Japan Press Weekly

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2015 August 19 - 25 [PEACE]

Okinawans commemorate 71st anniversary of Tsushima-maru sinking tragedy

On August 22 in Naha City in Okinawa Prefecture, a ceremony commemorating the victims of the Tsushima-maru sinking by a U.S. submarine attack during WWII took place with bereaved families and survivors participating.

On this day 71 years ago, a Japanese passenger/cargo ship, Tsushima-maru, carrying evacuees from Okinawa to Kagoshima was sunk by a torpedo from a U.S. submarine, killing 1,484 people on board, including 783 schoolchildren.

At the ceremony, Takara Masakatsu, who heads an organization for bereaved families and survivors of the Tsushima-maru tragedy, said, “At present, the generations who have no war experience are playing a central role in national policy-making. They should keep foremost in mind that they have a responsibility to prevent a recurrence of such a wartime tragedy claiming many innocent lives.”

As a guest speaker, Naha City Mayor Shiroma Kimiko said that it is important to hand down to future generations this tragic fact as proof of the futility and misery of war.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Akamine Seiken along with Okinawa Prefectural Assembly chair Kina Masaharu attended the ceremony.

Past related article:
> Wartime Tsushima-Maru tragedy victims seek state compensation in court [April 2, 2013]