Okinawa Marks 79 Years after End of Fierce Ground Battle

   Itoman, Okinawa Pref., June 23 (Jiji Press)---A memorial ceremony was held in Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday to pray for some 200,000 people who lost their lives in a fierce ground battle fought in the southernmost Japan prefecture 79 years ago toward the end of World War II.
   During the memorial service, sponsored by the Okinawa prefectural government and held in the Peace Memorial Park in the Mabuni district in Itoman, Okinawa, participants observed a moment of silence in honor of the war dead and renewed their pledge for peace. Mabuni was the last grueling battlefield during the Battle of Okinawa, to which numerous civilians fell victim.
   Later in the ceremony, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki will read out a peace declaration and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will give an address.
   Yusuke Nakama, an 18-year-old high school student, will recite a poem about peace, expressing his determination to continue praying for peace at a time when wars are ongoing in various parts of the world.
   On June 23, 1945, organized fighting during the Battle of Okinawa, the fiercest ground battle on Japanese soil during World War II, is said to have ended with the suicide in Mabuni of the local commander of the now-defunct Japanese Imperial Army.

(2024/06/23-12:41)

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