US troops landed on Zamami on 26 March 1945 at the start of the Battle of Okinawa. Yet Governor Denny Tamaki will be the first prefectural governor in those 80 years to attend its memorial service for that day. (23mr25)

Splendor of Okinawa: Narcissus, roadside Uruma, 22mr25.


It has been 80 years since US Forces landed at Zamami Village on 26 March 1945 at the start of the land phase of the Battle of Okinawa. Governor Denny Tamaki has confirmed that he will visit the village on the 80th anniversary of that day to attend the memorial service, sponsored by the village. The governor stated, “I’ll become the first governor of our prefecture to make the 26 March visit in all these 80 years. I feel that, for all of us, we have a backlog in our history there.”


The governor noted that he had decided to visit Zamami Village due to a meeting at the Prefectural Office, on 21 March, with Mr. Horinyo who had used social media to post him photos, colorized from black and white, which were taken from prior to the start of the campaign through to the end of the war in Okinawa. 


On 26 March 1945, US troops landed on the islands of Aka, Geruma, and Zamami, all under the administration of Zamami Village. The residents had nowhere to escape and were pursued until, forcibly instructed by the Japanese Army, they took their own lives in group suicides.


Original Japanese article: Ryukyu Shimpo, published Sunday 23 March 2025 at 10:21.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/cb84f80694d37eb7ba5cf90dc123ab237e4c19fe


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 the 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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