Victims of little-known WWII maritime tragedy gone but not forgotten

While the sinking of the Tsushima Maru by a U.S. submarine during World War II is etched in Japan's collective memory due to the many children and civilian adults who died, a similar tragedy befell another, lesser-known evacuation boat not long after.

In August 1944, the Tsushima Maru was torpedoed close to the Tokara Islands in southwestern Japan en route to Nagasaki from Okinawa while complying with a government evacuation order. A little over a month later, the Bushu Maru was sunk off the same island chain as the Japanese Empire was readying for an invasion of the nearby Ryukyu Islands by the United States.

Residents of Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture hold annual memorial services for the Bushu Maru tragedy that claimed the lives of most of the 154 passengers aboard, with those involved determined that the incident -- not well known even locally -- will not be forgotten.

In a "kamishibai" Japanese picture-story show created by Katsuhiro Kota, 73, the representative of an association that honors the Bushu Maru evacuation, the scene of panicked passengers consumed by fear before the ship sinks to the ocean floor is relived.

To commemorate the victims, the association hosts a "Peace Evening" every September in front of the cenotaph in the town of Tokunoshima.

According to local records, the Bushu Maru left a port on Amami-Oshima Island on Sept. 25, 1944, carrying evacuees from Tokunoshima Island. It was sunk later that night on its way to the prefectural mainland.

Six people were rescued, but 148 died, including 77 children under the age of 15. However, the exact number of casualties, thought to be as many as 182 including crew members, is still unconfirmed.

The Bushu Maru's sinking was overshadowed by the earlier incident that occurred on Aug. 22, 1944, in which the Tsushima Maru carrying an estimated 1,788 passengers was torpedoed, resulting in the deaths of over 1,500 passengers and crew including 780 schoolchildren.

In both cases, the Japanese military imposed a gag order that prevented families and survivors from speaking about the incidents. But compared with the Tsushima Maru, which appeared in school textbooks and other publications after the war, the Bushu Maru is not widely known.

Kota, who was a school employee, began interviewing family members of those involved in the Bushu Maru incident around 2006. He recorded video and audio to preserve their testimonies for future generations.

Having learned about the incident via newspaper articles, he became concerned that the activities of the family members had stagnated due to their advanced age, prompting him to take action.

"Even a generation that has never known war can pass on this story," he said.

He will never forget one person in particular who expressed "remorse" for being one of the few survivors of the sinking.

Local elementary and junior high school students also participate in the "Peace Evening," providing an opportunity to reflect on the importance of peace.

Toyoko Uehara, 76, who took part this year, said, "Compared to the Tsushima Maru, the tragedy of the Bushu Maru is not well known even among local residents. If we don't speak about the tragedy with the next generation, the children who lost their lives will never be known."

The tragic events linked to these mass evacuations may be fading into the past, but they are still front of mind for people like Kota amid concerns over the government's defense buildup and plans for evacuating the region.

At the time of the war, the U.S. military attacked Japanese ships, both civilian and military, to cut off supply routes, turning the seas around Okinawa into a "battlefield."

Currently, the Japanese government is formulating evacuation plans for the area in preparation for China potentially invading the nearby island of Taiwan. The plan envisions evacuating approximately 120,000 people from the Sakishima Islands in Okinawa Prefecture to prefectures in Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands, as well as Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Eighty years ago, in July 1944, following the fall of Saipan, the government decided to evacuate approximately 100,000 Okinawans and others to the mainland and Taiwan, which at the time was ruled by Japan, in preparation for fighting in the Nansei Islands including Okinawa. The following months would see both the Tsushima Maru and Bushu Maru destroyed by U.S. attacks.

Sounding the alarm about the realities of another conflict in the region, Kota said, "When war breaks out, I think it will be impossible to evacuate the islands. The Nansei Islands will have to once again be sacrificed for the defense of the mainland."