PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) – Dozens of descendants of Japanese soldiers killed in World War II visited Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Thursday to pay respects to fallen American soldiers.
Nippon Izokukai, the Bereaved Family Association of Japan, sent about 36 children, grandchildren and other relatives of fallen Japanese soldiers to the U.S. to mark the 70th anniversary of the group’s founding.
With the rusted hull of the USS Arizona beneath them, the group laid flowers and a wreath at the memorial after touring the Pacific Aviation Museum and the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor. The group’s vice president, Yukio Udagawa, bowed his head in prayer as he and others honored those entombed in the warship just below the turquoise waters of Pearl Harbor.
“We used to be the enemy, but now are the closest of friends,” Udagawa said through a translator after the ceremony. His father was drafted by the Japanese before Udagawa was born, and died in World War II fighting when his son was 3 years old. “We are true allies in the world.”
The Izokukai group met with two Japanese Americans at the site, Lynn Heirakuji and Byrnes Yamashita of the Nisei Veterans Legacy in Honolulu.