Under the cover of a naval bombardment of more than 100,000 shells, the American military began landing on Okinawa at 8:30 am. It was the beginning of a merciless battle that was later described ...

The Battle of Okinawa, fought against US-led forces, claimed the lives of more than 200 thousand civilians and soldiers. About one quarter of the entire population of Okinawa was wiped out.

During the Battle of Okinawa, civilians were caught between 2 major military forces, each determined to fight to the end. More than 120,000 civilians were killed. After the battle, Okinawa served ...

“Combined with the memory of the ferocious ground battle (the enhancement of the defense capability in Okinawa) has greatly perturbed the residents of Okinawa Prefecture,” Tamaki said.

Harumi Miyagi’s mother was a village employee on the small island of Zamami in Okinawa Prefecture who provided food and lodging for 15 Japanese soldiers at her home in 1945. When a U.S. military ...

Rieko Tamaki, 90, a resident of Naha, still remembers the final moments of her then 14-year-old brother's life during the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. "He died in agony, crying out, ‘Give me water.’ ...

The Battle of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest and costliest of World War II in the Pacific. The United States needed a base to stage an invasion of mainland Japan. The island of Okinawa was the ...

The war in the Pacific was long and bloody -- when the final battle came, it was perhaps the fercest of all. At Okinawa, over 250,000 soldiers fought a desperate, 82-day battle that only half ...

Bereaved family members and those who lived through the war place their hands together in tribute in Zamami, Okinawa Prefecture, on March 26, 2025. (Mainichi/Shinnosuke Kyan) NAHA -- An Okinawa ...