PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — Dozens of descendants of Japanese soldiers killed in World War II visited Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Thursday to pay respects to fallen U.S. soldiers.
Nippon Izokukai, the Bereaved Family Association of Japan, sent about 36 children, grandchildren and other relatives of fallen Japanese soldiers to the U.S. to mark the 70th anniversary of the group’s founding.
With the rusted hull of the USS Arizona beneath them, the group laid flowers and a wreath at the memorial after touring the Pacific Aviation Museum and the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor. The group’s vice president, Yukio Udagawa, bowed his head in prayer as he and others honored those entombed in the warship just below the turquoise waters of Pearl Harbor.
“We used to be the enemy, but now are the closest of friends,” Udagawa said through a translator after the ceremony. His father was drafted by the Japanese before Udagawa was born, and died in World War II fighting when his son was 3 years old. “We are true allies in the world.”
The Izokukai group met with two Japanese-Americans at the site, Lynn Heirakuji and Byrnes Yamashita of the Nisei Veterans Legacy in Honolulu.
Yamashita’s father was a U.S. Army soldier in World War II, and he said while he understands the reasons for the war, he is sorry for the lives lost when the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“As an American, particularly a Japanese-American, I have a lot of regrets and sorrow for what my country did to their country at those two locations,” Yamashita said. “Our two countries are very strong allies in peace for the future.”
On Friday, they will visit the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, where the group will present paper cranes, a symbol of peace and healing in Japanese culture. They will then travel to Washington for visits to Arlington National Cemetery and the Iwo Jima Memorial.
The Izokukai group was established in 1947 to support families of Japanese soldiers killed in the war. As its original members have grown older and its membership has declined, their offspring say they are seeking a way to convey a message of peace.
