Okinawa Peace Memorial Park, Itoman, Okinawa.

A trip to the Peace Memorial Park and the Himeyuri Monument may not be the most fun holiday activity, but it is an important place to visit. It offers great insights into the Battle of Okinawa, and a better understanding of the current political situation:

On June 23rd elderly Okinawans heckled the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he gave a speech at Peace Memorial Park on the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa.

On June 25th, during a meeting at the Liberal-Democratic Party headquarters novelist Naoki Hyakuta is said to have claimed that the two newspapers of Okinawa should be shut down because they are critical of the Japanese government.

Okinawa Peace Memorial Park, Itoman, Okinawa.