Fukuda vows to lessen Okinawa burden on 63rd anniversary of battle

NAHA, Japan, June 24 Kyodo - The people in Okinawa Prefecture on Monday marked the 63rd anniversary of the
end of the Battle of Okinawa in the closing stages of World War II, with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda renewing his pledge to make efforts to lessen their burden in hosting U.S. military forces.

During a memorial ceremony held at the Peace Memorial Park on a seaside hill in
the city of Itoman, Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima urged the Japanese and U.S.
governments to reduce and consolidate U.S. bases in Okinawa and lessen
Okinawa's burden in a ''visible'' manner.

Fukuda, Nakaima, House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono and House of
Councillors President Satsuki Eda were among the dignitaries who attended the
ceremony.

More than 200,000 Japanese and U.S. combatants and Japanese civilians died in
the Battle of Okinawa from May through June in 1945 in the only inhabited part
of Japan where ground fighting took place during the war.

This year, the names of 128 people were added to a list of names carved into
stone cenotaphs dedicated to those who perished in the battle. The number of
names now stands at 240,734.

Ceremony participants offered a one-minute silent prayer at noon Monday and
later floral tributes at the peace park.

In his speech, Fukuda said he ''will make best efforts to realize an affluent
livelihood for the Okinawan people'' and ''reduce their burden while listening
to voices of their long-felt need.''

Gov. Nakaima read out an annual peace message offering condolences to the
victims of the battle and renewing a pledge not to wage war again.

Lower house chief Kono referred to the responsibilities of Japan's leadership
in his speech, saying that Okinawa ''had to make a major sacrifice because of
Japanese leaders' failure to put an early end to the war.''

''We must not look away from the suspicion that the Japanese military did not
place its top priority on the safety of the Okinawa residents,'' Kono said.

''We should establish a peaceful diplomatic environment in East Asia, improve
security conditions there, and make, at least, a large U.S. military presence
at the current level unnecessary.''

Meanwhile in the ceremony, a 10-year-old primary school boy read a poem
appealing for peace in the world. ''I wish happiness for all the people. So,
I'd like to look at the world closely. I'd like to listen to the voices of the
world. With gentle hands and with a warm mind,'' said Eisuke Kano, a
fourth-grader at Yomitan Elementary School.

The small island prefecture of Okinawa, which remained under U.S. occupation
after the war, hosts about 75 percent of all U.S. military facilities in Japan
in terms of land area. Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972.

There have been mounting calls among Okinawa residents for a sweeping revision
of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, which allows for preferential
treatment of U.S. military personnel in Japan, particularly since a February
incident of abusive sexual contact with a junior high school girl by a U.S.
Marine.

The United States has agreed to relocate the Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station
from a densely populated area in Ginowan to Nago, both in Okinawa.

But it is not clear when the relocation will be realized due to difficulties in
talks between the central and prefectural governments over a replacement
airfield to be built in Nago.

Last year, Okinawan people were angered by a Japanese education ministry
instruction to cut references in school textbooks to the Japanese military's
role in forcing civilians to commit mass suicides during the Battle of Okinawa.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology later
allowed textbook publishers to bring back the references.==Kyodo