The government on Sunday held its first formal celebration of the day when the San Francisco Peace Treaty ended the allied Occupation, aggravating residents of Okinawa, which was abandoned by the mainland and left under U.S. control until 1972.
The ceremony marking the 1952 enforcement of the treaty, which was signed in 1951, was held at Kensei Kinenkan Hall in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. It was attended by Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko and some 300 VIPs, mainly lawmakers, bureaucrats, Supreme Court justices and prefectural officials.
Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima snubbed his invitation to the event and instead sent Vice Gov. Kurayoshi Takara in his place.