Victims of Battle of Okinawa Mourned 81 Years On

Itoman, Okinawa Pref., June 23 (Jiji Press)--A memorial ceremony was held in Okinawa Prefecture on Tuesday to mourn some 200,000 people who died in a fierce ground battle fought in the southernmost Japan prefecture 81 years ago in the late stage of the Pacific War, part of World War II.

Bereaved relatives and other participants renewed their pledge for peace in the ceremony held by the Okinawa prefectural government at Peace Memorial Park in the Mabuni district of the southern Okinawa city of Itoman. The Battle of Okinawa between Japan and the United States was the most savage ground battle staged in Japan during the war, and Mabuni was the site of the last fierce fighting.

About 3,200 people attended the ceremony, including Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, other cabinet members and the heads of both chambers of the Diet, the country's parliament. Attendees offered silent prayers and flowers to the victims.

In a peace declaration, Tamaki criticized the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in the Okinawa city of Ginowan to the Henoko coastal district of Nago, another city in the prefecture. "We are seeking a resolution through dialogue between the prefecture and the governments of Japan and the United States, not the unilateral relocation of the base," he said.

The governor said that the global order is being shaken in recent years by superpowers' attempts to change the status quo on the back of force, saying such developments are "the farthest thing from the wishes of Okinawa prefectural residents and people of the world, who are seeking peace."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]