Irei no hi
Irei no hi ( Japanese 慰 霊 の 日 , memorial day for the souls of the deceased ) is a memorial day that is celebrated annually on June 23 in Okinawa and the Ryūkyū Islands .
origin
The memorial day commemorates the end of the Battle of Okinawa on June 23, 1945 in the Pacific War . First of all, Irish no hi was a public holiday in the American-administered Okinawa since 1961. When the Americans returned the main island of Okinawa to the Japanese on May 15, 1972 and Okinawa formally anticipated Japanese law, there was no legal basis for the holiday. In 1991, the Okinawa Prefecture's administration passed a statutory regulation of the public holidays, which has since become an official and legally compliant public holiday in Okinawa after the Irei no hi . The rest of Japan does not recognize this holiday.
Web links
- Okinawa Prefecture Archives (Japanese)