Peace Museum 2011

In 2011, I went to Okinawa to attend the 5th Worldwide Okinawan Festival.

While there, we visited the Peace Memorial Museum. I had seen it before, five years prior, but this time I took many more pictures of the grounds. I hardly spent any time in the museum itself.

What is the Peace Memorial Museum?

The website states, "The Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum was established to display the range of individual war experiences of the people in this prefecture, to mourn for those who perished during the war, pass on to future generations the historic lessons of the Battle of Okinawa, and convey our message to the peoples of the world."

I took almost this same shot last time. I love the way the hallway leads to the ocean horizon.

It would be a lovely location if you did not know the history behind it. As it is I found it incredibly peaceful and sad, to think of all the people who died there who would have wanted very much to enjoy a quiet sunny day instead.


Here's the corridor, looking towards the ocean.		Here is the corridor looking back toward the museum.


This section of the corridor has design elements that remind me of China more than Japan.

The Battlefield

The former battlefield now contains a series of stone monuments with the names of everyone who died there, no matter which side they were on, as well as an eternal flame.

Here is the walkway, flanked by stone monuments engraved with the names of the dead. I imagine is it somewhat similar to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC.


Here is the fountain, very dramatic		The fountain plaza overlooks the ocean cliff. It is a stunning site.

Visitors at the Peace Museum overlooking the ocean

Here are some Japanese tourists at the fountain plaza.

My Dad is way on the other side of the plaza, with the briefcase in his hand

It was a beautiful day there, hot and sunny

I imagine these trees were planted especially for the memorial. From the photos I saw, there didn't appear to be many trees left standing after the war.

People leave flowers at the Peace Museum memorial

There are many markers at the Peace Museum

Workers at the Peace Museum
Some workers were taking the templates off of some of the stone memorials.