18th MUNS Airmen host sacred sites tour

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Lynette M. Rolen
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Thirteen Airmen from the 18th Munitions Squadron hosted approximately 40 Okinawan visitors for a sacred site tour throughout Kadena's munitions storage area June 28.

The tour, one of several community outreach events held around Kadena each year, took the local community members onto the base to visit seven different locations of historical and cultural significance to the participants.

Yoshiaki Kamiyama, Kadena Town deputy mayor who also attended the tour, said the visits are important because it gives Okinawans and Airmen a glimpse into the local community.

"This tour offered local Okinawans the opportunity to pass on their heritage, share knowledge to their children, look at their ancestors' land and where they used to live, pay respect to their ancestors, learn about town history and to look at the current status of the sites," Kamiyama said.

In addition to learning about their past, the Okinawans were able to spend time with Kadena Airmen. Stories about the sites were exchanged throughout the group and members from the 18th MUNS assisted them throughout the tour.

One of the numerous stops along the way held significant importance to one of the tour members -- a cave in which local Okinawans fled to during the bombings of World War II. The visitor, who was a child when this happened, remembered seeking shelter in the cave.

While the cave was one of several sites from World War II, many of the sites predated the war.

"Some of the sites are over 300 years old," said Mitsutada Iha, 18th MUNS Tactical Air Munitions Rapid Response Package foreman. "These sites have a history of hundreds of generations of ancestors visiting them."

Because of the deep cultural and historical significance of this tour, Kamiyama expressed his thanks to the 18th MUNS for providing this opportunity to the Okinawans.

"I am thankful to the 18th MUNS volunteers for supporting the tour," said Kamiyama. "I was especially pleased that the volunteers cleared the pass to the cave, installed new ropes and assisted the elderly visitors down and up the cave."