Okinawa Battle Sites Tour
Okinawa is a beautiful Island that is part of the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. Today, visitors flock to Okinawa to stay at the resorts, participate in water activities, attend festivals, and visit some of the WWII sites. Okinawa was the site of one of WWII’s most bloodiest battles. When traveling to Okinawa, visitors have a chance to explore many of the historic battle sites, from hiking to the top of Hacksaw Ridge, one of Okinawa’s most famous sites to learning more about the battle at the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum. Joining an Okinawa Battle Sites Tour is one of the best ways to learn about the history of Okinawa during WWII and see some of the most famous sites.
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The Battle of Okinawa took place on the island of Okinawa between US forces and the Imperial Japanese Army beginning April 1st 1945 lasting until June 22nd 1945. The Battle of Okinawa was the bloodiest battle for the fight in the Pacific War where upwards to 12,000 Americans and over 100,000 Japanese lost their lives. Another 100,000+ citizens lost their lives on the Island by either being killed in combat or death by suicide. The US invasion of Okinawa was part of Operation Iceberg. The goal of this operation was to seize and control the Ryukyu Islands before pushing upward toward Mainland Japan.
On April 1st, the American troops set foot on the beaches of Okinawa, surprisingly with little to no resistance. The majority of the Japanese Imperial Army were waiting in southern Okinawa at an area known as the Shuri Defense Line.
April 26th was when the American troops arrived at The Maeda Escarpment otherwise known as Hacksaw Ridge. Hacksaw Ridge is a 400 ft. cliff that the Japanese used as a stronghold to hold off the American troops. The Japanese Army utilized the terrain here to construct underground tunnels and bunkers. Because of this and the terrain, the American Troops were forced to scale the cliff to attack the enemy. The battle at Hacksaw Ridge lasted eleven days before the US Troops eventfully took over. There were several more battles after Hacksaw Ridge, but on June 22nd 1945 General Ushijima and his Chief of Staff General Cho performed a ritual suicide which ultimately led to the end of the Battle of Okinawa.
Okinawa Battle Sites Tour
The tour company on Camp Foster offers an Okinawa Battle Sites Tour a few times a month. I understand, not everyone traveling to Okinawa has access to the bases, but I am sure there are similar Battle Site Tours offered by companies outside the military bases. In reality, we could have visited all the sites offered by the tour by ourselves, but I figured we would learn a lot more by taking the tour and hearing it from someone that actually knows their Okinawan history.
The Okinawa Battle Sites Tour was an all day event and visited four sites around southern Okinawa. The four locations included in this particular tour included a visit to Hacksaw Ridge, The Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters, the Battle of Okinawa Historical Society Museum at Camp Kinser, and the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum and Park.
Hacksaw Ridge
I’ll be honest, I’ve never heard of Hacksaw Ridge until my favorite director and actor Mel Gibson made a movie about it. Even then, I thought it was a great movie but never paid attention to the location or where it took place. In fact, I had no clue it was in Okinawa until I saw it on the tour pamphlet. Come to find out it’s only 15.5 kilometers (9.6 miles) from where I currently live. Because I knew the name based on the movie, I was very much looking forward to coming here on the tour and see the actual site.
The movie focused primarily on the war hero Desmond Doss. Doss was a combat medic and Seventh Day Adventist Christian who refused to carry a firearm in to battle. Doss was awarded several medals including the Medal of Honor for his bravery. Doss saved between 50-100 wounded soldiers, putting his life at risk on numerous occasions. He was wounded four times to include being shot by a sniper bullet in the arm and getting shrapnel lodged in his body after stepping on a grenade. To this day he is the only Conscientious Objector. I had to look that one up but it is someone who refuses to perform military service. He left Okinawa on May 21, 1945. In 2003, he made an appearance in Okinawa, our tour guide actually met him. Today on Hacksaw Ridge the rock still remains that he used to lower wounded soldiers to safety. We know this because he actually pointed it out when he was here. Desmond Doss died March 23, 2006.
Today, Hacksaw Ridge is a nice expansive park with playgrounds, walking trails, castle ruins, and a royal mausoleum. The Urasoe Joseki Castle Ruins are the remnants of a castle here from the 13th century. The castle was burned down in 1609 by the Satsuma Domain. The ruins were then used by the Japanese as protection during the war. Another well known site within the park is the Urasoe Youdore constructed in 1261. According to online sources, there are three royal mausoleums in the Ryukyu Kingdom and this was one of them. This mausoleum is the final resting place for three rulers and one king of the Ryukyu Kingdom. The mausoleum was heavily damaged during the war but has gone through restoration processes to restore it.
Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters
At the time, this was not included in the tour I was on because COVID-19 restricted large groups, so I visited this historical site on my own.
The Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters is open to visitors. There is no need to make a reservations for visiting. During opening hours, visitors can come here, visit the museum, and walk around the underground tunnel complex.
In 1944, thousands of men put in very hard work to dig out the Navy Underground Headquarters. The tunnel is about 20 meters deep and there are about 450 meters of tunnels with a few entrances/exits. During the war, the tunnels were large enough to house around 4,000 soldiers.
Rear Admiral Ota Minoru was the Commanding Officer of the Japanese forces in Okinawa and used the Underground Headquarters to send a telegraph to the Navy Vice Admiral in Tokyo basically saying that the people of Okinawa fought their hearts out. US forces stormed the island and Rear Admiral Ota knew that they would be defeated. Rear Admiral Ota and six other officers committed suicide in the Underground Headquarters on June 13, 1945.
Today, visitors can explore the Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters. The entrance to the tunnels begins with walking down 105 stairs. There are several pathways to walk around, there are arrows guiding visitors on the recommended route. On the tour, you can visit the Staff Officer’s Room. The walls of the room are covered in holes from a grenade that was used by the officers when they decided to end their lives. Visitors can also see other rooms throughout the tunnels to include the Petty officer’s room, medical room, generator rooms, and the Commanding Officer’s room.
Battle of Okinawa Historical Society Museum
The next stop on the Okinawa Battle Sites Tour was to the Battle of Okinawa Historical Society Museum located on Camp Kinser. The museum is on a military base so not everyone can access it. But if anyone does have access, you would have to make an appointment to view the museum or join one of the tours.
The museum is operated by volunteers and all of the items on display (photos, artifacts, memorabilia) are donated by collectors, locals, and veterans. Many of the artifacts have been found during construction projects or items washed up ashore and donated to the museum. The museum is divided showing sections of the Marine Corps, Army, and Navy, there is even a section dedicated to Japan. For being a small museum, I felt it had a lot of interesting artifacts and detailed articles. The museum had old newspapers and magazine articles covering the war, soldier uniforms, and a vast collection of weapons.
Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum
The Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum was the last stop of the tour. The Peace Memorial Museum is located at the southern tip of the island and is the main memorial for all the victims of the Battle of Okinawa.
Unfortunately, for this tour we only had about an hour here which is not nearly enough time to cover the entire park and museum. We had just enough time to walk the perimeter and visit some of the observatory decks. But there is a lot to this park and I would say 6 hours is needed here to fully explore the park and museum.
One of the more recognizable monuments here at the park is the Cornerstone of Peace. Like the Vietnam Memorial in D.C., this memorial is made up of large stones with names of the fallen etched in them. There are over 240,000 names etched in the stones to include all nationalities.
After visiting the Cornerstone of Peace, we walked this beautiful sidewalk with memorials that were donated from each Japanese Prefecture. We didn’t have time to view each memorial, but everyone we walked by was absolutely beautiful. The grounds at the Peace Park are kept in immaculate condition.
Although we didn’t have much time to explore the park, I am glad we managed to stop here and see a few memorials within the park. We definitely plan on coming back at some point on our own. Next time we visit the Peace Memorial Park we will check out the museum and take our time viewing the memorials.
Update – On February 19, 2022, I visited the museum during a rainy weekend. The museum was impressive and full of information related to the war. The museum didn’t take sides or point fingers. Instead, it provided first hand accounts from the war and showed how everyone on the island was affected by it. The museum had amazing displays and very sad stories and graphic images.
There was a room with personal testimonies from civilians that were on Okinawa during the war. There were several prints to read in both English and Japanese. I spent about a half hour reading these testimonies and they were gut wrenching. Many of the stories were told by children and young adults as they tell their stories of the horrors they witnessed. I could have spent hours going through the hundreds of stories.
Below is a photo I took from an observation deck near the Cornerstone of Peace area. The whole coastline at the Peace Park is just gorgeous!
Location Information
Hacksaw Ridge in Urasoe Daikoen Park
Address: 2 Chome-53 Nakama, Urasoe, Okinawa 901-2103
Admission: Free
Hours of Operation: Every Day from 0900 to 2100.
Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters
Address: 236 Tomigusuku, Okinawa 901-0241
Admission: ¥450 per person
Hours of Operation: Daily from 0830 to 1700
Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum
Address: 444 Mabuni, Itoman, Okinawa 901-0333
Admission: ¥300 for Adults, ¥150 for Children
Hours of Operation: Park is open 24 hours. Museum is open daily from 0900 to 1700.
Conclusion
An Okinawa Battle Sites Tour is the best way to explore some of Okinawa’s most popular WWII sites. For visitors that do not have access to the on base tours, most of these sites can be visited without a tour, I hope this post is helpful in that regard and gives enough information for each battle site. If interested in exploring Okinawa’s WWII history, I recommend starting with Hacksaw Ridge and ending at the Peace Memorial Park. If visiting Okinawa, please do enjoy the nice weather and beaches but also set a day aside to check out some of the history and battle sites.
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3 Comments
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Ives Pflanzner
Iam looking for a Battlefield Tour in Okinawa on Satirday
I stay at the Hilton Seseko.
It is possible
Regards
Ives Pflanzner
zimminaround
Unfortunately, outside of the one that is offered through the US military installation, there are no WWII tours on Okinawa that I can find. There might be private tour guides but I can’t really recommend any. If you are renting a car, many of these sites you can drive to and thankfully there are English translations at the sites and museums.