Okinawa Peace Prayer Park

The Okinawa Peace Prayer Park, a collection of memorials and exhibits for the Battle of Okinawa, is located in Itoman on the southern part of the island. The location of the park is symbolic: Itoman was where the most devastating part of the four-month battle occurred and where the most casualties were suffered. In the battle, also known as the “Typhoon of Steel”, over 240,000 people were killed (90,000 Japanese troops, 50,000 American and Allied troops and well over 100,000 Okinawan civilians). Over 90 percent of the island was destroyed, and one witness recalled that the island was turned into a “vast field of mud, lead and decay.”

There is much debate as to the cause of the mass civilian casualties (which I might explore in a future blog). The Peace Memorial Museum presents that Okinawa was caught in the fighting between America and Japan and the Japanese Army was indifferent to the safety of native Okinawans. There are many reports of the Japanese Army using civilians as human shields, encouraging them to commit mass suicide and confiscating food and shelter leading to starvation and exposure to the elements. Earlier this year, I was watching a documentary on the battle and heard the sobering testimony of one soldier, who while at sea pondered the inhumanity of the Japanese kamikaze pilots as they smashed their planes into naval ships and his change in attitude and compassion for the Okinawans he witnessed suffering when he landed on the island.

The Peace Park and Museum were established in 1995 and serve as a memorial to the battle’s victims, both American and Japanese, as well testament to the stories of survivors. The Cornerstone of Peace, located close to Mabuni Hill where the battle reached its conclusion, consists of multiple walls with the names of all known victims from each country involved carved in the black granite. These walls are surrounded by expansive gardens and ponds, and at one end the always burning Flame of Peace overlooks the ragged coast and Pacific Ocean. An area once consumed by the chaos of war now remains a place to silently reflect on the message of peace

Mausoleum for National War Dead - Over 180,000 bodies of Okinawans are interred here. Their cremated remains were collected by the government in 1945.

Peace Ceremony Area with Museum in background - On June 23, the anniversary of the end of the battle, thousands gather here for a memorial ceremony.

Brittany looks for family names on a row of the Cornerstone of Peace. There are over 230,000 names of Japanese, American and Allied soldiers and Okinawan civilians listed on these walls.

We found some Shreves and a Langford listed in the names of American soldiers that were killed in the Battle of Okinawa.

The cliffs adjacent to Mabuni Hill - Commanders of the Japanese forces on Okinawa and many civilians are said to have committed suicide here during and at the conclusion of the battle.

Flame of Peace - Located at one end of the Cornerstone of Peace. The monument is designed so that on June 23, the sun shines down the middle of this path and illuminates the granite walls of names.