(Update) 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, laid flowers and renewed their pledge for peace. Mabuni was the last grueling battlefield during the Battle of Okinawa, to which numerous civilians fell victim.
   In a peace declaration, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki called for resolving the challenges created by the increasingly complex security environment through peaceful diplomacy and dialogue. "Let's work unceasingly together to establish lasting peace," he said.
   Noting that the excessive burden of hosting U.S. military bases remains in Okinawa today, the governor sought the scaling down of the bases and the abandonment of the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station within the prefecture.
   Furthermore, bearing in mind Tokyo's efforts to strengthen defense around the Nansei southwestern islands, including Okinawa, Tamaki said, "Combined with memories of the tragic Battle of Okinawa, the people of the prefecture have strong anxieties."

(2024/06/23-15:22)

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