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The Battle of Okinawa was the last battle of the Pacific War and the first to be waged on Japanese soil. It has been called the largest sea-land-air battle in history. It was the cruelest battle of the Pacific, pitting some 110,000 Japanese soldiers against 548,000 American troops while slaughtering countless, defenseless inhabitants caught between them.

For the American military, Okinawa became the unwitting battleground in its strategy of establishing a landbase upon which to launch the final assault of the Japanese homeland. For the Imperial Japanese Army, Okinawa was their last defensive stronghold. The land and people were sacrificed to delay the ultimate invasion of Japan.

Three months of desperate combat left Okinawa a "vast field of mud, lead, decay and maggots." Estimates of the death toll include more than 250,000 Americans, Japanese, and Okinawan civilians.

PEACE: "In Okinawa, we say Nuchi du takara: Life is the treasure. Whatever the reasons to fight and kill, however profound the causes or pretexts for war, they can’t justify the result. Human lives are too precious to sacrifice. “ - Masahide Ota

I really respect that the Cornerstone of Peace at the Okinawa Peace Memorial Museum is a memorial that inscribes the names of all who lost their lives during the Battle of Okinawa: Japanese, American, Okinawan and other foreign nationals. All lives are precious.