A place of prayer for all those who died in the Battle of Okinawa
Okinawa was the last battlefield of World War II. Mabuni Hill where the Peace Memorial Park is located is a circular area where the battle ended. The park is divided into the 4 zones of Heiwa (Peace), Reiiki (Sacred Ground), Heiwa Shikiten (Peace Ceremonies) and Enro Hiroba (Garden Path Plaza) with the zone attracting the most number of visitors being Heiwa. Regardless of nationality or whether you are a soldier or civilian, you are welcome to visit sites such as the Cornerstone of Peace on which the names of the 240,000 people who died in the Battle of Okinawa are engraved, the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum and the Peace Memorial Hall.
The Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum and the Peace Memorial Hall in the Heiwa Zone
The Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum is built in the image of an old Okinawan community. In the permanent exhibits on the 2nd floor, you can understand through the precious words of citizens about the history and the miserable conditions suffered during the Battle of Okinawa. On the 1st floor is the Children’s Exhibit which is an area for visitors to think of solutions for the problems of war and the environment. The white towering building in the park is the Peace Memorial Hall. Enshrined in the hall is a 12m-tall and 8m-wide statue dedicated to peace for Okinawans and all people.
Various events sending out eternal peace
June 23rd was made the final day of hostilities on Okinawa and it has become Okinawa Memorial Day, a prefectural holiday. Every year, during the memorial service for the victims of the Battle of Okinawa held at the Heiwa Shikiten Zone, prayers are made for the repose of the spirits of all those lost during the Pacific War and the Battle of Okinawa and for eternal world peace. On Okinawa Memorial Day and the day before along with the New Year’s holidays, searchlights that were used for military purposes during the war are shone into the heavens as pillars of light for peace. The 5 pillars represent the war dead of Japan, America, England, the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan.