The Memorial Day for the War-dead was established by the then Ryukyu Government and Okinawa Prefecture to commemorate the end of the Battle of Okinawa. The Japanese Military gave up its resistance on June 23rd, 1945. Okinawa-prefectural municipalities set the date June 23rd to be a holiday and the prefectural government, local governments and public schools, except colleges and universities, are closed on that day. On every memorial day, the observance for the war-dead takes place at the Peace Memorial Park at Mabuni of Itoman City and many surviving members of all those people who lost their lives in the war visit the Cornerstone of Peace, offering prayers.

Basic information

Address

901-0333 577 Mabuni Itoman Okinawa

TEL

098-997-2765 Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Foundation

Business hours

Held every June 23rd on Memorial Service Day.

Charge

Free

Parking

Available

Access information

By bus, take bus #89, #33, or #46 at the Naha Bus Terminal and get off at the Itoman bus terminal. From there take another bus, the #82 and get off at the Peace Memorial Park bus stop.

URL

http://kouen.heiwa-irei-okinawa.jp/index.html

Additional Information

Academic information

Okinawa is the only place in Japan to experience a ground battle during the Pacific war. People who lost their lives during the battle of Okinawa stood at more than 200,000; and approximately half of the number, about 94,000 causalities, were Okinawan civilians and children. Okinawa suffered indescribable loss. The Battle of Okinawa actually came to an end when The Okinawa Defense 32rd Army Commander Mitsuru Ushijima and his chief of staff Isamu Cho committed suicide at Mabuni, Itoman City, in the early morning of June 23rd, 1945. Okinawa Prefecture established this date to be "Okinawa Memorial Day for the War-dead," and also made it a holiday in 1991 for the prefecture to honor the memory of the war victims and pray for peace. On this date, every year, "Memorial Service for Okinawa's War-dead" is held, appealing to the world for eternal peace. Other memorial services also take place at the same time in various parts of Okinawa.