A thousand people, the same day, eight hundred metres from Chibichiri: no one died.
Two men from the village, Higa Heiji, aged seventy-two, and Higa Heizō, aged sixty-three, had been to Hawaii and knew what the Americans were like. On 1 April 1945, when the tanks reached the entrance and panic broke out inside, they said in Okinawan that the Americans do not kill people, and led the people out. There were about a thousand of them. The survivors have placed a memorial stone for the two men inside the cave: it is called the stele of the cave that saved lives.
A natural limestone cave in the hamlet of Namihira, in Yomitan, with two entrances and a total length of 2,570 metres. From March 1945, as the bombing intensified, about a thousand villagers took refuge there.
ℹ️ ⚠️ Since 1 August 2026 you can no longer go inside: the Yomitan tourist association has suspended entry for reasons of geological safety. The visit now stops at the stele at the entrance, where the guide tells the story. There is no dedicated car park: you walk there from the road in five minutes. The village peace guides can be booked on 098-958-6494, at least two weeks ahead.
🚉 波平 · 6 min walk
Holidays in Japan? Plan them with us.Over 2,000 real places, a day-by-day itinerary.FreeOpen the map →Sources: okinawa.stripes.com · showcaves.com · vill.yomitan.okinawa.jp
Nearby
Chibichiri-gama800 mphoto by Vitalie Ciubotaru · CC BY-SA 3.0
Zakimi Castle1.2 kmphoto by Toshihiro Matsui · CC BY-SA 3.0
Murasaki Mura1.3 kmphoto by Abasaa · Public domain
Nirai Beach2 kmphoto by pakku · CC BY 3.0