滝本 匠 
June 12, 2022 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Takahiro Kina
Fukushima residents Kazuyuki Inafuku, 50, a farmer from Shuri, Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture, and his wife Yuri, 37, hosted a screening of the documentary film Himeyuri (directed by Shohei Shibata) at Fukushima Prefecture’s Tamura City Hall, on May 14.
Kazuyuki, who was born in the year of Okinawa's reversion to Japan, organized the screening and talk event with director Shibata to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the reversion. Seventy Tamura City residents joined.
The baring film's ending song, Wakare no Kyoku (Farewell Song) was penned by Fukushima Koriyama Commercial High School alum and former Japanese army second lieutenant, Hiroshi Ota. Ota dedicated the lyrics to the all-girls Himeyuri students before their graduation ceremony, after he was drafted to fight in the Battle of Okinawa.
The event's organizer Kazuyuki said, "50 years after its reversion to Japan, Okinawa is still not in a position to celebrate; but I wanted to do what I can to commemorate the milestone of the reversion. I am elated we were able to show the film in Fukushima, given its connection with the Himeyuri Students Corps."
Kazuyuki's wife Yuri, a native of Fukushima, said: "I tear up thinking about the Himeyuri Student Corps. The words spoken by the survivors, who carried with them the heartbreaking experiences, memories, and emotional scars of the Battle of Okinawa, have left a deep impression on me."
(English translation by T&CT and Monica Shingaki)
