicycles were gifts from charitable organizations and placed on the ship when it left China.