Bereaved family members and those who lived through the war place their hands together in tribute in Zamami, Okinawa Prefecture, on March 26, 2025. (Mainichi/Shinnosuke Kyan)
NAHA — An Okinawa Prefecture island where mass suicides took place during World War II held a memorial ceremony on March 26, the 80th anniversary of the start of the ground battle between Japanese and American forces when U.S. troops landed on Okinawa’s Kerama Islands.
About 150 people including victims’ bereaved families took part in the ceremony on the island of Zamami, one of the Kerama Islands, and offered prayers for the repose of the victims’ souls.
The Kerama Islands are about 40 kilometers west of Okinawa’s main island. The memorial service on Zamami Island was held in front of the “Tower of Peace,” which bears the names of the war dead.
Toshiko Takaesu, 93, who survived by taking refuge in a natural cave with her parents and three siblings, but lost two brothers in the war, spoke as the residents’ representative: “I hope that my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will never experience the fear and hardship I went through at that time, and I pray that this peace continues forever.”
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki, who attended as a guest, vowed to “properly pass on the absurdity and cruelty of war and the preciousness of peace to the next generation.”
(Mainichi)
From March 26, 1945, U.S. forces began landing on the Kerama Islands, and advanced to Okinawa’s main island on April 1. A ground battle ensued, lasting about three months until the end of organized Japanese resistance. Some 200,000 people died in the fierce fighting, including civilians.
In the mass suicides that took place on the Kerama Islands, residents used hand grenades, sickles, razors, and other means to take each other’s lives rather than surrender. According to the prefecture’s official history, 177 people are believed to have died in group suicides on Zamami Island.
(Japanese original by Hiroshi Higa, Naha Bureau)
AloJapan.com