Peace Memorial Park Okinawa
Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum 沖縄県立平和祈念資料館
The Peace Memorial Museum, south of Naha on the main island of Okinawa is the main memorial to the Battle of Okinawa which took place during World War II on Okinawa's main island.
The Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum's aims are to promote peace through the study and research of the deadly events that took place here and which saw the deaths of 240,000 people both civilian and military in the latter days of the Pacific War in 1945.
Okinawa Peace Hall, Okinawa
Mabuni Hill
The Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum is located on a very large site on Mabuni Hill where the Battle of Okinawa came to a bitter end and where the most bloodshed ensued.
The Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum Peace Zone has a number of separate memorials including the Okinawa Peace Hall, a large tower erected in 1978 which holds a 12m-high statue dedicated to world peace.
Nearby is a memorial to Korean citizens killed during the conflict. The National War Dead Peace Mausoleum built in 1970 holds the ashes of over 180,000 people.
The main Peace Memorial Museum displays photographs and objects relating to the Battle of Okinawa.
The Cornerstone of Peace (Flame of Peace) is fed by flames from both Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as a flame from Zamami, where US forces first landed on Okinawa in 1945. The flame is in the center of a circular pond and is where visiting heads of state come to pay their respects to the dead.
The Cornerstone of Peace is a semi-circular avenue of stones engraved with the names of all the dead in the Battle of Okinawa regardless of nationality.
The Memorial Path includes 32 memorial monuments as well as the place where Lieutenant General Ushima committed suicide.
Peace Memorial Park, Mabuni Hill, Okinawa
Peace Memorial Park, Okinawa
Address
Peace Memorial Museum
614-1 Mabuni, Itoman City
Okinawa
901-0333
Tel: 098 997 3844
Admission: 300 yen
Hours: 9 am to 5 pm
Some recommended places to stay in Naha are:
Hotel Royal Orion, Okinawa Washington Hotel; Okinawa Hotel and Pacific Hotel Okinawa.
Peace Memorial Park, Okinawa
Eternal Flame, Peace Memorial Park, Mabuni Hill
Peace Zone Access
From Naha bus terminal take bus #89 to Itoman bus terminal, then bus #82. By car take National Highway 58 south from Naha city and then National Highway 331. Close by to the Peace Memorial Park are the Okinawa World theme park with Gyokusendo Cave and the Habu Snake Museum and the sacred spot of Sefa Utaki.
Other War Memorials in Okinawa
Other war memorials in Okinawa include the Himeyuri no To Memorial, the Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters and the Tsushima Maru Memorial Museum. The latter two are both in the capital, Naha.
Peace Memorial Park
View Okinawa Map in a larger map
Books on Japan & Okinawa
Peace Memorial Park Okinawa: the Peace Memorial Park in the south of Okinawa Island is a memorial to the over 200,000 people who died in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.
