A Japanese man who was left behind in land that was given to the Soviet Union following World War II, has returned to his homeland.

Yoshiteru Nakagawa, now 79 years old, was returned to Japan for the first time in 67 years.

Speaking Russian, and only remembering a few phrases in his native tongue, he told relatives "I never even dreamed that I'd be able to return to Japan."

"I'm so overwhelmed with joy I don't even know how to express it in words."

One of his sisters tells a Kyodo news agency that Russian forces had mistaken him for a Japanese soldier and taken him to the mainland after the war, where he remained ever since.