Around its west end of Bunker No.20 (Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
On Okinawa, you’ll find many peaceful spots that offer a nice ocean view or a breath of fresh air and might not realize that these are sites immersed deep in military and war history. About a 5-minute drive from Takatsukazan is one such site, Kuganimui Hill.
The hill is similar in size to Takatsukazan and there is a promenade cutting through the forest which offers visitors a peaceful place to walk. Though the site offers a respite from the heat and a brisk pathway to get in some steps, it also played an important role during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II.
A view of Kuganimui from the east (Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
Koganimui Hill was a shield for tunnels used by Haebaru Army Hospital, which treated injured soldiers of the Imperial Japanese 32nd Army. The hospital moved to the area after the original facility in Naha was air raided months before the start of the battle.
With the help of Masakatsu Fujiwara, a guide with the Haebaru Town Museum, I learned more about the area on a walk through the site. Fujiwara, 82 and originally from Tokushima prefecture, has a personal tie to the war as his father died in the battle, he said.
As we made our way through the grassy, tree-covered hill, Fujiwara recounted the story about how 30 to 40 tunnels were dug around the hill to guard patients and medical crew from air raids and naval guns. Inside the tunnels, surgical teams worked round the clock and consisted of 350 staff, over 200 female students, or “Himeyuri Gakuto,”and 18 instructors.
At Haebaru Town Museum, visitors can learn more about the battle and the history that took place at Koganimui. A video at the museum described the challenges Himeyuri Gakuto faced while caring for injured soldiers in the hospital tunnels.
During the battle, many troops were injured but there wasn’t enough staff or medicine to care for them all. Much like the chaos of war outside, the chaos carried on inside the narrow tunnels with deteriorating conditions, suffering soldiers, dead bodies and more.
Some students were tasked with delivering food along the “Meshiage no Michi” path which exposed them to air raids. Today, this area is a paved stone path covered in trees which Fujiwara said were planted after the war.
Meshiage no MIchi (Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
About a 5-minute walk from the path, there is a memorial for the hospital. Many of the bunkers and trenches that were once here during wartime are long gone, but not forgotten.
We continued a little further and reached a ridgeline running north to south that then took us onto the hospital food path heading east. Soon we reached the top of the hill and though trees now reach the heavens above us, this was once a prime lookout area during the battle.
The east portion of the bunker (Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
Rugged surface of the bunker (Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
Eventually we reached a paved road that led us toward Bunker 20, a must-see that requires advanced reservation for a museum guide to enter. This 70-meter-long bunker is well preserved and maintained with many portions left as they were during the battle.
To enter, we donned helmets and flashlights. Near the west entrance, medicine and a pickax, which were excavated on the site, are on display. On the record, the tunnel measures 1.8 m each in height and in width, but the space was very tight even for me at my 5’ 5” stature.
Medicines exhibited near the west entrance (Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
pickax used to construct the bunker (Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
During the war, the already narrow tunnels were limited in space with two-layered cots on one side and unpaved, uneven floors. Today, remnants of smoke-stained pillars to uphold the tunnels remain. Fujiwara noted that the smoky dark color of the pillars was thought to be from flamethrowers used by U.S. military. Pieces of the columns were also missing, which he said were probably removed by locals after the war for construction materials.
The wall and the ceiling were very rugged, attesting to the makeshift work the Japanese had to do to get the hospital up and running after the raids in Naha. Some portions of the ceiling gleamed when lit with a flashlight, probably a sign of a pickax work.
Halfway through, an intersection for bunkers 19 and 21. Bunker 19 was fenced off after the ceiling collapsed some time ago, Fujiwara said.
Bunker No. 21 (Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
Bunker No. 19 (Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
After spending about 20 minutes making our way through the bunker, we reached the exit on the east end. We circled back above ground and reached a broad grass field spreading southward from Bunker 20. Here there were a few mementos commemorating the memory of the Army Hospital and Article 9 of Japan’s constitution renouncing war.
The view is peaceful and beautiful, but Fujiwara reminded me of the tragic events and unfathomable position hospital staff and soldiers were in here.
“There used to be a hole created by a naval gun in the field. Back then, corpses and severed limbs were thrown in there,” he said.
In 1990, the bunkers were designated a cultural heritage by Haebaru Town and in 2009, the bunker was opened to the public. Since the war, the story of the Himeyuri Gakuto has been retold several times in different movies.
Kuganimui is about a 30-minute drive from Camp Foster via expressway.
Map of Bunker No.20 (Photo by Shoji Kudaka)
Things to know
GPS Coordinates: N 26.187345, E 127.730615 (Parking lot)
*To enter Bunker #20, a reservation through Haebaru Museum is required.
Tel: 098-889-7399
Email: H8897399@town.haebaru.okinawa.jp
Guide fee costs 300 yen. The other areas can be accessed without reservation.
The office is open 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. (closed on Wed)
