Tsushima Maru Memorial Museum

The Tsushima Maru Memorial Museum stands in the Wakasa district of Naha, Okinawa, commemorating one of the most devastating maritime disasters involving children during World War II. On August 22, 1944, the Japanese transport ship Tsushima Maru was torpedoed and sunk by the American submarine USS Bowfin while carrying civilian evacuees from Okinawa to mainland Japan.

Following the fall of Saipan in July 1944, the Japanese government ordered the evacuation of approximately 100,000 elderly, women, and children from the Nansei Islands (Ryukyu chain), anticipating an Allied invasion of Okinawa. On August 21, 1944, the Tsushima Maru departed Naha Port bound for Nagasaki, carrying approximately 1,661 evacuees (some counts put the total aboard at about 1,788), including 834 schoolchildren accompanied by their teachers. The ship sailed in a small convoy escorted by naval vessels.

The following night, at approximately 10:12 PM, USS Bowfin attacked the convoy near Akuseki Island in the Tokara Strait, south of Kagoshima Prefecture. Multiple torpedoes struck the Tsushima Maru, and the vessel sank within just eleven minutes. In the chaos of the sinking, most passengers were unable to escape. Of those aboard, 1,484 people are confirmed to have perished (the count of named victims, which includes crew and soldiers), among them 784 schoolchildren. Only 59 children survived the disaster, clinging to wreckage for hours or days before being rescued.

In the aftermath, the Japanese military imposed a strict gag order on survivors, forbidding them from speaking about the incident. Families of the victims were not properly informed, and no official investigation was conducted during the war. This enforced silence compounded the suffering of bereaved families and survivors for decades.

The wreck of the Tsushima Maru was located and identified on the seabed in December 1997, at a depth of approximately 870 meters near Akuseki Island. The discovery provided some measure of closure for surviving family members.

The Tsushima Maru Memorial Museum opened on August 22, 2004, exactly sixty years after the sinking, as a government-funded consolation project. The building is designed to evoke the experience of boarding the Tsushima Maru. Inside, visitors encounter 417 portraits of identified victims, a reconstructed ship cabin and classroom, survivor testimonies, and recovered artifacts. The exhibition focuses specifically on the theme of children and war, presenting the human cost of conflict through the eyes of the youngest victims.

Adjacent to the museum stands the Kozakura no To (Tower of Small Cherry Blossoms), a memorial tower dedicated to the victims, located in Asahigaoka Park. Together, the museum and tower serve as a place of remembrance and a powerful call for peace.