Untold story of the Battle of OkinawaーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
this week people in Japan are marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the battle of Okinawa the then Imperial Japanese military and forces from the United States fought fiercely in southern Japan more than 200,000 people were killed but not all in the fighting some civilians died at the hands of their supposed defenders murdered by Japanese troops but their stories have seldom been told and now surviving family members and other locals are working to ensure they are never forgotten about a 100 kilometers west of Okinawa’s main island lies the island of Kumijima an artist and volunteers are making a sculpture to convey the tragedy of the war records based on testimony from residents show Japanese troops killed 20 civilians this is for future generations i’m doing this with a wish for eternal peace sakura has been a peace guide for over 30 years that’s where the former Japanese military was stationed a unit of about 30 soldiers called the Cayama Thai was hiding in the hills on June 26th 1945 US forces landed on Kumijima the next day Japanese troops began killing residents the first was a man who had been taken prisoner by the Americans they told him to take a document to the commander of the Cayama Thai urging surrender he took it to them they shot him dead on suspicion he was a spy japanese troops later killed nine more local people these were the head of the district and people who had been questioned by the US military the names of the victims are inscribed on a memorial but people on the island rarely talk about what happened in some cases residents tipped off the Cayamatai about those who had had contact with the US military eight decades on Sakura wants people to know the truth our role is to learn about history and tell other people that’s the most important thing there’s also testimony that the Japanese military killed civilians on Okinawa’s main island among them was Teruya Chu he was a school principal in the town of Moto yogi Mariko is his daughter here’s my father this is me this is my greatest treasure yogi says her father went to help a Japanese army unit hiding in the hills as he moved around in a combat zone he aroused suspicion from the unit he had planned to help they accused him of spying and stabbed him to death that cast a shadow over the family even after the war we felt ashamed it’s such a bitter twist of fate that my father worked so hard for Japan and the emperor only to be killed by Japanese troops it’s unforgivable the town now has a monument to Teduya erected by his students and colleagues the inscription describes him as a man of noble character with a strong sense of responsibility it’s been 80 years i think we need to summon up the courage to tell everyone what happened people who don’t know about the war won’t know unless we tell them if another war broke out now it would be a disaster for Yogi and others in Okinawa passing on those memories has become a mission and they feel it’s urgent now as most survivors have passed away
Eighty years after the end of the Battle of Okinawa, some people there are passing on the memory of civilians who were killed by their supposed defenders. #ww2 #japan
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