As Okinawa Prefecture is about to name the 32nd Japanese Army Headquarters Tunnel for the first time as a historical landmark, Governor Denny Tamaki promises, “We want to activate it as a base for peace studies.” (28no14)

Splendor of Okinawa: Wishbone Flower, roadside Futenma, 22no24


　

Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki held his scheduled press conference on the morning of 28 November. In it, he announced that on 29 November, he will name as a Prefectural Designated Historical Landmark, the Japanese 32nd Army Headquarters Tunnel (Shuri Castle Headquarters Tunnel remains), built under Shuri Castle starting from December of 1944 as the command center for the Japanese Army’s Okinawa Campaign. (Trans. Note: The tunnel is actually a cave tunneled to extend into a series of shafts deep under the castle, as a shelter from Allied bombing.)


This will be the Prefecture‘s first designation of this war relic as a historical landmark. However, the Prefecture already has 56 other designated historical landmarks.


With the 80th anniversary of the campaign looming next year, Governor Tamaki promised, “From an educational viewpoint, we’d like to make this designation for our heritage. We want to activate it as one of our bases for  peace studies to promote the heart of Okinawa.”


The Prefecture is investigating how to excavate  the tunnel. One section of the Headquarters Tunnel, whose inside condition can be determined, will be prioritized  to receive the designation first. So, the first targeted will be the second and third shafts, then the entrance to the fifth shaft and tunnel as a whole. Plans are underway to consider designation of  currently inaccessible areas later, after inspections are carried out.


On the areas prioritized for the designation, Governor Tamaki offered his thoughts, “We’ll do that just so we can give people the experience of getting into it.” As for a timeline for its public opening, the governor stated, “We want to announce that, in turn, after we’ve proceeded with our inspection and the total picture has become clear.”


The governor further explained about the 32nd Army Headquarters Tunnel, noting, “The Okinawa Campaign developed into an organized war of endurance that swallowed up our residents. This was the site where judgments were made on the direction of the battle. So, we want to have the extremely important heritage and value of the reality of the Battle of Okinawa here transmitted to future generations.


The governor emphasized, “In the midst of our concern about the fading of the experience of war and its lessons, this important historic landmark will transmit the preciousness of peace, along with the knowledge of war’s absurdity, its cruelty, and its horror.”


In 1990, the town of Haebaru designated its own Okinawa Infantry Hospital Haebaru Tunnel Complex as a Designated Cultural Asset War Landmark. It thus became the first example of such a designation in the Nation.


(Trans. Note: I may be missing the author’s nuance, but I find too many designated firsts in his article.)


Original Japanese article: Okinawa Times, published Thursday 28 November 2024 at 11:19

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/5ee0b23d218b31920361e2338217abc8b815968e


Denny in the News:

Denny Tamaki is the governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. Although Okinawa is important as an international tourist destination and a key element in strategic US Military Forces, its governor receives very little coverage in the Japanese press and almost none in the English language media. 


This blog hopes to  translate one news article a day on the governor.  It is unsponsored and unauthorized. The translator simply hopes to improve his skills and perhaps give the governor an English speaking audience. 


Any suggestion on improving my translation will be gratefully accepted. However, please leave political comments for another forum.


Where they occur, words and phrases in Ryukyuan (the Okinawan language) are rendered in italics and translated in parentheses. Names  whose readings are uncertain are rendered as Name (=Kanji?) as in Nagayuki (=長行?). Any corrections in such instances would be gratefully appreciated.

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