Japan marked the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa on June 23′ 2015, the bloodiest battle in the Pacific War, which killed a quarter of the population of Japan. More than 100,000 Okinawans and 80,000 Japanese troops died in the 82-day battle. In 1945, the strategic island was seen by the Allies as a launchpad for an invasion of Japan.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended a ceremony in Itoman, at the southern tip of the island, near to the spot where terrified locals jumped or were pushed to their deaths.

Okinawa was the only part of Japan in which battles were fought. Entire families were wiped out, and almost everyone on the subtropical island lost at least one relative. Many committed suicide by plunging off cliffs rather than surrender to the Americans.

Okinawa remained occupied by the US military until 1972, when Tokyo regained control of the island. However, Japan’s southernmost prefecture is still home to about 26,000 US troops and several bases which occupy a fifth of the island.

The anniversary comes with feelings running high on Okinawa — a one-time independent kingdom annexed by Japan in the 19th century and now the reluctant host to more than half of the 47,000 US troops still stationed in the country.