(Update) Imperial Family Visits Tsushima Maru Monument

   Naha, Okinawa Pref., June 5 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, on Thursday visited a monument in Okinawa Prefecture for victims of the 1944 sinking of the Tsushima Maru evacuation ship.
   The family laid bouquets of white flowers at the monument in Naha, the capital of the southernmost prefecture, and bowed deeply.
   In August 1944, the Tsushima Maru, carrying some 1,800 people, including schoolchildren and other evacuees from Okinawa, was sunk in a U.S. torpedo attack. According to the operator of the museum, at least 1,484 people perished.
   The Emperor and his family then paid their first visit to the Tsushima-maru Memorial Museum.
   Guided by Tsugiko Taira, 62, who heads the museum, the Imperial couple and the princess walked around looking at pictures and personal belongings of children who died.

(2025/06/05-20:47)