Memorial erected for evacuee victims
Shipwrecked after US air strike
50 dead, 24th year memorial service
*A monument in memory of evacuees shipwrecked on an uninhabited island was erected on Uotsuri Island
A modest ceremony to mark the erection of a "Memorial Monument for Ishigaki Shipwreck Victims During Evacuation to Taiwan" was held in all solemnity from 11 a.m. on the 10th. The monument, in memory of those who died of weakning and other causes after being shipwrecked on Uotsuri Island when evacuation ships carrying them to Taiwan were attacked by US warplanes toward the end of the war, was erected at the location where they washed ashore on the northern side of the island. The ceremony was attended by Ishigaki City Mayor Ishigaki Kiko, Ishigaki City Councilor Aragaki Senei, and five representatives of surviving relatives, including Miyara Tochi (85, of 178 Okawa, Ishigaki City). Offerings of water, cakes and fruit brought from Ishigaki City were made while holding the first memorial service in 24 years.