Japan's Emperor Naruhito visited Iwo Jima on Monday to pay tribute to those who died on the island where one of the fiercest battles of World War II took place 80 years ago.
The visit was the first for Naruhito and his wife, Empress Masako, who were both born after the war, to the island.
They planned to pray at three memorial sites and meet with representatives of the victims' families and descendants of the island's former residents.
In his 65th birthday speech in February, marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, Naruhito stressed the importance of preserving the memory of the war and passing on knowledge to younger generations about the tragedies of that time.
Japan invaded vast regions of Asia in the name of his grandfather, Emperor Hirohito.
The island, now known as Iwo-to, was the scene where Japanese and American troops clashed in one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
The Battle of Iwo Jima lasted from February 19 to March 26, 1945, as the United States sought to capture a strategically important objective to further advance on the Japanese mainland.
Despite U.S. expectations that the Japanese would be defeated in a matter of days, Japanese soldiers used underground tunnels and resisted for five weeks. This episode of military history has inspired many books and films.
Almost all of the more than 21,000 Japanese and about 7,000 American soldiers were killed.
More than half of the remains of Japanese soldiers remain missing to this day.
All 1,100 residents of Iwo Jima, except 103 drafted men, were forcibly evacuated to mainland Japan.
Former residents and their descendants are allowed to visit the island for memorial events, but they cannot live there.
The emperor's visit to Iwo Jima came about 10 days after Japan and the University of Washington held a joint memorial service to mark the end of the Battle of Iwo Jima in late March, when Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani joined U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, other officials and several veterans who survived the battle to honor the dead on both sides.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
