Eyewitness Accounts of The Battle of Okinawa : OCJC Students Interview Their Grandparents

This paper deals with almost one hundred eyewitness accounts from the Battle of Okinawa. The respondents are mostly the grandparents of students who have studied at Okinawa Christian Junior College over the past five years. The students interviewed the respondents and presented the findings to their classmates. Here, I present an edited record of the testimonies, divided thematically into paragraphs. The aim of the research is to provide an accurate snapshot of life（and death,）between April and June 1945 in Okinawa, Japan. It is felt necessary to preserve these memories depicting war in all its horror, at a time when calls are being made for the revision of Japan’s pacifistic constitution.