Tenrikyo Participates in Assembly of Prayer for Peace in Okinawa

Organized by a group of religious leaders based in Okinawa, the 16th Assembly of Prayer for Peace took place on August 15 at the Okinawan Peace Hall built on Mabuni Hill in Itoman, Okinawa. The theme for the event was “Let’s Send Our Wishes for Peace from Okinawa to the World.” With the participation of approximately 700 people including representatives from 15 religious organizations in Okinawa, the assembly paid tribute to the victims of the Battle of Okinawa during World War II as well as prayed for the realization of everlasting peace. Representing Tenrikyo, Okinawa Diocese Superintendent Kunizo Yamaguchi and head ministers of the churches in Okinawa offered flowers during the ceremony. Another contribution from Tenrikyo was a lecture by Momoko Yonaha, a minister belonging to Shuri Branch Church. She was a member of Himeyuri Butai (Star Lily Corps)–comprising female high school students recruited as military nurses during the war, many of whom tragically took their own lives. In the lecture, she shared her painful experience and appealed to the audience to take to heart the preciousness of life.