Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Saturday paid tribute to the war dead at local memorial sites in Okinawa, marking their first visit to the island prefecture since his enthronement in 2019.
At the National War Dead Peace Mausoleum in the city of Itoman, where the remains of some 180,000 war dead are kept, the imperial couple offered flowers and exchanged words with around 20 people, including surviving family members.
Okinawa was the site of the biggest ground battle on Japanese soil during World War II, costing an estimated 200,000 lives, half of them civilians.