Japanese Prisoner of War on Okinawa

Japanese Prisoner of War is emotionally exhausted after his ordeal. This Japanese soldier, one of 306 who surrendered to the 6th Marine Division during the last few days of the Okinawa Campaign, joined more than 1,000 of his comrades in choosing capture over death as the last defenses were mopped up. Still, four times as many Japanese were killed in the closing days of the battle than were captured. The Prisoner of War compound at Yaka-Dake officially opened on June 23, 1945, already holding over 8,000 prisoners. The 51st Military Police Platoon operated Yaka, which had space for 15,000 prisoners. Civilian internees were screened for military personnel, as 2% of the 300,000 civilians eventually interned were actually soldiers. Eventually over 10,000 prisoners were taken on Okinawa, about a third of all the Japanese captured during the war.