“War is a mistake” 94-year-old survivor of the Battle of Okinawa decries Russian invasion on Naha’s streets

“War is a mistake” 94-year-old survivor of the Battle of Okinawa decries Russian invasion on Naha’s streets

Akio Gima holding a sign protesting the invasion of Ukraine – February 28, Asato Crossroads, Naha


March 1, 2022 Ryukyu Shimpo

By Masatoshi Inafuku

 

The Asato – Daido – Matsugawa Island-wide Association gathered at Asato Crossroads in Naha, raising placards calling for peace and protesting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The group included someone who lived through the Battle of Okinawa, who said, “What is necessary is not war, but peace and friendship.”

Akio Gima, 94, who was pressed into the Blood and Iron Student Corps in the Battle of Okinawa to dig trenches for the Japanese Imperial Army’s (JIA) 32nd field fortification corps, raised a placard with “bridge of nations” written on it, calling for an end to war to commuters on their way to work. In the Battle of Okinawa, Gima weaved his way between the Ryukon Go Cave being used by the students and the 32nd Army. When the tide of the battle started to go sour, he retreated to Nanbu along with the (JIA). He lost many friends during this time.

“It was all I could do to keep myself alive. Before the battle I thought there was no way the ‘land of the gods’ could be defeated, but I quickly came to realize that was not the case,” he reflected, and gave a sharp insight of the invasion of Ukraine, saying, “War itself is a mistake.”

The person who raised the idea of the protest was the associations sponsor, Taizan Maezato, 77. He raised his concerns of the increasing calls for additional military fortifications in Okinawa in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine and the emergency in Taiwan, commenting, “The bases themselves are a source of the increasing tensions. Now is the time to make appeals for peace and friendship.”

(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)

 

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