Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
An equally terrible story lies behind the American Servicemen's Memorial which is
nearby the Tōjin Tomb site. Almost at the close of World War II, on the morning of April 15,
1945, a Grumman Avenger, assigned to the carrier USS
Makassar Strait
, was shot down off
the coast of Ishigaki by the Japanese Navy. Three aviators parachuted into the sea and swam
to a reef where they were captured. All three were tortured, two were beheaded. The third air-
man was beaten, paraded through Ishigaki City and used for bayonet practice by his guards
until he died. he torture and killing of prisoners-of-war were direct violations of the 1929
Geneva Convention on the rules of war and the treatment of prisoners to which Japan had
been a signatory.
After the war, the murder of the three airmen led to the conviction of 41 Japanese soldiers
and sailors for war crimes. Seven were executed. The memorial was dedicated in 2001. Its
twin plaques in English and Japanese tell the story. Here's the final paragraph from the Eng-
lish language plaque: “To console the spirits of the three fallen American service members
and to honor their deaths, we jointly dedicate this monument in the hope that this memorial
stone will contribute to the everlasting peace and friendship between Japan and the United
States, and that this monument will serve as a cornerstone to convey to future generations
our keen desire for eternal peace in the world and our determination to renounce war.”
From the two unrelated memorials it's about 985 feet (300 meters) south along the same
road to the Kannon Temple (
観音堂
; Kannon-dō). At first glance, when you park your car,
for instance, you'll be impressed with the stately, even magnificent, traditional stone lantern-
lined Shinto entranceway to the temple. And you should be; it is very impressive. Stone lan-
terns (
灯籠
;
tōrō
) have been used for centuries in Asia, and particularly in Japan, to line the
sandō
(approach) to a temple or shrine. Along with the
torii
gate, their presence helps delin-
eate the passage from the world of the profane to that of the profound.
