TACLOBAN, Philippines – More than 1,000 Japanese troops were offered a warm welcome Friday (November 22nd) as they prepared to launch relief operations across typhoon-devastated islands that were occupied by Japan seven decades ago, AFP reported.

The troops were aboard three vessels that arrived in Cebu on Thursday night, an official at the Japanese embassy said, in what is the biggest overseas deployment of Japan's military since its defeat in World War II.

"We have already delivered small amounts of aid but the main effort will begin after a meeting with Philippine forces today," said Takashi Inoue, deputy director of public affairs with the Japanese embassy in Manila.

Eulalia Macaya, 74, who survived World War II and the typhoon, said she remembered being terrified by Japanese troops as a little girl. But Macaya, who was awaiting treatment at a temporary field clinic set up by the Japanese government in Tacloban, said she was very pleased by the support.

"I don't hold any grudges anymore. There's no more bad blood between us," she said.