Shigemitsu Tanaka of the Atomic Bombing Victims Association participated for the first time in Okinawa’s “Souls Day” memorial service, where the governor of Okinawa promised to join in union with the atomic bombed areas to work together to abolish nuclear weapons. (24jn25)

Habranthus Roubustus, roadside Chatan, 23jn25


On 23 June, Okinawa held its “All Souls Day” to remember the more than 200 thousand victims of the Okinawa Campaign 80 years ago. At the memorial service, a victim of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Shigemitsu Tanaka, also participated. The memorial service for all the war dead in Okinawa was held from the afternoon of 23 June at the Peace Memorial Garden at Mabuni in Itoman, Okinawa.


Attending the service, in addition to Prime Minister Ishiba, were UN Undersecretary General of Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu and Japan Atomic Bombing Victims Association Representative Shigemitsu Tanaka, a victim of the Nagasaki bombing. attending for the first time.



Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki stated in his address, “The 80th year since the end of the war offers us one guidepost. At least for myself, even if we can’t change Okinawa just now, we can continue to proclaim peace from Okinawa. I firmly believe that our activities are what bind us to world peace.”


Governor Denny Tamaki alluded to the US-Japan Security Agreement as increasing confusion. He further expressed his intention of proceeding to work zealously in alliance with Hiroshima and Nagasaki toward  nuclear disarmament and the abolition of nuclear weapons.


On 22 June, prior to the memorial service, Mr. Tanaka and Governor Tamaki held a discussion. In it, Governor Tamaki noted, “I have been deeply inspired by you, in ways words can’t express, but I offer you my deepest respect for continuing on all this way.”


Mr. Tanaka responded, “The choice of using nuclear weapons is still with us. We can’t accept even the very utterance of those words!”


Governor Tamaki replied, “Targeting the necessity of abolishing nuclear weapons, we must raise our voices vigorously. We can’t let our not speaking out be taken as silent acquiescence.”


80 years have passed since the war’s end.  But in Okinawa, the way of passing along memories is again made evident from the speeches of politicians, taking in the display of memorial structures.


Original Japanese article: Television Nagasaki, published Monday 23 June 2025 at 18:47.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/35439dbf74329b4ff2e9d2c1157e9d79b46efe9f


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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