the largest island of the central Ryukyu Islands.
A campaign in the closing days of World War II in the Pacific (April-June 1945); in savage close-quarter fighting US marines and regular army troops took the island from the Japanese; considered the greatest victory of the Pacific campaign for the Americans.
oh-key-nah-wah) An island south of Japan and east of China where karate-do developed over the last 400 years. It was hardly ever in contact with the rest of the world until May 1945 when it became the site of one of the most bloody battles in World War II. Okinawa literally means "rope in the offing," which refers to the string of Ryukyu Islands extending from Japan to Taiwan a distance of 700 miles and which includes 140 islands. So, Okinawa is both a string of islands and one particular island in that string.
Pacific island that US troops captured in the spring of 1945 after a grueling battle in which over a quarter-million soldiers and civilians were killed
a Japanese prefecture, yet it has a unique, rich culture and history of its own
Pacific island in the Ryukyu group south of Japan. In April 1945 this was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the war. It was the first American assault on what the Japanese considered their home territory, so the opposition was even more fanatic than usual. There were nearly 35,000 American casualties. With its conquest, America had a base within striking distance of Japan.
' An in the water thrown rope', the largest island and capital of the Ryukyu archiple. Okinawa lies 550km southeast of Japan, and 740km east of China, it is approximately 10km wide and 110km long. The largest cities Naha, Shuri, and Tomari gave their names to the unarmed fighting styles which were teached in those cities
