Okinawa marks 73rd anniversary of end of battle
>> NAHA: Okinawa marked the 73rd anniversary of the end of a World War II ground battle that claimed over 200,000 lives yesterday, with its governor reiterating calls for the reduction of US forces in the island prefecture, citing easing tensions with North Korea.
“Developments toward detente have begun,” Gov Takeshi Onaga said in his peace declaration, referring to the recent historic summit between the US and North Korean leaders in Singapore, adding that an ongoing plan to relocate a key US military base within the prefecture despite opposition from local people “goes against the trend”.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who also attended the annual memorial ceremony, said the government will stick to the relocation plan for US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, currently located in a crowded residential area of Ginowan.
The transfer of the base to the coastal area of Henoko will help “significantly improve safety”, Mr Abe told reporters after the ceremony, with the government planning to start reclamation work in the area in August.
About 4,900 people attended the ceremony in the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, the site of the final stage of the Battle of Okinawa, observing a moment of silence at noon.
Around 94,000 civilians, about a quarter of the local population, as well as over 94,000 Japanese soldiers and 12,500 American troops died in the three-month battle starting in March 1945.
The names of 58 war dead were newly inscribed on the Cornerstone of Peace in the memorial park this year, bringing the total to 241,525, irrespective of nationality and military or civilian status.
“I remember having walked over dead bodies scattered on the roads,” said Eiki Higa, 82, from the city of Naha who was praying in front of the names of his father and older brothers inscribed on the monument. “I still don’t know where my brothers died.”
Former Taiwanese president Lee Tenghui is on a four-day visit to Okinawa and plans to attend a separate memorial service today for the Taiwanese who lost their lives in the war.
At the summit with US President Donald Trump on June 12, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un committed “to work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula”.
While the details have yet to be finalised, there are expectations for greater regional stability, with the United States and South Korea having announced they will suspend major military exercises planned over the next few months.
US bases in Okinawa Prefecture were built on land expropriated from islanders during the postwar US occupation that lasted until 1972. Okinawa is home to about 70% of the total area of land exclusively used by US military facilities in Japan.