Peace Memorial Park & Himeyuri
1 / 9Peace Memorial Park & HimeyuriPhoto: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / CC BY-SA 3.0
Tap a photo to see it large. 9 photographs, every one credited.
Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada
The Cornerstone of Peace carries over 240,000 names — every nationality, both sides, no separation. Ten minutes away, Himeyuri tells it through the student nurses. Give it three hours and nothing after.
- Our number 3 for Naha, out of ten. It is the first thing we would spend the hours on.
- Park free; museums ~¥300–450 to visit.
- On a 4–6h ashore call our verdict is "As the only thing" — both sites, three hours, and nothing else. that is the correct shape.
- It is not only a photo stop: a quarter of the civilian population died here, and the memorial names everyone.
- Park always; museums 9:00–17:00.
- 4 hr 30 min door to door needs a 6.5-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
- No single published ride covers this one. Budget for a taxi both ways, or fold it into a guided day.
Why Peace Memorial Park & Himeyuri is famous
A quarter of the civilian population died here, and the memorial names everyone
The Battle of Okinawa killed over 200,000 people, including roughly a quarter of the civilian population. The Cornerstone of Peace lists every name regardless of nationality or side, which is unusual. The Himeyuri monument nearby remembers 222 schoolgirls mobilised as nurses, most of whom died in the final days.
The Battle of Okinawa ran from 1 April to 22 June 1945 and killed something on the order of two hundred thousand people. Roughly half were Okinawan civilians — about a quarter of everyone living on the island. The memorial that commemorates them lists the dead of every nationality, on both sides, without distinction.
At Mabuni, on the cliffs where organised resistance ended in June 1945, the Cornerstone of Peace carries the names of everyone known to have died in the Battle of Okinawa — over 240,000, with no separation by nationality and none between the two sides. Okinawan civilians, Japanese, American, British, Korean and Taiwanese names stand together, and more are still being added.
Ten minutes away, the Himeyuri Peace Museum stands at the cave where student nurses were killed after their unit was dissolved into open combat. Of 240 mobilised, 136 died. The museum is built from survivor testimony recorded over decades, specifically so the account would outlive the witnesses.
The largest amphibious assault of the Pacific war
Civilians retreat into caves with the army
Most of its deaths follow that order
~200,000 dead; about a quarter of the civilian population
Give the Peace Memorial Park and Himeyuri three hours together. Neither works as a stop between other stops.
Things worth knowing
- Do both sites, in this order: Cornerstone of Peace first, Himeyuri second. The scale, then the individuals.
- Allow silence afterwards. Do not schedule shopping for the hour after Himeyuri.
- English materials are good at both. The Himeyuri testimony is available in translation.
- 23 June is Okinawa Memorial Day and a prefectural holiday — the park is full of families finding a name.
- Himeyuriひめゆり — The student nurse corps. 240 mobilised, 136 dead.
- Heiwa no Ishiji平和の礎 — The Cornerstone of Peace. Every name, every nation, both sides.
Peace Memorial Park & Himeyuri and your ship
Both pins on one map, so the distance is a fact rather than a feeling.
Where the 4 hr 30 min goes
Counted from the moment you step off the gangway, about 30 minutes after the ship arrives. The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside.
35 minutes each way is the measured figure for ~30–40 min taxi, not the optimistic one. If your ship is late, cut the 3 hr 20 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Questions people send us
What is the Okinawa Peace Memorial Park?
A park at Mabuni on the southern cliffs where the Battle of Okinawa ended in June 1945. Its centrepiece, the Cornerstone of Peace, carries the names of everyone known to have died in the battle — over 240,000 — with no separation by nationality and none between the two sides. Names are still being added as records are confirmed.
How long do I need for the Peace Park and Himeyuri?
Three hours on site for both, plus about forty-five minutes each way from the cruise terminal. On a call of four to six hours it should be the only thing you do. Visit the Cornerstone of Peace first for the scale, then Himeyuri for the individual accounts.
Routes that already include it
Each one is a finished day timed from the official timetables, with this stop in it. Read the route rather than assembling it yourself.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
See · ~3h by taxiShuri Castle and the rebuild
The seat of an independent kingdom for 450 years — no keep, curving limestone walls, a vermilion Chinese-influenced hall.
See the detail
Eat · ~1.5hBuy downstairs, eat upstairs at Makishi
Okinawa's reef fish are the wrong colours — electric blue, parrot green, hard red.
See the detail
Eat · ~1.5hGoya champuru and Okinawa soba
Bitter melon stir-fried with tofu, egg and pork, and thick wheat noodles in pork-and-bonito broth that contain no buckwheat at all.
See the detail