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▼ Okinawa Marks 73rd Anniversary of End of World War II Battle
- Category:Event
NAHA - Okinawa marked Saturday the 73rd anniversary of the end of a World War II ground battle that claimed over 200,000 lives, with its governor reiterating calls for the reduction of U.S. 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 U.S. and North Korean leaders in Singapore, adding that an ongoing plan to relocate a key U.S. 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 U.S. 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," 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. We should never have a war again."
Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui is on a four-day visit to Okinawa to attend a separate memorial service on Sunday for the Taiwanese war dead.
At the summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on June 12, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un committed "to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
While the details have yet to be finalized, 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.
U.S. bases in Okinawa Prefecture were built on land expropriated from islanders during the postwar U.S. occupation that lasted until 1972.
Despite only accounting for 0.6 percent of the country's land mass, Okinawa is home to about 70 percent of the total area of land exclusively used by U.S. military facilities in Japan.
"The issue of U.S. military bases in Okinawa is a security issue for Japan as a whole, and the burden (of hosting the bases) should be shared by all Japanese people," Onaga said in the peace declaration.
The 67-year-old governor has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and his four-year term will end in December.
People in Okinawa, southern Japan, have been increasingly calling for a reduction in their base-hosting burden as a number of incidents involving U.S. military aircraft have occurred in the country, fueling safety concerns.
In December, a window fell from a CH-53E large transport helicopter as it was flying over an elementary school just outside the Futenma base, while an F-15 fighter jet belonging to the U.S. Kadena Air Base crashed into the sea off Okinawa earlier this month.
© KYODO
"Developments toward detente have begun," Gov Takeshi Onaga said in his peace declaration, referring to the recent historic summit between the U.S. and North Korean leaders in Singapore, adding that an ongoing plan to relocate a key U.S. 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 U.S. 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," 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. We should never have a war again."
Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui is on a four-day visit to Okinawa to attend a separate memorial service on Sunday for the Taiwanese war dead.
At the summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on June 12, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un committed "to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
While the details have yet to be finalized, 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.
U.S. bases in Okinawa Prefecture were built on land expropriated from islanders during the postwar U.S. occupation that lasted until 1972.
Despite only accounting for 0.6 percent of the country's land mass, Okinawa is home to about 70 percent of the total area of land exclusively used by U.S. military facilities in Japan.
"The issue of U.S. military bases in Okinawa is a security issue for Japan as a whole, and the burden (of hosting the bases) should be shared by all Japanese people," Onaga said in the peace declaration.
The 67-year-old governor has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and his four-year term will end in December.
People in Okinawa, southern Japan, have been increasingly calling for a reduction in their base-hosting burden as a number of incidents involving U.S. military aircraft have occurred in the country, fueling safety concerns.
In December, a window fell from a CH-53E large transport helicopter as it was flying over an elementary school just outside the Futenma base, while an F-15 fighter jet belonging to the U.S. Kadena Air Base crashed into the sea off Okinawa earlier this month.
© KYODO
- June 23, 2018
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