US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended a ceremony to remember victims of the Battle of Okinawa today.

Hundreds of thousands of people including civilians died in the battle at the close of World War Two 69 years ago.

June 23rd marks the day Japan’s military ended organized hostilities.

Kennedy and Abe also visited Okinawa’s Cornerstone of Peace.

Abe expressed solidarity with the people of Okinawa and, referring to the burden of US bases on the island, said he would do whatever he could for them.

People in Okinawa voiced mixed feelings over Abe’s move to reinterpret Japan’s peace constitution.

A relative of one of the victims said they’d finally learned the meaning of peace, only to have it come to nothing.