Victims of Battle of Okinawa Mourned 81 Years On

Itoman, Okinawa Pref., June 23 (Jiji Press)–A memorial ceremony was held in Okinawa Prefecture on Tuesday to mourn some 200,000 people who died in a fierce ground battle fought in the southernmost Japan prefecture 81 years ago in the late stage of the Pacific War, part of World War II. Bereaved relatives and other participants renewed their pledge for peace in the ceremony held by the Okinawa prefectural government at Peace Memorial Park in the Mabuni district of the southern Okinawa city of Itoman. The Battle of Okinawa between Japan and the United States was the most savage ground battle staged in Japan during the war, and Mabuni was the site of the last fierce fighting. About 3,200 people attended the ceremony, including Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, other cabinet members and the heads of both chambers of the Diet, the country’s parliament. Attendees offered silent prayers and flowers to the victims. In a peace declaration, Tamaki criticized the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air station in the Okinawa city of Ginowan to the Henoko coastal district of Nago, another city in the prefecture. “We are seeking a resolution through dialogue between the prefecture and the governments of Japan and the United States, not the unilateral relocation of the base,” he said. The governor said that the global order is being shaken in recent years by superpowers’ attempts to change the status quo on the back of force, saying such developments are “the farthest thing from the wishes of Okinawa prefectural residents and people of the world, who are seeking peace.” He also expressed concern about nuclear proliferation and said, “We will firmly establish our position in the world as a hub for peace creation as well as international cooperation and contribution.” “It is heart-wrenching to think of the regrets of the war dead and the sorrows of the bereaved relatives,” Takaichi said in her address. She also said the government will work to consolidate and downsize U.S. military bases on the island prefecture and cooperate with Okinawa for the utilization of former base sites. Runa Kameya, a 14-year-old student at Toyosaki Junior High School in the Okinawa city of Tomigusuku, recited a peace poem about her great-grandmother’s experience of war, which expressed gratitude for ordinary daily life and a pledge to never go to war again. The names of 95 war victims were newly inscribed on the Cornerstone of Peace in the Peace Memorial Park this year, bringing the total number to 242,659. During the ceremony, some people were expelled for shouting remarks directly at Takaichi, such as “No war” and “Protect the Constitution.” After the event, Tamaki expressed a wish to hold the annual ceremony in peace, asking for cooperation from the public. June 23, 1945, is considered the day on which organized fighting in the Battle of Okinawa ended with the suicide of the Japanese military’s commander for the battle. In the battle, U.S. troops landed on Okinawa’s Kerama Islands on March 26, 1945, and on the central part of Okinawa’s main island on April 1. The number of deaths ballooned as residents, including students, were mobilized. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]