342 Names Added to Cornerstone of Peace in Okinawa; 200 Yamato Crew Members Among New Names

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, May 28, 2025

ITOMAN, Okinawa — A new plaque with an additional 342 names of people who died in the Battle of Okinawa was installed at the Cornerstone of Peace” in the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, on Monday.

The installation came ahead of Okinawa Memorial Day on June 23, a day to commemorate those who died in the battle, which occurred toward the end of the Pacific War.

The total number of names inscribed on the monument now stands at 242,567, and surviving families have renewed their hopes for peace.

Of the 342 newly added war dead, 326 were from outside Okinawa Prefecture, and over 200 crewed the battleship Yamato, which sank in April 1945 on its way to Okinawa on a special attack mission.

Yasuo Minamino, 60, who works to locate war dead remains, had been working toward getting the additional Yamato crew members’ names inscribed on the monument.

When applying to have the name of someone from outside Okinawa Prefecture added to the monument, an application must be submitted through their home prefecture.

Minamino, a residence of Naha, gave a list of war dead from Osaka Prefecture to Naoki Yoneda, 57, a real estate agent from the prefecture whom Minamino had gotten to know while locating remains, and asked him to submit applications for them. As a result, 281 names of people from Osaka Prefecture, including 239 Yamato crew members, were included on the new plaque.

Over 3,000 Yamato crew members reportedly died, but about 1,800 have yet to be added to the monument, according to Minamino.

“I will continue my efforts to get as many names as possible added,” Minamino said.