NAHA -- The site of a command bunker used by the Imperial Japanese Army in Okinawa in the last months of World War II was shown to the media, ahead of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II on Aug. 15.
For the first time in 11 years, the Okinawa prefectural government allowed members of the press to take photographs in one of the five extant tunnels of the 32nd Army facility, part of which runs beneath Shuri Castle in Naha.
The about 150 meter-long, reinforced No. 5 tunnel was entered through a steel door, behind which walls of Ryuku limestone stand about 1.7 meters high and about 2 meters wide.
Crumbling helmets, abandoned boots and rocks that have collapsed from the walls could be seen along the passageway.
A small stream of water flowed through the tunnel, whose walls still contain marks from the pickaxes used during the construction of the bunker.
The tunnel network, whose total length is estimated at more than 1 kilometer, accommodated such facilities as the commander's office, an office of military operation staff and kitchen space.
The command bunker was used in 1945 from late March to late May, after which the headquarters of the 32nd Army withdrew to the southern part of Okinawa Island.
In fiscal 2012, the prefectural government conducted an expert survey of the bunker to assess if it could be opened to the public, but results indicated that ensuring safety would be difficult.
When Shuri Castle was devastated by a fire in October last year, people's attention once again turned to the underground facility.
The Naha city assembly unanimously adopted an opinion paper in June, stating that the site "is an important relic of the war that provides a complete picture of what took place during the Battle of Okinawa. It is essential to preserve and open the site to the public for the sake of passing [the knowledge] on to future generations."
With the number of people who experienced the war declining, few people alive have firsthand knowledge about the command shelter. Shoken Yoza, 91, in Haebaru, Okinawa Prefecture, is one of those few.
Yoza was sent to join the Tekketsu Kinno-tai, a military unit comprising student soldiers, immediately after graduating from Daiichi Middle School -- present-day Shuri High School -- near Shuri Castle, and he was made to carry earth excavated from the tunnels on trolleys.
"If people can look inside the shelter, even if it is only in the vicinity of the entrance, it will help people understand what war was like," Yoza said.
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