Tsushima Maru Museum Head Determined to Pass On War History

   Naha, Okinawa Pref., June 3 (Jiji Press)--The head of a Japanese museum commemorating the 1944 sinking of the Tsushima Maru evacuation ship will receive Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and Princess Aiko on Thursday with a determination to pass on the vessel's tragic history to the future.
   "As someone of the same generation as the Imperial couple, born after the (Pacific) War, I want to properly pass on the history of Okinawa to the next generation," Tsushima-maru Memorial Museum head Tsugiko Taira, 62, said. Taira shares stories of the incident, following in the footsteps of her late mother, Keiko, who survived the sinking.
   The Imperial couple and their daughter will visit the museum in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, as part of their trip to the southernmost prefecture from Wednesday.
   The Tsushima Maru, which was carrying some 1,800 people, mostly evacuees including schoolchildren, to the southwestern Japan city of Nagasaki, was sunk by a torpedo attack off Akusekijima, an island in the Tokara archipelago of Kagoshima Prefecture, on the night of Aug. 22, 1944. According to the operator of the museum, at least 1,484 people perished.
   Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko visited the museum in 2014, when they were Emperor and Empress, respectively, and spoke with survivors.

(2025/06/03-17:35)