Museums In Japan, Hawaii Form Sister Partnership
Japanese and US museums linked by the kamikaze attacks of World War Two have formed a sister partnership 75 years after the end of the war.
The Chiran Peace Museum in Japan and the Battleship Missouri Memorial held a virtual signing ceremony on Saturday, the day Japan commemorates the end of the war.
The Chiran Peace Museum in the city of Minamikyushu is built on the site of a former Imperial Japanese military base, where kamikaze pilots took off to launch suicide attacks. It exhibits personal belongings left by the pilots.
The USS Missouri was targeted by a kamikaze attack during the Battle of Okinawa. The Japanese surrender document was also signed aboard the ship in September 1945.
A representative of the USS Missouri Memorial Association said the vessel is a symbol of the strong ties between Japan and Hawaii, and he hopes it will continue to send a message of peace.
The two museums have been building a relationship through various exchanges, including a jointly organized exhibition and a gift of Japanese fighter plane fragments from Hawaii to Japan.
They plan to deepen ties through an exchange of curators.
Minamikyushu Mayor Nuruki Hiroyuki said the partnership is helping to promote peace.
