Photo/Illutration People observe a moment of silence at noon at the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, on June 23. (Shinnosuke Ito)

ITOMAN, Okinawa Prefecture--People in Japan’s southernmost prefecture paid tribute on June 23, Okinawa Memorial Day, to the victims of the bloody ground battles that stained the soil here in the final months of World War II.

The day marked the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa, which claimed an estimated 200,000 Japanese and American lives. 

A memorial service was held at the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, which was the last site of the fierce ground fighting.

This year also marks the 50th anniversary of Okinawa's return to Japan from postwar U.S. rule.

People prayed for peace amid growing concerns over intensified U.S. military training that has increased the burden on the prefecture and heightened military tensions abroad. 

The event, hosted by the Okinawa prefectural government and the prefectural assembly, scaled back attendance to 327 people amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. About 5,000 people usually attend the annual event.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is the first Japanese leader in three years to attend the ceremony as restrictions on social activities are being eased.

Participants observed a moment of silence at noon.

In a peace declaration, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “reminds us of memories of the ground battle” in the prefecture in 1945.

“It is an indescribable shock,” he said.

Tamaki pledged to pass on the local phrase “Nuchi du takara” (It is life that matters more than any treasure) to the next generation. People in Okinawa treasure the phrase as they remember the fierce ground battles that took the lives of one in four residents. 

The governor voiced Okinawan’s thoughts in hoping peace will return as soon as possible in war-torn Ukraine.

Tamaki also stressed the current heavy concentration of U.S. military bases in Okinawa. The prefecture accounts for about 0.6 percent of the nation's land area, but it hosts about 70 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan.

“The residents here continue to bear an excessive burden from hosting the bulk of the bases,” he said.

He urged the central government to quickly resolve the controversial issues of the bases, including abandoning the ongoing project to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan to the Henoko district of Nago, both in the prefecture.

However, Kishida didn’t mention the relocation project in his address.

He went no further than saying, “We will steadily gather visible evidence of reducing the burden of the bases one by one.”

Instead, Kishida stressed his determination to promote the prefecture's economy and cited its geographical characteristics.

“We will work to promote Okinawa by making maximum use of the revised special law for the development of Okinawa to achieve its potential and realize a ‘strong Okinawa economy,'” he said. 

Many people visited monuments all over the prefecture from early in the morning on Okinawa Memorial Day, including the Cornerstone of the Peace memorial located in the memorial park. They offered prayers for the war dead.

The monument lists the names of those who lost their lives. After 55 names were added this year, a total of 241,686 names are inscribed in stone.

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