Himeyuri Peace Museum To Reopen With New Exhibits
The Himeyuri Peace Museum in the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa is set to reopen with new exhibits on Monday.
The museum is dedicated to female students who were mobilized to nurse injured soldiers during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. Many of the Himeyuri students lost their lives in the closing days of World War Two.
On Sunday, former mobilized students were invited to preview the displays that have been updated for the first time in 17 years.
The new exhibits were mainly planned by staff members born after the war. They are designed to help visitors understand how the war gradually affected the students who had been enjoying their school lives.
One display shows the students burying soldiers they had been taking care of at a field hospital.
Former mobilized student Shimabukuro Yoshiko told reporters online that the new exhibitions will be helpful for generations that do not have direct knowledge of war.
She said she hopes people will visit the museum to learn about the horrors of war and think about the importance of life.