Himeyuri Peace Memorial Museum @ Okinawa, Japan

Heavy heart after visit…

I think this place is worth visiting.

Really thankful that our friend brought us here. He was the one who told me about Okinawa history. After that, visiting this museum makes it more vivid.

Back in school, I learned about WW2 in school and Singapore local dramas about how the Japanese invaded Singapore and Asia. My history teacher was passionate about teaching but during examinations, it was all about memorising facts… I do not see the point of memorising. I felt the teaching were very one-sided.

I grew up with my parents telling me how Japanese are very cruel during war. It is funny because my parents were born after WW2… They did not experience it at all…

Honestly, with all these, I cannot help but to have bias opinion towards Japanese. I did not go to the extend of hate. I realised people can be very ill-informed about many things and I was one of them.

First of all, war is evil. Second, most of the victims are civilians (women, children and the old). Lastly, no one will gain from war.

Back to my visit to the museum. It was very well thought. It really brings you through the process of what really happened. How the children were “used” to fight against the American troops when they thought it was just “nursing” the Japanese soldiers.

I read and cried. It was so cruel as they were just children. I saw many people cried, both men and women. The were videos of the survivors and they explained their experiences. One of videos, the teachers and students were handed grenades by the soldiers. They were asked to commit suicide if capture by the Americans.

Below is the floor plan of the museum

Photo Credits: http://www.himeyuri.or.jp

 

I could not remember how long I took to complete all. Just take as much time as you need because I think one need some time to digest before heading to the next.

One of the comments from the visitors

By the way, pictures were not allowed. I manage to find one from BBC news and used it as the featured image.

Below is their official website in English

http://www.himeyuri.or.jp/EN/info.html

Admission Fees
Adults ¥310
High School Students ¥210
Elementary and Junior High School Students ¥110

Address: 671-1 Ihara, Itoman City, Okinawa 901-0344
Operating hours: Japan holiday, hours might differ
Mon – Sun 09:00am – 5.30pm (last admission 5pm)
Tel: +81-98-866-1010

I really recommend this museum if you ever visit Okinawa.

Till then…