Plans call for application to engrave on Cornerstone of Peace monument 300 names of Yamato crew from Hiroshima killed during Okinawa suicide mission
Feb. 17, 2022
by Masakazu Domen and Rina Yuasa, Staff Writers
Sadao Okamoto, 69, professor emeritus at the Hiroshima University of Economics, and others have been working to have the names of a large number of crew members of the battleship Yamato on the Cornerstone of Peace monument in Itoman City, Okinawa Prefecture. The stone monument is engraved with the names of those who were killed in the Battle of Okinawa, which occurred at the end of the Pacific theater of World War II. Mr. Okamoto aims to apply to have the names engraved on the monument through the auspices of the Hiroshima Prefectural government, based on the claim that the names of many dead crew members are missing from the monument despite the fact they were killed on the way to Okinawa on a suicide mission. Mr. Okamoto said, “This year marks the 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s return to Japan. Through these efforts, we want to create an opportunity for people to remember every single one of those who engaged in the Battle of Okinawa and lost their life.”
Apart from Mr. Okamoto’s initiative, in December of last year, the Hiroshima Prefectural government made an application to the Okinawa Prefectural government to have the names of 39 naval civilian crew members originally from Hiroshima Prefecture added to the monument. Those individuals were killed on duty while engaged in the transport of materials. Yasuo Minamino, 57, a resident of Naha City in Okinawa Prefecture and a volunteer engaged in the work of collecting the remains of war dead, discovered that the names of the civilians had not been engraved on the monument. As a result, Mr. Minamino first reached out to Mr. Okamoto, with whom his is close, and asked for his support. Mr. Okamoto subsequently called on the Hiroshima Prefectural government to apply for the names to be engraved. A survey conducted for the purpose of application found that the names of many others of the Yamato’s crew, who died at sea before reaching Okinawa, had also not been included.
According to Mr. Okamoto, it is estimated that the names of about 300 people from Hiroshima Prefecture, mainly members of the Yamato crew, were missing from the list. The Okinawa Prefectural government typically engraves the names of newly identified victims on the monument during the month of June each year prior to Okinawa Memorial Day, on June 23, and has already begun the confirmation process for the names to be added this year. Mr. Okamoto said, “Even if the application for adding the names is not completed in time for this year, I want to push so the application process is accelerated. I hope other prefectures also start to take similar action after Hiroshima’s efforts become widely known.”
On April 6, 1945, shortly after the U.S. military had landed on Okinawa, the battleship Yamato headed there from waters off the coast of what is now called Shunan City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, as part of a fleet of 10 warships, including cruisers and destroyers. On the following day, April 7, the Yamato was sunk by an aerial onslaught from U.S. bombers and other actions off of the southwest coast of Kagoshima Prefecture. Five of the warships accompanying the Yamato were also sunk. The Japanese battle strategy, called the Okinawa suicide mission, is said to have resulted in the deaths of a total of more than 4,000 people.
To succeed in having the names of the victims engraved on the monument, Mr. Okamoto made a request of an association involved in preserving the Kure Naval Cemetery, a group based in Kure that has deep ties with the Yamato. Kazuto Takegawa, 77, vice chair of the association, and the group’s other members accepted his request. Since the list archived by the association documenting the dead on each of different warships included those killed not only on the final ‘one-way’ mission to Okinawa but on other, previous missions as well, Mr. Okamoto is now cross-checking the names on the list with other reference materials for the sake of accuracy. He is scheduled to soon submit the name list to the Hiroshima Prefectural government. Through the process, he has found that only a small number of the crew members’ names have been engraved on the monument. An officer at the prefectural government’s relief department said, “We’ll talk with the Okinawa Prefectural government and move forward with the appropriate procedures.”
Cornerstone of Peace monument
A stone monument on which names of all people who perished during the battle of Okinawa are engraved, regardless of nationality or status as either military or civilian. The monument was erected in 1995, at the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Pacific theater of World War II and the Battle of Okinawa. Currently, the names of 241,632 victims have been engraved on the monument.
(Originally published on February 17, 2022)
Sadao Okamoto, 69, professor emeritus at the Hiroshima University of Economics, and others have been working to have the names of a large number of crew members of the battleship Yamato on the Cornerstone of Peace monument in Itoman City, Okinawa Prefecture. The stone monument is engraved with the names of those who were killed in the Battle of Okinawa, which occurred at the end of the Pacific theater of World War II. Mr. Okamoto aims to apply to have the names engraved on the monument through the auspices of the Hiroshima Prefectural government, based on the claim that the names of many dead crew members are missing from the monument despite the fact they were killed on the way to Okinawa on a suicide mission. Mr. Okamoto said, “This year marks the 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s return to Japan. Through these efforts, we want to create an opportunity for people to remember every single one of those who engaged in the Battle of Okinawa and lost their life.”
Apart from Mr. Okamoto’s initiative, in December of last year, the Hiroshima Prefectural government made an application to the Okinawa Prefectural government to have the names of 39 naval civilian crew members originally from Hiroshima Prefecture added to the monument. Those individuals were killed on duty while engaged in the transport of materials. Yasuo Minamino, 57, a resident of Naha City in Okinawa Prefecture and a volunteer engaged in the work of collecting the remains of war dead, discovered that the names of the civilians had not been engraved on the monument. As a result, Mr. Minamino first reached out to Mr. Okamoto, with whom his is close, and asked for his support. Mr. Okamoto subsequently called on the Hiroshima Prefectural government to apply for the names to be engraved. A survey conducted for the purpose of application found that the names of many others of the Yamato’s crew, who died at sea before reaching Okinawa, had also not been included.
According to Mr. Okamoto, it is estimated that the names of about 300 people from Hiroshima Prefecture, mainly members of the Yamato crew, were missing from the list. The Okinawa Prefectural government typically engraves the names of newly identified victims on the monument during the month of June each year prior to Okinawa Memorial Day, on June 23, and has already begun the confirmation process for the names to be added this year. Mr. Okamoto said, “Even if the application for adding the names is not completed in time for this year, I want to push so the application process is accelerated. I hope other prefectures also start to take similar action after Hiroshima’s efforts become widely known.”
On April 6, 1945, shortly after the U.S. military had landed on Okinawa, the battleship Yamato headed there from waters off the coast of what is now called Shunan City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, as part of a fleet of 10 warships, including cruisers and destroyers. On the following day, April 7, the Yamato was sunk by an aerial onslaught from U.S. bombers and other actions off of the southwest coast of Kagoshima Prefecture. Five of the warships accompanying the Yamato were also sunk. The Japanese battle strategy, called the Okinawa suicide mission, is said to have resulted in the deaths of a total of more than 4,000 people.
To succeed in having the names of the victims engraved on the monument, Mr. Okamoto made a request of an association involved in preserving the Kure Naval Cemetery, a group based in Kure that has deep ties with the Yamato. Kazuto Takegawa, 77, vice chair of the association, and the group’s other members accepted his request. Since the list archived by the association documenting the dead on each of different warships included those killed not only on the final ‘one-way’ mission to Okinawa but on other, previous missions as well, Mr. Okamoto is now cross-checking the names on the list with other reference materials for the sake of accuracy. He is scheduled to soon submit the name list to the Hiroshima Prefectural government. Through the process, he has found that only a small number of the crew members’ names have been engraved on the monument. An officer at the prefectural government’s relief department said, “We’ll talk with the Okinawa Prefectural government and move forward with the appropriate procedures.”
Keywords
Cornerstone of Peace monument
A stone monument on which names of all people who perished during the battle of Okinawa are engraved, regardless of nationality or status as either military or civilian. The monument was erected in 1995, at the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Pacific theater of World War II and the Battle of Okinawa. Currently, the names of 241,632 victims have been engraved on the monument.
(Originally published on February 17, 2022)
