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UID:events.uid.6261@www.discovernikkei.org
DTSTART:20200705T000000Z
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DESCRIPTION:On July 5 (Sunday)\, 2 p.m. PST\, the Okinawa Association of Am
 erica (OAA) in Gardena\, California will host their annual <em>Irei no Hi<
 /em> - Remembering the Battle of Okinawa event featuring a virtual present
 ation and talk by Hanayo Oya\, a journalist\, documentary filmmaker\, and 
 visiting scholar at the Center for Japanese Studies\, Institute of East As
 ian Studies\, the University of California\, Berkeley. The event will be i
 n English and hosted on the Zoom software/application. Register here:&nbsp
 \;<a href="https://tinyurl.com/oaa7520" target="_blank">tinyurl.com/oaa752
 0</a>&nbsp\;(the presentation link and phone number will be emailed to you
 )\n\nTitled &ldquo\;The Another Battle of Okinawa: Revealing the Truth of 
 the War Malaria and the Enforced Relocation on Yaeyama Islands\,&rdquo\; O
 ya will talk about a little-known chapter of 1945's Battle of Okinawa. Whi
 le the Okinawa and Kerama Islands were ravaged by land battles and air rai
 ds\, the Japanese Imperial Army forcefully evacuated civilians from Hateru
 ma\, Ishigaki\, and neighboring Yaeyama Islands to malaria-infected jungle
 s and mountains. According to the Yaeyama Peace Memorial Museum in Ishigak
 i\, the military-ordered evacuation resulted in 16\,800+ infections and 3\
 ,600+ deaths. This tragic incident has been called "another Battle of Okin
 awa."\n\nOya&rsquo\;s journalism and filmmaking work &ndash\; including he
 r acclaimed documentary &ldquo\;Boy Soldiers: The Secret War in Okinawa&rd
 quo\; &ndash\; has contributed to the much-needed preservation of Okinawa&
 rsquo\;s war and postwar history. "As the number of people who experienced
  the war is dwindling\, it is our responsibility to not stop at simply sen
 ding the message that war is tragic\, but to actively pass these stories o
 n to the next generation to prevent wars altogether\," Oya said in an inte
 rview with The Mainichi (August 4\, 2018).\n\nThe event will also include 
 a spoken word performance by Kyle Toyama\, a local fourth generation Okina
 wan American\, and an <em>uta-sanshin</em> performance of Yaeyama folk son
 gs by Hanayo Oya.\n\nThis year marks the 75th anniversary of the Battle of
  Okinawa. The goal of the OAA's annual <em>Irei no Hi</em> - Remembering t
 he Battle of Okinawa event is to memorialize the 150\,000+ lives that were
  lost during the war and post-war years and to inform the next generation 
 about Okinawa&rsquo\;s history and current issues. In Okinawa\, a memorial
  day known as <em>Irei no Hi</em> (慰霊の日) is observed annually on J
 une 23\, the date which was documented as the end of the Battle of Okinawa
  in 1945.\n\nThe Okinawa Association of America\, Inc. (OAA) is a 501(c)(3
 ) non-profit organization that is dedicated to preserving and promoting Ok
 inawan culture in the greater Los Angeles area. Formed by Okinawan immigra
 nts <em>(issei)</em> over a century ago\, the OAA has grown into a multi-g
 enerational organization that hosts numerous events throughout the year in
 cluding cultural lectures\, performances\, social gatherings\, and senior-
 focused activities. 2019 marked the organization's 110th anniversary.\n
DTSTAMP:20240419T031552Z
SUMMARY:Virtual Talk | Remembering the Battle of Okinawa
URL:/en/events/2020/07/05/virtual-talk-remembering-the-battle-of-okinawa/
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