75 years since the Battle of Okinawa "Memorial Day" The scale was greatly reduced and the memorial service for the dead was held on June 23, 12:53
75 years have passed since the Battle of Okinawa where more than 200,000 people died. In Okinawa, on the 23rd, "Memorial Day" was celebrated, and in Itoman City, which was the last battleground, the scale of the war dead was greatly reduced due to the influence of the new coronavirus, and a memorial service for the war dead is held.
In the Battle of Okinawa 75 years ago, more than 200,000 people were killed in a fierce ground battle involving residents, and one in four Okinawans lost their lives. Okinawa Prefecture has designated June 23, which is said to have ended the organized battle of the Japanese Army, as "Memorial Day".
The last battleground, Mabuni Peace Memorial Park in Itoman City, was visited early in the morning by bereaved families and others, and they turned their flowers and put their hands together in front of the "foundation of peace" engraved with the names of the war dead. doing.
An 81-year-old man from Naha City, who lost his father and sister, said, "My sister died in front of me from a shard of a cannon shooting, and I don't know where my father died. What about the new coronavirus? But once a year, I wanted to give incense sticks."
At Peace Memorial Park, a memorial service for the war dead sponsored by Okinawa Prefecture has been held since noon.
Due to the influence of the new coronavirus, guests from outside the prefecture and general citizens of the prefecture were forgotten to attend, and the number of attendees, which had been about 5,000, is now about 200.
At the ceremony, Governor Tamaki read the "Peace Declaration" and stated his determination to realize permanent peace. At the same time, about 70% of the U.S. military dedicated facilities in Japan still concentrated on Okinawa. It is a policy to appeal.