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Prime Minister Attends the Memorial Ceremony to Commemorate the Fallen on the 60th Anniversary of the End of the Battle of Okinawa Thursday, June 23, 2005 JAPANESE Click photographs to enlarge The Memorial Ceremony to Commemorate the Fallen on the 60th Anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa between the US and Japan forces in the closing months of World War II hosted by the Okinawa Prefecture was held on this day designated as the Memorial Day for the War Dead at the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman City, Okinawa Prefecture. There were approximately 5,200 attendants in the ceremony, including Governor Keiichi Inamine of Okinawa Prefecture and others representing the prefecture, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, relevant Cabinet Ministers and the bereaved family members. The attendees prayed for the repose of the souls of over 200,000 people who lost their lives to the war. At the ceremony, people offered a minute of silence at noon. Then they offered flowers after the words of condolences offered by the association of war bereaved families. Following a peace declaration by Governor Inamine, Prime Minister Koizumi said in his address, "This year marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the war. A lot of precious lives were lost in the acrimonious fight during the battle of Okinawa. The deep sense of sorrow and grief still remains in the hearts of the bereaved family members who have lost their loved ones and of the people of Okinawa. We must maintain peace into the future so that we will never experience such a disastrous war ever again." Prime Minister Koizumi further commented on the US military bases in Japan that, "The government is currently discussing with the US government in order to reduce the burden imposed on the locality including Okinawa while maintaining the deterrence offered by the US military in Japan." After the ceremony, Prime Minister Koizumi responded to a question regarding his impression of the ceremony and said, "We should all be grateful and be fully aware of how fortunate we are to be living in peace, and should never forget about the people who lost their lives in these wars." View Video (Available only in Japanese) Real(Narrowband) / Real(Broadband) Windows Media(Narrowband) / Windows Media(Broadband)