Throughout her life, Yaeko Sunagawa's mother never enjoyed the fireworks that illuminate Okinawa in the festive summer season. Her daughter's and grandchildren's faces would light up with joy, while Kikue Miyazato winced at the bright flashes and loud bangs.
Even though Sunagawa, too, had been there decades earlier, quietly clinging to her mother for every step of the family's march through the hell of the Battle of Okinawa, she remembers nothing. Just a year old when the three-month ground battle broke out in April 1945, Sunagawa has been spared any memory of the near-death, starvation and injury she endured.
"I wonder if the flashes of light from the bombing were a relief to the eyes of a baby deprived of light from hiding in dark caves all day. Maybe that's why I enjoy fireworks so much," Sunagawa, 71, speculates with a smile.