Okinawa Marks 80th Anniversary of Fierce WWII Battle; Names of Yamato Battleship Crew Added to Peace Memorial

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:11 JST, June 23, 2025

ITOMAN, Okinawa — Okinawa Prefecture marked Okinawa Memorial Day on Monday, remembering the Battle of Okinawa that took the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the final days of World War II.

The Okinawa Memorial Service for All War Dead, organized by the prefectural government and assembly, was held at the Peace Memorial Park in the Mabuni district of Itoman, where the last fierce battle of the war took place.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki and representatives of bereaved families were among the about 4,000 people attending the ceremony. They renewed their commitment to peace amid the ongoing conflicts around the world.

At noon, the attendees observed a minute of silence and offered prayers for the victims.

Tamaki presented a Peace Declaration in which he said the realities and lessons of the Battle of Okinawa have been passed down through such means as the testimony of war survivors, who despite their emotional scars have sought to convey their experiences to future generations.

“It is the mission of those of us living today to continue to uphold the lessons,” he said.

Regarding the continued concentration of U.S. military bases in the prefecture, Tamaki said, “Incidents and accidents involving U.S. military personnel continue to occur as an excessive burden of U.S. bases.”

The prime minister stressed in his speech that we must never forget the regrets of all those who died in battle. “Even young people were mobilized and died in the war. They included female students who were put to work as nurses,” he said.

This year, 342 names were added to the Cornerstone of Peace, bringing the total number on the monument to 242,567.

More than 90%, or 326, of the 342 names added were those of people from outside the prefecture. Many were crew members of the battleship Yamato, which sank in April 1945 on its way to Okinawa on a special attack mission.