The children and grandchildren of a former Imperial Japanese Army soldier visit Ie Island in Okinawa Prefecture by ferry from Okinawa Island every spring.
The journey is both spiritual ceremonial: to attend a memorial service for victims of fierce fighting between Japanese and U.S. forces on the small isle seven decades ago, and to thank a banyan tree for saving their relative's life.
"This Gajumaru tree was possibly our savior because my father was able to return home thanks to it, though I can scarcely imagine his strange experiences," Mitsuru Sashida, 67, said during a visit April 21 to attend a ceremony marking 70 years since the U.S. military declared Ie Island occupied during the Battle of Okinawa in the closing weeks of World War II.