Okinawa on Thursday marked the 77th anniversary of the end of a major World War II ground battle between Japanese and U.S. troops, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida the first Japanese leader in three years to attend the memorial service due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions.Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki in a "peace declaration" said Russia's invasion of Ukraine evoked memories of the conflict in the southern island prefecture while pledging to "continue efforts to abolish nuclear weapons and renounce war, so that Okinawa will never become a battlefield again."The 1945 battle, during the fina…READ FULL ARTICLE
