Post-war: Year 0, Miyamori Is Not Over

More than half a century seems to have been required to talk about the tragic childhood memories that were sealed away.

On June 30, 1959, a U.S. fighter jet fell in a residential area of the former city of Ishikawa and crashed into the nearby Miyamori Elementary School. Fifty-five years have passed since this accident in which 18 children and residents were killed.

On June 30, the day before the memorial service, a large school reunion was held at Miyamori Elementary. This was the first time a reunion was held and it was made possible thanks to the appeals from the nonprofit organization Ishikawa Miyamori 630, an organization which relates information about the accident. In addition to former preschool through 6th grade students from that time, teachers and bereaved family members also attended.

The compilation of testimonials called Cries of Life recorded the state of things that day.

First and second periods had finished and lunchtime had begun. The students were about to raise their cups of milk for a drink when broken pieces of concrete and metal fell around the schoolyard. It broke the windows and flew at the children’s heads and faces. The schoolyard was enveloped in black smoke and children were screaming and crying, trying to run to safety in an impossible situation.

The scene of the crash was horrifying to the extreme. Those who survived were seriously traumatized.

A 65-year-old woman who attended the reunion spoke about her memories of that time and said, “This is the first time I’ve spoken about the accident to other students who were there.”

This brings me to consider the serious trauma the survivors and bereaved families have suffered. To add to this, U.S. military aircraft still fly about overhead, fueling fears that another accident might happen. The governments of Japan and America, who approve of this unusual training, cannot even be excused on moral grounds. As long as there are U.S. bases, the accident will never be a thing of the past.

Repeated aircraft accidents in Okinawa during U.S. occupation caused many tragedies.

On Oct. 20, 1951, a fuel tank from a U.S. F-80 fighter jet fell on a house in the Makishi area of the city of Naha, instantly enveloping the house in a fire that killed six people. On Dec. 20, 1962, a U.S. aerial tanker KB-50 crashed into what was formerly the Yara area of Kadena village and burst into flames. A nearby house burned down, resulting in two deaths and eight injuries.

There have been recurring accidents even since the U.S. returned Okinawa to Japan, like the crash of the CH-53 helicopter that was headed for Okinawa International University and the crash of the F-15 fighter jet. These are warning signs that indicate accidents may continue into the future.

Author Shun Medoruma writes the following in his book, “Okinawa, ‘Post-war’ Year: 0”:

“Even if the fighting of the Battle of Okinawa is over … Okinawa remains in the maelstrom of the wars America waged and has essentially been left under U.S. occupation. …I cannot help but wonder whether there really was a true ‘post-war’ for Okinawa when the war came to an end.”*

In regards to the Senkaku conflict and China’s incursions into Japanese waters, the Abe administration is accelerating on a path toward military opposition. In discussion of the threats of China and North Korea, there is also the tendency to favor making preparations for war.

However, the citizens will be the ones who are harmed if the dispute escalates. The people of Okinawa, with a sensitivity born from past experiences, sense the danger in this.

The construction of a new military base in Henoko, which would turn the future of a heavily burdened Okinawa into a “military base island,” is unforgivable. The Japanese and American governments need to come to their senses.

*Editor’s note: This quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.