Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum
Towards the end of World War Two, Okinawa Island became site of one of the war's bloodiest battles, when the US forces invaded and occupied the island. An estimated 200,000 people, including more than 100,000 civilians and 12,500 Americans were killed in the battle, which lasted from April to June 1945.
Numerous sites and memorials related to the "Battle of Okinawa" are concentrated mainly in the south of the island, where the worst fighting took place:
The spacious Peace Memorial Park is located near the southern tip of the island. Its main attraction is the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum, which gives a sobering overview of the road to the battle, the battle itself and the reconstruction of Okinawa.
Other monuments in the park include the "Cornerstone of Peace", a collection of large stone plates with the names of all fallen soldiers and civilians, including Koreans, Taiwanese, Americans and Britons.
Cornerstone of Peace
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Former Navy Underground Headquarters
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A few kilometers west of the Peace Park stands the Himeyuri Monument (Himeyuri no To) with an adjacent museum. It commemorates the fate of female high school students, who worked in army field hospitals in caves under horrendous conditions. Most of them did not survive the war.
Another thought provoking, war related site are the Former Navy Underground Headquarters, several hundred meters of underground corridors and rooms, which served as the Japanese navy's headqarters during the war. Many sailors committed suicide in these tunnels, after their situation had grown hopeless towards the end of the battle.
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