Residents and government officials marked the 68th anniversary Sunday of the end of the World War II Battle of Okinawa, which left more than 240,000 people dead, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledging to ease the concentration of U.S. bases in the prefecture.
A memorial service for the war dead was held at Peace Memorial Park in the city of Itoman, the site of the final stage of the battle, with about 5,800 people, including residents and government officials, attending.
"I will do all I can to reduce the load on Okinawa," Abe said in his speech at the ceremony, while Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima again urged the Japanese and the U.S. government to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma out of the prefecture and "drastically revise as soon as possible" the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, which gives special treatment to U.S. service members in Japan.