80th Okinawa Memorial Day

Okinawa held the memorial ceremony for 80th anniversary from the end of major organized fight in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. There appeared an attempt of changing interpretation of the history of the battle by a lawmaker in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) earlier this year. It is focused that how the people can accurately succeed the facts of war and build a common basis beyond generations. 

Starting in March 1945, in the final stage of the World War II, the Battle of Okinawa continued three months, including civilians mobilized by the imperial government of Japan, taking 200 thousand lives on both sides of Japan and the United States. Himeyuri

Student Corps was organized by 240 female students and teachers who worked in a hospital and were significantly victimized in the final stage of the battle.

 

A member of the House of Councillors with the LDP, Shoji Nishida, argued in May that exhibition in the museum of Himeyuri Tower was rewriting history, describing that the students died with entrance of Japanese army. It was proved that the museum did not have such exhibition as Nishida raised. Facing criticisms against his remarks, Nishida retracted his words, admitting that his speech was inappropriate.

 

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba dismissed Nishida’s recognition of history as different from his own notion. In the speech at the memorial ceremony on June 23, Ishiba touched on the tragedy of the Himeyuri Students. “The young people who could have lived their future life with bright hope, including the Himeyuri Student Corps or the Blood and Iron Loyalist Student Corps, were mobilized to the battlefield and victimized,” said Ishiba.

 

“A lot of girls worked hard as nurses and lost their lives. That cannot be understood unless one visits this place,” said Ishiba in his visit to Himeyuri Peace Museum after the memorial ceremony. It was the first visit for a prime minister of Japan to visit Himeyuri Peace Museum in these thirty years, since former Prime Minister with the Socialist Party, Tomiichi Murayama, who is known as delivering the Murayama Statement in the 50th anniversary of ending the war, in which he expressed “deep remorse” and “heartfelt apology” on Japan’s colonial rule and aggression to Asian nations.

 

“The reality and lessons of the Battle of Okinawa have been preserved through the stories of war survivors and validated by numerous studies. Here lie the roots of the people of Okinawa and our enduring desire for peace,” said the Governor of Okinawa, Denny Tamaki, in his peace declaration for the memorial ceremony. Tamaki also referred to Okinawa’s burden of concentrated military bases of the U.S. Force in Japan. Okinawa Prefectural Police Office found four cases of sexual assaults by U.S. military personnel since June 2024, which marked the biggest number in these ten years.

 

The sixth grade student, Ibuki Shiroma, made a speech in the memorial ceremony with his determination for preserving his life which was sustained by his grandmother who injured by grenade thrown into the cave where she was hiding herself during the Battle of Okinawa. Young people in Okinawa are ready to take their responsibility to succeed the history of Okinawa beyond generations.

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