WWII Bunker in Okinawa, Japan

[jblomenberg16]

I have the good fortune of getting to see some cool places around the world as part of my job. Last week I was in Japan on business, and had a few extra days over the weekend to myself before heading on to India to finish my business trip.

I decided to pay a visit to a friend and her husband who live in Okinawa. He is a United States Marine and has been stationed there since last October. They were great hosts, and showed me a lot of cool sites on the island.

I'm a big WWII buff, so really enjoyed visiting this particular site, which was a command and control "bunker" for the Japanese Navy during WWII. The bunker was one of the last sites to fall during the US invasion of this part of the Island in June of 1945.


Here area few pictures, as well as a link to the album and a few more bits of info.

Monument at the entrance:

US Marine (Face hidden for OPSEC) showing the approximate position of the Japanese Sailor when he pulled the pin on the grenade to committ suicide, which left the shrapnel in the walls.

Only gun that was on display at the museum. Note the wooden spear made from a Arisaka bayonet. Many of the Japanese Sailors in the bunker were not armed with rifles, but rather had home made spears like this one.

Link to album:

WWII Japan Naval Bunker pictures by jblomenberg16 - Photobucket


Link to museum:

Japanese (cool pictures, but very little english).
http://kaigungou.ocvb.or.jp/

English travel site with some basic info:
Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters | okinawa hai!

More about the battle:
Battle of Okinawa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 4,000 Japanese sailors—including Admiral Minoru Ota—all committed suicide within the hand-built tunnels of the underground Naval headquarters on 13 June. After several more days of bitter fighting, the Japanese were forced to the far south of the island, where they prepared for a final battle.

 

[lrahm]

I have the good fortune of getting to see some cool places around the world as part of my job. Last week I was in Japan on business, and had a few extra days over the weekend to myself before heading on to India to finish my business trip.

I decided to pay a visit to a friend and her husband who live in Okinawa. He is a United States Marine and has been stationed there since last October. They were great hosts, and showed me a lot of cool sites on the island.

I'm a big WWII buff, so really enjoyed visiting this particular site, which was a command and control "bunker" for the Japanese Navy during WWII. The bunker was one of the last sites to fall during the US invasion of this part of the Island in June of 1945.


Here area few pictures, as well as a link to the album and a few more bits of info.

Monument at the entrance:

US Marine (Face hidden for OPSEC) showing the approximate position of the Japanese Sailor when he pulled the pin on the grenade to committ suicide, which left the shrapnel in the walls.

Only gun that was on display at the museum. Note the wooden spear made from a Arisaka bayonet. Many of the Japanese Sailors in the bunker were not armed with rifles, but rather had home made spears like this one.

Link to album:

WWII Japan Naval Bunker pictures by jblomenberg16 - Photobucket


Link to museum:

Japanese (cool pictures, but very little english).
http://kaigungou.ocvb.or.jp/

English travel site with some basic info:
Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters | okinawa hai!

More about the battle:
Battle of Okinawa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks for sharing that with us. Glad you were able to explore it.