June 23 (UPI) -- More than 4,000 people on Monday filled an Okinawa park to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan's final WWII battle, while citizens reflected over long-lost loved ones and a promise by a Japanese leader to "visibly reduce the burden of U.S. bases" on Okinawa.
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki were in Itoman to attend ceremonies at Peace Memorial Park for "Irei No Hi," known as memorial day, to remember the bloody Battle of Okinawa in which more than 240,000 soldiers and civilians died during or after battle during the last world war.
"It is the nation's vital responsibility to squarely face the folly and tragedy of war, and to do its utmost for a peaceful and prosperous Okinawa," Ishiba said as fear today seems to be heightening over international conflict following U.S. airstrikes on nuclear facilities in Iran.
Other attendees of the commemoration included a representative of the 2024 Nobel Peace Price-winning Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers, Shigemitsu Tanaka, in addition to the United Nations' undersecretary general and high representative for disarmament affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu.
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