Eight decomposed bodies have washed up on a Japanese beach in a small wooden ship - raising speculation they could have come from North Korea. 
 
 The vessel was found by the Japan Coast Guard on Monday, just days after two similarly skeletal male bodies were found on the same western shore of Sado - an island in the Sea of Japan. 
 
 Local police and the coast guard believe the two bodies found over the weekend may have been from North Korea, which is 450 miles from the shore, with what appeared to be cigarettes from the country and life jackets with Korean lettering found nearby. 
 
 The officials are working to confirm where they - and the eight found on Monday - came from. 
 
 Last week, eight fishermen who claimed to be from North Korea were found 44 miles south of Monday's discovery, with their boat appearing to have run into trouble during what is a season of hostile weather. 
 
 Professor Yoshihiko Yamada, from Japan's Tokai University, said: "During the summer, the Sea of Japan is quite calm. But it starts to get choppy when November comes. It gets dangerous when northwesterly winds start to blow." 
 
 Other experts have said the recent accidents could be down to food shortages in North Korea, with smaller and older ships forced to sail beyond its coastal waters. 
 
 Seo Yu-suk, research manager of North Korean Studies Institution in Seoul, said the rogue state - subject to greater sanctions from the United States after President Donald Trump designated it a state sponsor of terrorism - was pushing "so hard" for its people to gather more fish to make up for the shortage. 
 
 Forty-four wooden ships believed to be from the Korean peninsula have washed up on Japanese shores - or drifted off the country's coast - so far this year, compared to 66 in the whole of 2016. 
 
 The crew is often already dead when they wash ashore, a phenomenon leading them to be referred to in the local media as "ghost ships". ||||| Image copyright Reuters 
 
 Japanese authorities are trying to identify eight people whose badly decomposed remains were found on a wooden boat that washed up on a beach. 
 
 The discovery took place in the northern Akita prefecture. 
 
 It comes days after a group of men claiming to be North Korean fishermen washed onshore in the same area. 
 
 Crew-less boats or vessels with bodies on board, known as "ghost ships" and thought to be North Korean fishing boats, regularly wash up in Japan. 
 
 They have usually been found on the western coast, which faces North Korea. 
 
 In the latest incident, Japanese broadcaster NHK said the boat, measuring about 7m (23ft) long, was found on a beach near Oga city on Sunday. The vessel was missing a rotor blade and navigational devices. 
 
 On Monday officials found the remains of eight people, some reduced to bones, while inspecting the boat. 
 
 Kyodo news agency reported that the coast guard suspected the boat and its occupants had come from North Korea. 
 
 The discovery is the latest in a string of similar incidents. On Friday, a wooden boat carrying eight men - alive and in reasonably good health - washed up at Yurihonjo city. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The boat found last week had bare light bulbs commonly used to attract fish at night 
 
 The men said they were North Koreans fishing for squid, who had ended up drifting into Japanese waters when their boat experienced difficulties. 
 
 Reuters news agency reported that two bodies were also found over the weekend at Sado island, with a pack of North Korean cigarettes and other belongings with Korean lettering. 
 
 Japan regularly sees North Korean fishing boats straying into its territory, and its coastguard has occasionally had to rescue fishermen. 
 
 The BBC's Celia Hatton says the appearance of "ghost ships" is thought to be a consequence of North Korea's attempts to satisfy hunger by demanding huge quotas of seafood. 
 
 That forces fishermen to board aging ill-equipped vessels and to venture far out to sea, with no equipment to issue a distress call if their boats run into trouble, says our correspondent.
– Just days ago, a boat washed ashore in northern Japan. Aboard were eight men who said they were from North Korea. Now, another boat has been found just 45 miles north of the first, and it also held eight—except all are dead. The 23-foot wooden "ghost ship" was discovered Sunday on a beach near Oga. It had no navigational devices and had lost a rotor blade. Some aboard had been "reduced to bones," and Kyodo News reports that the coast guard suspects it originated in North Korea, which sits about 450 miles away. Sky News reports foreign ships aren't an uncommon occurrence in Japan: 44 have washed ashore this year; 66 did so in 2016. The BBC presents a theory as to why: Some believe North Korea has been calling for more seafood to be fished in order to feed a hungry population. The increased demand may be leading its citizens to take boats that are in subpar condition far off its shores. And as a professor with Japan's Tokai University tells Sky News, the Sea of Japan "starts to get choppy when November comes. It gets dangerous when northwesterly winds start to blow." Kyodo notes the boat that carried the eight live men has vanished; police are reviewing both cases. (This ghost ship was found gutted by fire.)