田吹 遥子 
On June 1, the Okinawa Prefecture Women’s Empowerment and Peace Promotion Division announced that an additional 55 names will be carved into the Cornerstone of Peace in Mabuni, Itoman. The Cornerstone of Peace has the names of individuals who lost their lives during the Battle of Okinawa carved into it. The new additions are the result of work by Yasuo Minamino of the Okinawa Ari no Kai, a group that works to collect the remains of the war dead. Twenty-four army civilian sailors from Hiroshima are included in the names to be added. One name that was included twice will be removed, bringing the total number of names carved into the stone to 241,686.
Minamino compared the National Diet Library’s record of sailors killed in battle to the database for the Cornerstone of Peace and found that approximately 400 individuals from 37 prefectures outside of Okinawa were missing from the stone. Among them are 39 army civilian sailors from Hiroshima.
Minamino received assistance from Sadao Okamoto, professor emeritus at Hiroshima University of Economics, which Minamino has ties to, and petitioned the Hiroshima Prefecture Social Assistance Division to apply for the names to be added. According to representatives of Hiroshima Prefecture, these days it is rare to submit the names of tens of people who were casualties of the Battle of Okinawa at one time, but they submitted all 39 of the names.
Minamino is happy to have the names of the people from Hiroshima added to the Cornerstone. He says, “The Cornerstone of Peace will still be here more than a century from now. It’s incredibly meaningful to have proof that these 24 people lived carved into the stone.” On the other hand, he says, “Compared to the work done to find servicemembers, there hasn’t been enough done to find the names of army civilians.” Now, 77 years after the war, there can also be large differences between prefectures in how aware people are of the Battle of Okinawa war dead. Minamino says he will continue working to raise awareness.
The breakdown of the 55 names that will be added to the Cornerstone of Peace is as follows: 27 from Okinawa, 28 from other prefectures. Of the Okinawans, four are from Naha, three are from each of Motobu, Nago, and Okinawa City, two are from each of Uruma, Kadena, Yonabaru, and Miyajima, and one is from each of Izena, Ginoza, Nakagusuku, Urasoe, Tomigusuku, and Ishigaki. Of the people from other prefectures, there are 24 from Hiroshima and one from each of Yamaguchi, Kagawa, Saga, and Kagoshima.
The date that the names will be added is still being decided. The Cornerstone of Peace was unveiled on June 23, 1995.
(English translation by T&CT and Ellen Huntley)
Go to Japanese https://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/entry-1526980.html
