Around 700 residents in the Kerama Islands were driven to mass suicide during the Battle of Okinawa, but one boy's desperate plea helped the island of Aka escape the same fate. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/05/26/japan/okinawa-island-war-history/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #okinawa #battleofokinawa #akaisland #fukuoka #kyushu #wwii
How a remote island escaped mass suicide in Battle of Okinawa

Residents had been told that, if captured, women would be assaulted and men mutilated by U.S. soldiers.

The Japan Times