Japanese June 2, 2004: Okinawa memorial tour
	The third day in Okinawa. We visited memorial sites until the flight in the evening. We drove up route 58 from Naha city.
Can you imagine the size of USA camps in the island? The taxi driver asked at us. The runway lamp of the camp crosses the route.
	The base spreads unlimited. It reminds us that we are still under occupation, war is not over yet.
Manzage i Onnason. Manzage means "large grass field that may accommodate ten thousand people for sitting, they say. Coral reef cliff and blue Eastern China sea make beautiful view.
	We drove down south through the expressway. We found a typical grave yard at the entrance of Ｇｙｏｋｕｓｅｎｄｏｕ park.
The cavern is an art of nature taking some 300 thousands years.
	The stalactite comes from coral reef. The length of the cavern is five kilometers, the second longest in Japan. Only 890 meters is open to public.
Next to the cavern is Okinawa World in which tourists can experience the history, nature, and culture of Okinawa. We could see Seasar on the roof of an old house.
	Eiser was playing in a good timing. It is a sort of dance dedicated to the ancestors before Bon season in lunatic calendar.
Peace Commemoration Park at Mabuni in Itoman city.
	The cenotaph was built here in memory of war victims on the 50th anniversary of the ending of Okinawa Battle, June 23.
"Peace Fire" will be lit on the memorial day.
Wishing world peace, the names of all the people who died in Okinawa Battle were engraved on the epitaph. As of 2003 June, Okinawa Prefecture victims 148,446, other prefecture victims 75,475, Americans 14,008, totaling 238,429.
	We then visited Himeyuri Grave in the rain. The 222 school girls of Okinawa teacher's high school and Okinawa Daiichi prefectural high school were nursing here in the last moment of the war.
So many young people died in the war. Just beside the grave yard is Himeyuri Commemoration Hall. We saw the memorandums of the survivors. The taxi driver's grand father and grand mother were died in the war. He said us please read the memorandums and other displays to think about what the Okinawa Battle was, and feel the tragedy and foolishness of it.
	We have experienced a sad time in the end. This time meeting in Okinawa was, however, very meaningful for us that we could see many friends of Okinawa Branch together with learning the actual situation of Okinawa today.
I returned home safely.
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