Okinawa's battlefield: 80 years after the Second World War with bones and bombs

Okinawa's battlefield: 80 years after the Second World War with bones and bombs

itoman, Japan - the so -called "bone buddler" slips into a narrow gap of a hill in the jungle of Okinawa. He is a small, petite man who cleverly maneuvers his body through the cave entrance and avoids the sharp lime roof and the brittle stone floor. With a headlamp he illuminates the floor in front of him, scratching with a garden unit in the earth, to find the remains of people who had hidden in caves during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II.

The mission of the bone buddler

This is the life's work of Tagamatsu Gushiken, which spends a large part of his free time in such caves on Okinawa, the southernmost prefecture of Japan, to give the victims of one of the most brutal battles of the Pacific War. When asked why he does this work, he briefly thinks and shrugs his shoulders.

"You are people and I am also a person," he says softly, lowered his gaze while his voice breaks up with emotions. Gushiken shows me what he has found in this place so far - parts of a skull from the ear area, smaller bones, possibly from one foot, and even smaller ones that may come from a child or baby.

relics of a cruel past

He also found a ball and speculated what could have happened at this place eight decades ago: a mother and child hid while the battle raged outside. As US troops tried to clean the caves of hidden Japanese defenders, the two civilians, like many on Okinawa, got into the crossfire.

insights into history

Eighty years later, the wounds are still noticeable, which enables visitors to experience history up close. The scaffolding of a Pfandhaus is still on the offshore island of Shima. It is the only building that survived the battles on this 23 square kilometer island, which housed an important runway during the war.

in the former underground headquarters of the Japanese marine in Tomigusuku are the walls drawn by the granats Mass murder. Outside there is a monument with the inscription: "Vice Admiral Minoru Ota and his 4,000 men ... committed suicide on June 18, 1945."

secret sites and unexplored caves

In front of an unmarked cave near the Sefa Utaki Grenate not exploded near the entrance, just a stone's throw away from a busy road. Inside, the traces of the pickaxe from the cave construction are still clearly visible, and the cave opens for a rifle trench position with machine guns.

documentation of the war years

If you visit the okinawa prefectural archives you can see how the area looked during the battles and the after effects. Archivists have compared monitoring and information photos of the US military with the current landscape, which offers an impressive insight into this hell.

Kazuhiko Nakamoto leads the collection of the archives and tries to document the history of the war years and the post -war period. He tells of his mother, who survived the fight in 1945 while she was separated from her parents and was in her grandmother's care.

The memories have remained

The Himeyuri Friedensmuseum is another place that urges suffering in the Second World War. It tells the story of the Himeyuri student corps, young people who were forced to serve for the Japanese military during the battle. These girls provided injured Japanese soldiers in caves like the one who gave the museum their name.

The surviving students report the horrors they experienced, of amputations without anesthesia, the pulling out of maggots from wounds and from the stench that prevailed in the operating cavities - a mixture of human excretions, blood, sweat and decaying meat.

hopes for progress

Gushiken reports that the remains recovered from 1,400 from caves and slaughterhouse were only identified six. He gives the authorities everything he finds, but ultimately it is up to you whether a DNA analysis is possible. Often there is simply not enough bone material to ensure DNA comparison.

Despite the adversity, Gushiken hopes that the authorities will become more proactive when identifying the remains. "I hope the authorities will choose a more active approach to identify the bones, improve their technology and to return as much as possible to families," he says.

the American perspective

If there is an American equivalent to Gushiken on Okinawa, it could be Steph Pawelski. An origin from Pennsylvania and teacher at a school of the US Department of Defense, she manages the Facebook page Okinawa Battle Sites . On an exploration trip, she says that they are interested in the fighting points because their grandfathers both served on Okinawa.

Pawelski describes how she tries through the pictures of her family history to go to the same places where her ancestors once stood. "It felt like the past and the present crossed, which caused a moment of history," she says.

Visitors who have dealt with the story can prepare for a moving and educational journey through the past. Gushiken's efforts and the memories of the Battle of Okinawa are not only important in Japan, but also internationally. It is a necessary memory that reminds us all of the horrors of war and the importance of peace.