Japan's Emperor, Empress, Princess Aiko Commemorate Victims of World War II Sinking; Nearly 1,500 Lost in Attack on Evacuation Ship
The Yomiuri Shimbun
From left, the Emperor, the Empress and their daughter Princess Aiko offer flowers at the memorial for victims of the sinking of the Tsushima-maru evacuation ship, on Thursday in Naha.
NAHA — The Emperor, the Empress and their daughter Princess Aiko visited the memorial for the Tsushima-maru, an evacuation ship carrying hundreds of children that was sunk by a U.S. submarine during World War II, in Naha on Thursday.
It was the second day of their visit to Okinawa Prefecture, made as this year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the war.
The family approached the Kozakura no To memorial at about 10:30 a.m. and bowed deeply. They presented white flowers, including easter lilies.
They also looked around the exhibits, including photographs and personal belongings of the deceased, at the adjacent Tsushima-maru Memorial Museum.
The Tsushima-maru sank off Akusekijima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture due to a torpedo attack by a U.S. submarine, as it was heading toward Nagasaki Prefecture in August 1944. According to the museum, 1,484 of the 1,788 people aboard died. The deaths included 784 students.
The Emperor and the Empress on Wednesday evening released their thoughts on the first day of their visit, including the National War Dead Peace Mausoleum. They conveyed through an aide that they would remember the victims of the Battle of Okinawa and the people who were forced to endure hardships caused by the war.
The Imperial couple also said they 'want to carry the value of peace in our hearts and renew our resolve for peace.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yomiuri Shimbun
42 minutes ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Okayama: Catch of Live Horseshoe Crabs Hits 35-year High
The Yomiuri Shimbun Satoshi Morinobu, head of the Kasaoka Horseshoe Crab Museum, holds a horseshoe crab. KASAOKA, Okayama — A total of 75 live horseshoe crabs were caught in the sea near Kasaoka, Okayama Prefecture, in fiscal 2024, the highest number for 35 years and an encouraging sign for the arthropod's population there. The area is a breeding site for horseshoe crabs, which are often called 'living fossils' because their appearance has barely changed for about 200 million years. However, the population had plunged due to coastal reclamation and other reasons. The Envi-ronment Ministry's Red List classifies horseshoe crabs as critically endangered. The Kasaoka city government established the Kasaoka Horseshoe Crab Museum in 1990 and implemented ordinances that banned activities that disturbed the habitat in the breeding sites as well as setting a target of releasing 1,000 horseshoe crabs into the sea each year. Local residents have also contributed to a rebound in the creature's population by cleaning up the coastline. Nearby fisheries cooperatives chipped in by rescuing horseshoe crabs that got caught in nets near Kasaoka and giving them to the museum. The annual number of live horseshoe crabs caught between fiscal 2006 and fiscal 2010 declined to the single digits, but this figure has generally trended upward despite a few dips since then. In fiscal 2014, a large number of egg-bearing females were caught, which enabled the bumper release of 18,323 juveniles that year. According to Satoshi Morinobu, head of the museum, the hefty release in fiscal 2014 highly likely set the stage for the latest increase in their population.
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
4 China Coast Guard Ships Enter Japan's Territorial Waters Off Senkakus; 1st Time since May 14
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo The Senkaku Islands are seen in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, in September 2013. Four China Coast Guard vessels entered the territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture on Friday, according to the Japan Coast Guard's 11th Regional Headquarters in Naha. This was the first time for a CCG vessel to enter Japanese territorial waters since May 14. The regional headquarters said that the four ships entered the waters off the Senkakus' Uotsuri Island one after another between 10:31 a.m. and 10:46 a.m. on Friday. All four left around 12:30 p.m.
Yomiuri Shimbun
5 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
D-Day Veterans Return to Normandy to Mark 81st Anniversary of Landings
The Associated Press World War II veteran Jake Larson meets youths during ceremonies at the US cemetery to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings, Friday, June 6, 2025 in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy. COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France (AP) — Veterans gathered Friday in Normandy to mark the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings — a pivotal moment of World War II that eventually led to the collapse of Adolf Hitler's regime. Along the coastline and near the D-Day landing beaches, tens of thousands of onlookers attended the commemorations, which included parachute jumps, flyovers, remembrance ceremonies, parades, and historical reenactments. Many were there to cheer the ever-dwindling number of surviving veterans in their late 90s and older. All remembered the thousands who died. Harold Terens, a 101-year-old U.S. veteran who last year married his 96-year-old sweetheart near the D-Day beaches, was back in Normandy. 'Freedom is everything,' he said. 'I pray for freedom for the whole world. For the war to end in Ukraine, and Russia, and Sudan and Gaza. I think war is disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.' Terens enlisted in 1942 and shipped to Great Britain the following year, attached to a four-pilot P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron as their radio repair technician. On D-Day, Terens helped repair planes returning from France so they could rejoin the battle. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth commemorated the anniversary of the D-Day landings, in which American soldiers played a leading role, with veterans at the American Cemetery overlooking the shore in the village of Colleville-sur-Mer. French Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu told Hegseth that France knows what it owes to its American allies and the veterans who helped free Europe from the Nazis. 'We don't forget that our oldest allies were there in this grave moment of our history. I say it with deep respect in front of you, veterans, who incarnate this unique friendship between our two countries,' he said. Hegseth said France and the United States should be prepared to fight if danger arises again, and that 'good men are still needed to stand up.' 'Today the United States and France again rally together to confront such threats,' he said, without mentioning a specific enemy. 'Because we strive for peace, we must prepare for war and hopefully deter it.' The June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France used the largest-ever armada of ships, troops, planes and vehicles to breach Hitler's defenses in western Europe. A total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself. In the ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. The battle — and especially Allied bombings of French villages and cities — killed around 20,000 French civilians between June and August 1944. The exact number of German casualties is unknown, but historians estimate between 4,000 and 9,000 men were killed, wounded or missing during the D-Day invasion alone. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on D-Day. Of those, 73,000 were from the U.S. and 83,000 from Britain and Canada. Forces from several other countries were also involved, including French troops fighting with Gen. Charles de Gaulle. The Allies faced around 50,000 German forces. More than 2 million Allied soldiers, sailors, pilots, medics and other people from a dozen countries were involved in the overall Operation Overlord, the battle to wrest western France from Nazi control that started on D-Day.
