Okinawa marks 62nd anniversary of WWⅡbattle

Article title: Okinawa marks 62nd anniversary of WWⅡ battle
Journal: The Japan Times ONLINE
Published: Sunday June 24 2007
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Itoman, Okinawa prefecture marked on Saturday the 62nd anniversary of the end of WWⅡ battle in which more than 200,000 people died, including civilians in mass suicides. The anniversary came a day after the Okinawa Prefectual Assembly urged the central government to cut its instruction to publishers to play down in historical textbooks Japanese military's responsibility to the mass suicides. As Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima said in a message, people in Okinawa, which was the only inhabited part of Japan to see ground fighting during the war, feel the strong responsibility to foster peace-wishing mind and to try to create lasting peace in the world. More than a quater of the 450,000 inhabitants of Okinawa died in the battle: Some civilians killed themselves. The survivors say that they were forced to do so, and at that time, being a prisoner of war was considered shameful in Japan. In March, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister told publishers of high school history textbooks to reword the expressions which indicate the responsibility of the military to the mass suicides of civilians.