Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will visit Okinawa next month to pay their respects to the war dead ahead of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, with their only daughter Princess Aiko set to accompany them on her first trip to the prefecture, the Imperial Household Agency said Wednesday. Okinawa fell into U.S. hands in the closing months of World War II in 1945 through the Battle of Okinawa, which began in March of that year with the landing of U.S. troops on the Kerama Islands near the main island of Okinawa. The couple is also scheduled to visit the atomic-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the coming months as they follow in the footsteps of the trips made by then-Emperor Akihito and then-Empress Michiko to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.
Published at: 2025-05-07 21:50:37
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