
Replica of Nobel Prize medal on display at museum in Hiroshima
HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) --Replicas of the Nobel Peace Prize medal and certificate awarded last year to Japan's leading group of atomic bomb survivors went on display at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on Tuesday.
Toshiyuki Mimaki, a representative of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, visited the museum, viewing the display while recalling the moment the group was honored with the award. The showing runs until Aug. 31.
"I would like people to feel that the world must be peaceful," the 83-year-old survivor told reporters, adding the replicas were prepared by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for the group. Three sets of the copies are now kept in Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Tokyo.
Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the final days of World War II in August 1945, killing an estimated 214,000 people by the end of that year and leaving numerous survivors to grapple with long-term physical and mental health challenges.
Nihon Hidankyo received the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for conveying, through witness testimony, that they must never be used again.
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Japan Today
10 hours ago
- Japan Today
Emperor's visit to Okinawa reflects imperial family's close ties to the island. Here is why he cares
In this photo released by the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Marines take cover behind tattered tombstones during their advance across cemetery ridge on Okinawa, Ryukyu Island, as enemy bullets pass overhead in the battle against Japanese forces in June 1945. By MARI YAMAGUCHI Emperor Naruhito and his family have visited Okinawa to honor the dead ahead of the 80th anniversary of one of the harshest battles of World War II. On what was his seventh visit to Okinawa, Naruhito was joined this week by his wife and daughter for a tour of the southern island and its history. Naruhito's father, the 91-year-old former Emperor Akihito, especially cared about Okinawa. On June 23, the island will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa, which led to heavy American troop presence on the island, even after the nearly 30 years of U.S. occupation ended in 1972. Here is what to know about Okinawa's history. U.S. troops landed on the main Okinawa island on April 1, 1945, beginning a battle in their push toward mainland Japan. The Battle of Okinawa lasted until late June, killing some 200,000 people — about 12,000 Americans and more than 188,000 Japanese, half of them Okinawan civilians. In all, the island lost about one quarter of its population. In Itoman town, where the battle ended, the remains of most of the war dead reside in an ossuary at the National War Dead Peace Mausoleum. It was the first place Naruhito and his wife Empress Masako and their 23-year-old daughter, Princess Aiko, visited on Wednesday where they laid a bouquet of white flowers each. Okinawa remained under U.S. occupation from 1945 until the 1972 reversion to Japan. The U.S. military maintains a presence there due to Okinawa's strategic importance for security in the Pacific. Private properties were confiscated to build U.S. bases, and the base-dependent economy hampered the growth of local industry. Many Okinawans feel they have been sacrificed for the mainland in the war fought in the name of Hirohito, the grandfather of Emperor Naruhito. Bitter feelings were fresh in Okinawa in the 1970s, when many people said the emperor should take responsibility. Akihito, who was almost hit by a Molotov cocktail thrown during his visit to Okinawa as crown prince in 1975, has been a regular visitor. Every year on June 23, Akihito and his family observe a moment of silence for the victims of the battle. It's one of the four key dates he said should never forget, along with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, as well as the Aug. 15 end of the war. Naruhito has pledged to follow in his father's footsteps and repeatedly expressed the importance to reflect on and remember the wartime history. In February, Naruhito stressed the importance of telling the tragedy of World War II to younger generations, promising to help promoting the understanding of history and the determination for peace. He and his family on Wednesday visited the Cornerstone of Peace Memorial, which is engraved with the names of about 250,000 war dead on Itoman's Mabuni Hill. They also visited a permanent war exhibit at the town's Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum, where they met the survivors and bereaved families. On Thursday they laid flowers at a monument commemorating about 1,500 people including hundreds of school children killed in a U.S. torpedo attack on their evacuation ship Tsushima Maru on Aug. 1944. They visited a museum dedicated to the tragedy and met with a number of survivors. Naruhito and Masako, in a message released to Japanese media, renewed their pledge to peace and said their daughter deeply took to her heart Okinawan people's history of hardship. Okinawa remains home to the majority of about 50,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan under a bilateral security pact. The island, which accounts for only 0.6% of Japanese land, hosts 70% of U.S. military facilities. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.


The Mainichi
a day ago
- The Mainichi
Imperial family marks WWII evacuation ship tragedy in Okinawa
NAHA (Kyodo) -- Japan's Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter Princess Aiko paid their respects Thursday in Okinawa to victims of a Japanese evacuation ship that was torpedoed by a U.S. submarine during World War II. On the final day of their two-day trip to the prefecture on the 80th year of the end of the war, the imperial family offered flowers and bowed deeply at a memorial in Naha for the Tsushima Maru incident, in which around 1,500 people, including hundreds of schoolchildren, were killed. The family also visited the nearby memorial museum for the first time, viewing portraits and personal belongings of the children who died before speaking with survivors and bereaved families. They listened intently as one of the survivors, 85-year-old Masakatsu Takara, spoke about losing nine members of his family, including his parents and siblings. The Tsushima Maru was torpedoed close to the Tokara Islands in southwestern Japan en route to Nagasaki from Okinawa while complying with a government evacuation order in August 1944. In 2014, then Emperor Akihito and then Empress Michiko also visited the memorial on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the tragedy. Wrapping up their trip on Thursday, the imperial family visited the restoration site of Shuri Castle, where most of the main structures were destroyed by fire in 2019. The previous day, the imperial family paid their respects at the national cemetery in Itoman and spoke with bereaved family members, as well as youth helping to preserve and share wartime stories for future generations. Okinawa fell to U.S. forces in the final months of World War II through the Battle of Okinawa, which began in March 1945 with the landing of American troops on the Kerama Islands near Okinawa's main island. Around 200,000 people -- both Japanese and American -- lost their lives in the ensuing ground battle. The latest visit to Japan's southernmost island prefecture is part of a series of visits by the imperial couple to mourn the war dead on the key anniversary year. In April, the emperor and empress visited Iwoto Island, formerly known as Iwojima, the site of a fierce battle in the Pacific between Japan and the United States. The couple is also scheduled to visit the atomic-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki later this month. Japan surrendered to the Allied forces on Aug. 15, 1945, bringing an end to World War II.


Yomiuri Shimbun
a day ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
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.'