Younger generations pass on the memory of the Battle of Okinawa

Why does war repeat? Militaries conduct brutal conflicts to defend the righteousness of their side. Okinawa saw its share of war in the Battle of Okinawa, and many civilians of were victims of inhumane acts. Yet, the same thing is still happening in some countries.

One of the reasons why wars do not disappear is decreasing the number of people who had experienced the war and making it difficult for us to think about the war as their own affair, and the memories and lessons are faded away.

In Okinawa Prefecture, there are efforts to pass on this history and realize peace.

What is the Battle of Okinawa?

Battle of Okinawa was fought in 1945 at the end of World War II between Japanese troops and US troops who landed on the Okinawan islands. More than 200,000 people were killed in Okinawa, of which about 94,000 were civilians.

Nearly 2000 students under the age of 20 were brought to the war, and more than 1000 died. In addition, many from the Korean Peninsula were brought to the war, with at least 300 casualities.

The Japanese military forbid civilians to be captured by US forces, and some say that they were ordered to “commit suicide” when found by US soldiers. These led to many tragedies in different locations, such as forced mass deaths on several islands when US troops landed and people being killed on suspicion of spying.

The importance of lore

76 years has passed since the end of the Battle of Okinawa, and people who experienced the war are older. It is becoming increasingly difficult to pass on their direct experiences. Physical records of the Battle of Okinawa are limited, so it becomes difficult to correctly pass on the history without people like them who can pass on primary information.

In recent years, some high school textbooks that have passed the verification of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology omit mention of the Japanese military’s involvement in the mass suicide of the Battle of Okinawa.

On the other hand, various initiatives are being undertaken in Okinawa Prefecture to preserve the testimonies of such important war survivors and the important lessons for peace for future generations.

Recording the voices of war survivors with digital content

On the Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum website, you can view valuable video testimonies of people who have experienced the war. In addition, the Peace Learning Archives in Okinawa provides a multidimensional digital archive of stories and photographic material from 1945, when the war took place, superimposed on a map of present-day Okinawa Prefecture.

The aim of passing on the memory of the Battle of Okinawa in this way is to build peace in the future. The content has been translated into seven languages to reach a wide range of people, as mutual understanding between people from different cultures and nationalities is important for building peace in a globalized world.

Future transmissions by younger generations

Okinawa Prefecture is also developing human resources to nurture young people who will pass on the lessons learned from the war to the next generation.

The “Thoughts for Peace” program brings students from countries and regions that have experienced war and other tragedies similar to Okinawa’s to Okinawa to pass on their experiences and learn together about peace-building. So far, university students from Cambodia, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam have participated in the program, learning together about wars and conflicts in their countries through a 10-day joint training course. The participating students shared previously unknown histories of neighboring countries and declared that they would work together to build bridges of peace for the next generation.

Students in Okinawa also guide students from outside the prefecture on school excursions to Okinawa, showing them the sites of the Battle of Okinawa and the bases. Nakamoto from Okinawa International University told in an interview that it is meaningful for the younger generation to tell their stories to the younger generation and that this makes it easier for them to hear the stories as “their own affair.”

Good ways of lore make us think

It is not enough to pass on the legacy of the war merely as a history of what happened in the past. We should seek ways of lore to make each person not only acquire knowledge but also feel something and think about how we can eliminate war from the world.