Peace Prayer Park

A visit to Peace Prayer Park has been on my list since arriving in Okinawa, but the historical things seem, for whatever reason, to be last on my "Okinawa bucket list" to get crossed off.  Since Christy was in town and the weather was strangely less humid than usual on Wednesday, we took a drive down to Naha to see this historical landmark.

The Battle of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest of World War II.  Peace Prayer Park is a memorial to the more than 200,000 soldiers (Okinawan and American) and civilians who lost their lives during the 90-day battle in March 1945.  Set on a large expanse of land, Peace Prayer Park is located high on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Cliffs like these are where many Okinawans - in some cases entire families - took their own lives by jumping to their deaths upon news of being taken by Americans or the death of a loved one. 

When we first arrived at the park, an Okinawan woman sold us a bouquet of flowers with a scroll/lump of pencil lead.  Christy quickly deduced that you were to find the name of your loved one and use the lead and paper to create an imprint of the name you were there to find.  We saw the rows and rows and rows of names and quickly felt overwhelmed.  Since we had no person to memorialize, we dropped our flowers at the general park memorial that explains the spirit of Peace Prayer Park.



The thing I most loved about this park is that it truly exemplifies the Japanese spirit of peace by acknowledging not only the deaths of Okinawans, but by Americans as well.  For a people who lost so much - their people, their land, their independence - their generous spirit of acknowledging the American loss is truly touching.

 Afterward, we drove to the top of a mountain and found an elusive cafe called Thai in the Sky.  The restaurant has beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean and we were able to let the kids burn off a little steam outside that had come to a head during dinner... :)





This place has quite an extensive dinosaur collection.  I've always wondered what the story is behind it, but my Japanese is definitely not up to par to ask that question!


Another great day in Okinawa made even more special by the addition of family!