posted October 28, 2007 11:43 PM         

The holiest of all the spots on earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love.

It filled up my heartspace to overflowing. Had to share.

posted October 30, 2007 05:12 AM         

The hushed voices of visiting students break the heavy July stillness. Monuments glint in the dappled sunlight beneath the trees. Birds twitter softly in the hot sun. Complete strangers greet each other with a friendly handshake. The peace and serenity of the park muffles the hectic world like a blanket.

Okinawa Peace Memorial Park is a tribute to the more than 200,000 Japanese, American, and British military personnel who perished during the Battle of Okinawa. Among the number, Korean, Taiwanese and Okinawan civilians also lost their lives during the fight.

The fallen are remembered by The Cornerstone of Peace, a monument where their names are engraved. The monument is divided by three walk ways. On the anniversary of the war's end, June 23, the sun lights the central path of the monuments. An eternal flame burns in front of them as a tribute to the people who lost their lives.

You can also find the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum in the park. The museum opened April 1, 2000. It contains five rooms that feature displays ranging from peaceful exhibits to depictions of war.

The first room in the museum is called "Road to the Battle of Okinawa." Here you will find out how the Japanese military gained land and power around the world prior to World War II.

The second, third and fourth rooms paint the picture of how Okinawa's geography and population was destroyed during the war. Photographs and eye-witness testimonials help visitors understand the pain and suffering caused by war.

The fifth room displays how the Okinawan lifestyle reemerged after the war.

The museum also contains a 'peace' library. The facility contains literature, videos and computers that provide detailed information concerning the exhibits in the park. The resources also provide comprehensive explanations about each exhibit.

The tallest building in the area, the Okinawan Peace Hall, is easy to spot. The hall houses the Prayer for Peace Buddhist statue, a series of "War and Peace" paintings and the Sacred Stone Chamber.

Local artist, Shinzan Yamada, spent 18 years to create the statue, which was inspired by his two sons who were killed in the Battle of Okinawa. The statue was created using a unique Okinawan lacquer-ware technique called Tsuikin. It is the largest "Tsuikin" lacquer statue in the world.

The Sacred Stone Chamber located under the statue, contains stones from various parts of Japan and other countries. The stones are the foundation for the statue.

One can hardly see the history of violence and sadness sewn into the scenic beauty of Peace Memorial Park. There are stone pavilions overlooking the cliffs and ocean that border one side of the park. Here, visitors can see the suicide cliffs and much of the park. Below there is a beach that visitors can reach by taking a long, winding stone and dirt path down the cliffs through the forest.

The Okinawa Prefectural government created the park to promote peace and to remind people of the price of war and its affect on humanity.

Peace Memorial Park

The following link is just an example of the kinds of events that have taken place there since. This one is particularly important as it shows how people from different backgrounds and with difficult pasts can still come together for truth. In this case, many Okinawan citizens, Japanese citizens and American citizens came together to protest an order by the Ministry of Education in Japan to gloss over some of the nastier aspects of the Japanese government's role during the battle for Okinawa in WWII.
Peace Torch Relay to begin Saturday rally