Okinawans still haunted by horror of war 70 years on
Itoman (Japan) (AFP) - Seventy years after the Battle of Okinawa, Yoshiko Shimabukuro still has terrifying nightmares of watching friends and Japanese soldiers die as they hid in caves to escape fierce American shelling.
One of 222 female students mobilised as a battlefield nursing unit for the Imperial Army in March 1945, she also suffers deep pangs of guilt for surviving the war while many of her classmates perished in the hell holes that served as military hospitals on the island's southern tip.
We only had basic training in how to put on bandages, but the wounded soldiers they brought in were beyond help, Shimabukuro told AFP ahead of a ceremony Tuesday to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the battle.
They had legs ripped off, their intestines were falling out, faces missing. We simply had no idea what to do. I was 17. We all thought we would be back at school in a week.
Fewer than half of the girls known as the himeyuri students -- an amalgam of the names of the two schools they came from -- survived the 82-day battle, which wiped out a quarter of the subtropical island's population.
Many died after being ordered by Japanese soldiers to leave their caves in a hail of bullets as the enemy closed in. Others plunged off cliffs or blew themselves up with grenades rather than surrender.
We wanted to stay in the caves and die together but the Japanese soldiers sent us away, said Shimabukuro, fighting back tears. People were quickly killed or badly injured. But we couldn't take the injured with us, we had to leave them.
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An elderly couple walks beside a monument commemorating …
An elderly couple walks beside a monument commemorating more than 240,000 people including US soldie …
I still have dreams where I see my dead friends and I wake up screaming. It breaks my heart that I lived and my friends died, without me knowing how, when or where.
- Ritual suicide -
The battle claimed the lives of more than 100,000 Okinawan civilians and 80,000 Japanese troops, whose grim resistance only ended after Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, the senior officer on the island, committed ritual suicide on a cliff.
Almost every family in Okinawa suffered at least one casualty as the US bombardment -- by land, sea and air -- reduced the normally lush, green landscape to a scorched wasteland.
More than 12,000 American troops also perished during the worst bloodshed of the Pacific War, in what many feared at the time was a foretaste of the battle they would have to fight for the Japanese mainland.
That battle never came, thanks in part to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Okinawa was the only part of Japan in which fighting took place in World War II.
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Children pray in front of the monument commemorating …
Children pray in front of the monument commemorating those who died in the battle of Okinawa during …
Shimabukuro lost her two elder siblings and was almost robbed of her sanity in the filthy underground hospitals, where soldiers had limbs amputated with little or no anaesthetic and begged doctors to kill them.
Some troops became deranged and grew violent as toxins infected wounds that were crawling with maggots, according to Shimabukuro..
Okinawa | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:00:48 1 History
00:03:24 1.1 1945–1965
00:05:29 1.2 1965–1972 (Vietnam War)
00:08:22 1.3 1973–2006
00:10:08 1.4 2007–present
00:13:23 1.4.1 Marine Corps Air Station Futenma relocation, 2006–present
00:16:05 1.4.2 Helipads construction in Takae (Yanbaru forest)
00:16:32 2 Geography
00:16:40 2.1 Major islands
00:17:37 2.2 Cities
00:17:51 2.3 Towns and villages
00:18:03 2.4 Town mergers
00:18:11 2.5 Natural parks
00:18:41 2.6 Fauna
00:19:22 2.7 Flora
00:19:40 2.8 Geology
00:20:04 2.9 Climate
00:20:55 3 Demography
00:21:03 4 Language and culture
00:21:21 4.1 Language
00:22:19 4.2 Religion
00:22:40 4.3 Cultural influences
00:23:36 4.4 Other cultural characteristics
00:25:54 4.5 Karate
00:26:28 4.6 Architecture
00:27:30 5 Education
00:28:33 6 Sports
00:29:16 7 Transportation
00:29:24 7.1 Air transportation
00:30:01 7.2 Highways
00:30:38 7.3 Rail
00:30:49 7.4 Ports
00:31:11 8 Economy
00:32:47 9 Military
00:32:55 9.1 United States military installations
00:33:54 10 Notable people
00:36:05 11 See also
00:36:23 12 Footnotes
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Speaking Rate: 0.8750903818171809
Voice name: en-AU-Wavenet-D
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Okinawa Prefecture (Japanese: 沖縄県, Hepburn: Okinawa-ken, Okinawan: ウチナー Uchinaa) is the southernmost prefecture of Japan. It encompasses two thirds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long. The Ryukyu Islands extend southwest from Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu (the southwesternmost of Japan's four main islands) to Taiwan. Naha, Okinawa's capital, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island.Although Okinawa Prefecture comprises just 0.6 percent of Japan's total land mass, about 75 percent of all United States military personnel stationed in Japan are assigned to installations in the prefecture. Currently about 26,000 U.S. troops are based in the prefecture.
KARATE NERD IN OKINAWA | Season 2 (Ep. 6) — Jesse Enkamp
Follow Jesse Enkamp (The Karate Nerd) as he travels to Okinawa - the birthplace of Karate - to teach seminars, train with traditional Karate grandmasters and compete in Kobudo world tournament 2018. This episode features Jesse's Naihanchi (Tekki) kata bunkai flow drill at Asato Dojo with Sensei James Pankiewicz, the new Sakugawa monument unveiling and and Shikinaen Park tour. Visit to learn more!
Music credit: Coastline by Ikson (
#KNIO
Battle of Okinawa | Wikipedia audio article
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Battle of Okinawa
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
The Battle of Okinawa (Japanese: 沖縄戦, Hepburn: Okinawa-sen) (Okinawan: 沖縄戦, translit. Uchinaa ikusa), codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Marine and Army forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. The initial invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The 82-day battle lasted from April 1 until June 22, 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Kadena Air Base on the large island of Okinawa as a base for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, 340 mi (550 km) away.
The United States created the Tenth Army, a cross-branch force consisting of the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th infantry divisions of the US Army with the 1st, 2nd, and 6th divisions of the Marine Corps, to fight on the island. The Tenth was unique in that it had its own tactical air force (joint Army-Marine command), and was also supported by combined naval and amphibious forces.
The battle has been referred to as the typhoon of steel in English, and tetsu no ame (rain of steel) or tetsu no bōfū (violent wind of steel) in Japanese. The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of Japanese kamikaze attacks, and the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific, with approximately 160,000 casualties on both sides: at least 75,000 Allied and 84,166–117,000 Japanese, including drafted Okinawans wearing Japanese uniforms. 149,425 Okinawans were killed, committed suicide or went missing, a significant proportion of the estimated pre-war 300,000 local population.In the naval operations surrounding the battle, both sides lost considerable numbers of ships and aircraft, including the Japanese battleship Yamato. After the battle, Okinawa provided a fleet anchorage, troop staging areas, and airfields in proximity to Japan in preparation for the planned invasion.
Battle of Okinawa | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:02:40 1 Order of battle
00:02:50 1.1 Allied
00:04:38 1.2 Japanese
00:06:50 1.2.1 Military use of children
00:08:16 2 Naval battle
00:11:22 2.1 Operation iTen-Go/i
00:12:49 2.2 British Pacific Fleet
00:13:47 3 Land battle
00:15:09 3.1 Northern Okinawa
00:17:46 3.2 Southern Okinawa
00:28:29 4 Casualties
00:30:13 4.1 Military losses
00:30:22 4.1.1 American
00:34:34 4.1.2 Japanese losses
00:36:38 4.2 Civilian losses, suicides, and atrocities
00:41:54 4.2.1 MEXT controversy
00:46:15 5 Aftermath
00:47:34 5.1 Effect on the wider war
00:49:20 5.2 Memorial
00:49:54 5.3 Modern US base
00:50:25 6 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
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Speaking Rate: 0.909850122171628
Voice name: en-US-Wavenet-E
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
The Battle of Okinawa (Japanese: 沖縄戦, Hepburn: Okinawa-sen) (Okinawan: 沖縄戦, romanized: Uchinaa ikusa), codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Marine and Army forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. The initial invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The 82-day battle lasted from April 1 until June 22, 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Kadena Air Base on the large island of Okinawa as a base for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, 340 mi (550 km) away.
The United States created the Tenth Army, a cross-branch force consisting of the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th infantry divisions of the US Army with the 1st, 2nd, and 6th divisions of the Marine Corps, to fight on the island. The Tenth was unique in that it had its own tactical air force (joint Army-Marine command), and was also supported by combined naval and amphibious forces.
The battle has been referred to as the typhoon of steel in English, and tetsu no ame (rain of steel) or tetsu no bōfū (violent wind of steel) in Japanese. The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of Japanese kamikaze attacks, and the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific, with approximately 160,000 casualties on both sides: at least 75,000 Allied and 84,166–117,000 Japanese, including drafted Okinawans wearing Japanese uniforms. 149,425 Okinawans were killed, committed suicide or went missing, a significant proportion of the estimated pre-war 300,000 local population.In the naval operations surrounding the battle, both sides lost considerable numbers of ships and aircraft, including the Japanese battleship Yamato. After the battle, Okinawa provided a fleet anchorage, troop staging areas, and airfields in proximity to Japan in preparation for a planned invasion.
Ryukyuan religion | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Ryukyuan religion
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language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
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This video uses Google TTS en-US-Standard-D voice.
SUMMARY
=======
The Ryukyuan religion, Ryukyu Shinto (琉球神道), Nirai Kanai Shinkou (ニライカナイ信仰), or Utaki Shinkou (御嶽信仰) is the indigenous belief system of the Ryukyu Islands. While specific legends and traditions may vary slightly from place to place and island to island, the Ryukyuan religion is generally characterized by ancestor worship (more accurately termed ancestor respect) and the respecting of relationships between the living, the dead, and the gods and spirits of the natural world. Some of its beliefs, such as those concerning genius loci spirits and many other beings classified between gods and humans, are indicative of its ancient animistic roots, as is its concern with mabui (まぶい), or life essence.
Over time, Ryukyuan religious practice has been influenced by Chinese religions (Taoism, Confucianism, and folk beliefs), Buddhism and Japanese Shinto. One of its most ancient features is the belief onarigami (おなり神), the spiritual superiority of women derived from Amamikyu, which allowed for the development of a noro (priestess) system and a significant following for yuta (female mediums or shamans).
National Treasures of Japan | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:02:33 1 History
00:02:41 1.1 Background and early protection efforts
00:05:21 1.2 Ancient Temples and Shrines Preservation Law
00:08:16 1.3 Extension of the protection
00:12:29 1.4 Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties
00:15:22 1.5 Recent developments in cultural properties protection
00:18:33 2 Designation procedure
00:20:16 3 Categories
00:21:01 3.1 Castles
00:22:11 3.2 Modern and historical residences
00:22:59 3.3 Structures related to industry, transportation and public works
00:23:46 3.4 Shrines
00:24:55 3.5 Temples
00:25:59 3.6 Miscellaneous structures
00:27:50 3.7 Ancient documents
00:28:39 3.8 Archaeological materials
00:29:43 3.9 Crafts
00:31:19 3.10 Historical materials
00:33:26 3.11 Paintings
00:34:31 3.12 Sculptures
00:36:02 3.13 Writings
00:36:40 4 Preservation and utilization measures
00:40:37 5 Statistics
00:41:52 5.1 Geographical distribution
00:43:27 5.2 Age
00:45:56 6 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
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Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
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There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
A National Treasure (国宝, kokuhō) is the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (a special body of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). A Tangible Cultural Property is considered to be of historic or artistic value, classified either as buildings and structures or as fine arts and crafts. Each National Treasure must show outstanding workmanship, a high value for world cultural history, or exceptional value for scholarship.
Approximately 20% of the National Treasures are structures such as castles, Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, or residences. The other 80% are paintings; scrolls; sutras; works of calligraphy; sculptures of wood, bronze, lacquer or stone; crafts such as pottery and lacquerware carvings; metalworks; swords and textiles; and archaeological and historical artifacts. The items span the period of ancient to early modern Japan before the Meiji period, including pieces of the world's oldest pottery from the Jōmon period and 19th-century documents and writings. The designation of the Akasaka Palace in 2009 and of the Tomioka Silk Mill in 2014 added two modern, post-Meiji Restoration, National Treasures.
Japan has a comprehensive network of legislation for protecting, preserving, and classifying its cultural patrimony. The regard for physical and intangible properties and their protection is typical of Japanese preservation and restoration practices. Methods of protecting designated National Treasures include restrictions on alterations, transfer, and export, as well as financial support in the form of grants and tax reduction. The Agency for Cultural Affairs provides owners with advice on restoration, administration, and public display of the properties. These efforts are supplemented by laws that protect the built environment of designated structures and the necessary techniques for restoration of works.
Kansai, the region of Japan's capitals from ancient times to the 19th century, has the most National Treasures; Kyoto alone has about one in five National Treasures. Fine arts and crafts properties are generally owned privately or are in museums, including national museums such as Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nara, public prefectural and city museums, and private museums. Religious items are often housed in temples and Shinto shrines or in an adjacent museum or treasure house.
Interview with Lawrence A. Mike Busha, WWII veteran. CCSU Veterans History Project
Interview conducted by Eileen Hurst. Busha enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on September 1, 1943. He chose the Marine Corps because of its reputation for being the best, according to Busha. After basic training on Parris Island (SC), Busha went on to be a rifle instructor for incoming recruits at the camp. After 6 months of instructor duty, he was transferred to Camp Lejeune and Camp Pendleton for additional training. In April of 1945, he was shipped to Okinawa where he fought on the front lines in the Battle of Okinawa, the bloodiest battle in Pacific during World War II. Busha describes in detail what the Marines endured on the front lines in Okinawa. After Okinawa, his platoon was sent to Guam to prepare for an invasion of Japan, however the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki before he was sent in. Busha finished out his time in the Marine Corps as part of a brig detachment in Tsingtao, China. He was sent home in the spring of 1946. On the train ride to Maryland, where he was to be discharged, his car derailed and killed or injured many of the marines aboard the train. He returned to New York for a time, but eventually moved to Connecticut where he worked at Bristol Brass for many years, becoming a member and leader in the United Auto Workers Union. He was later named Deputy Labor Commissioner in Connecticut because of his work with the union. He still keeps in touch with members of his squad through reunions and the division newsletter.
Welcome & Intros—Art in the Service of Understanding—Boston—March 10
The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) is partnering with HowlRound to livestream the convening Art in the Service of Understanding: Bridging Artists, Military, Veterans, and Civilian Communities on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Friday, March 10 to Sunday, March 12.
Use Twitter hashtag #artsandmilitary to participate in online conversation, and follow the HowlRound Journal Series related to the convening.
The convening in Boston brings together key stakeholders from the arts, healthcare, and military communities together for deep discussion on practices, learning, challenges, and impact around creating and presenting arts projects addressing military and veterans issues. The goal is to advance the investigation of art in building bridges between military and civilian communities, methodologies for artist-military collaborations, and to explore the case for further investment.
Friday, March 10, 2017 (all times in Eastern Standard Time (USA), UTC-5)
12:00-12:45 p.m. Welcome
12:45-2:15 p.m. Introductions
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