Himeyuri no To and memorial museum

photo by Toshihiro Matsui · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by kamiosaki · CC BY-SA 3.0

A full-size model of the hospital cave where they died, in the museum next door.

The monument stands above what was the third surgical shelter of Ihara, where in 1945 the ひめゆり student corps, pupils mobilised as nurses by the Japanese army, were caught by the American attack together with the wounded they were caring for. The museum next door, opened in 1989, displays the portraits and personal belongings of the 227 students and teachers who died, video testimonies of the survivors and a full-scale replica of the hospital tunnel where many of them lost their lives.

The monument was erected in 1946, the year after the end of the Battle of Okinawa, in memory of the pupils of the Women's Normal School and the First Girls' High School of Naha who were mobilised as a nursing corps. The museum beside it is run by the association of surviving former pupils.

ℹ️ The open-air cenotaph can always be visited freely. The museum is open all year 9:00–17:25 (entry until 17:00): adults 310 yen, students 210, children 110.

🚉 ひめゆりの塔 · 1 min walk

Sources: okinawastory.jp

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