Spot guide · Naha 那覇
Photo: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Eadan Avramidis / Public domainAt 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.
Forty-five minutes each way. It cannot be done properly and should not be done badly.
Both sites, three hours, and nothing else. That is the correct shape.
Shuri in the morning, the south after lunch.
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.
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.
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