Rieko Tamaki, 90, a resident of Naha, still remembers the final moments of her then 14-year-old brother’s life during the 1945 Battle of Okinawa.
“He died in agony, crying out, ‘Give me water.’ I couldn’t give him any. I still regret it to this day,” Tamaki said, her voice breaking with emotion.
Tamaki, who was 10 years old when Okinawa became the site of a fierce ground battle with the U.S. during World War II, was telling her story to Hinata Kinjo, a 19-year-old university student in Tokyo, as part of a project to pass down the memories of the war to younger generations. Kinjo, who is originally from Tomigusuku, Okinawa Prefecture, accompanied Tamaki to war sites in the prefecture.