Latest news with #NipponIzokukai
Yomiuri Shimbun
02-06-2025
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Final Tour Program Memorializing Japan's WWII Dead Sets Sail; 11 Day Cruise to Kyushu, Philippines, On-board Memorial Services Planned
The Yomiuri Shimbun Family members of those killed in World War II wave from the deck of the Nippon Maru to well-wishers seeing them off at Kobe Port in Kobe on Sunday. The final voyage of a program touring waters that became battlefields in World War II began Sunday. The large passenger ship Nippon Maru, carrying family members of the war dead, set sail from Kobe Port. The program commemorates the war dead. The voyage was part of a memorial and goodwill program launched in 1991 by the Nippon Izokukai (Japan War-Bereaved Families Association). Similar voyages were also held in 2011 and 2016. Since many participants are advanced in age, the association decided to end the program this fiscal year, making this the final voyage. Roughly 220 people — ranging in age from their teens to their 90s —joined from 42 prefectures. Over 11 days, the ship will sail around Kyushu and the waters off the Philippines, stopping at sites that include the locations where the battleships Yamato and Musashi sank. In addition to holding memorial ceremonies on board, the vessel will anchor in the Philippines so participants can interact with local children.
NHK
01-06-2025
- General
- NHK
Japan group for war-bereaved families to hold its final offshore memorials
A Japanese association for war-bereaved families says it will end its memorial trips to sites of fierce World War Two battles because the participants are aging. The ship for Nippon Izokukai's final offshore memorial left port on Sunday. A total of about 16,000 bereaved family members visited 18 regions, including China and the Philippines, on 451 trips since the project started in fiscal 1991. Family members on the trips paid respects to the war dead and also interacted with local people. The association said it will conclude its overseas memorials by the end of this fiscal year. The group's last memorial at sea, 80 years after the end of the war, includes 218 family members from 42 prefectures. They boarded a vessel at a port in Kobe City, western Japan, on Sunday. They offered a silent prayer during a ceremony held on the ship before it departed around 5 p.m. Japan's health ministry says the remains of about 300,000 of the 2.4 million people who died abroad during the war were never recovered from the ocean. Participants will offer flowers to honor the victims in areas such as the sites where the battleships Yamato and Musashi sank. They will return to Japan on June 11.
