Commemorating the War Dead on the Mabuni Hill, Okinawa : Construction of the 'Cenotaph of Davao' by Japanese Repatriates from the Philippines

Every year since 1972, on 15 May, Japanese repatriates from Davao, the Philippines have held a commemoration ceremony for the war-dead at the “Cenotaph of Davao” on the Hill of Mabuni, Okinawa. The Cenotaph, which was erected in the year of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan (1972), is different from other cenotaphs on the Hill in that it was designed and built by the former “immigrants”, while others by the prefectures or the war veterans. Another critical difference is whereas this cenotaph was dedicated to those who lost their lives in the Philippines before and during the Asia-Pacific war, other cenotaphs were dedicated to those who died in the Battle of Okinawa. This paper examines the background and motives behind the construction of the Cenotaph of Davao, and discusses the significance of “Okinawa” as a place for commemoration. Although, in later years, several memorials were built in Davao, why did the repatriates choose Okinawa as a first site for the cenotaph? Also, this paper analyses how the repatriates' war experience without the Battle of Okinawa has affected their way to memorialize the war dead.
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