The

The The

The The Since the end of World War II, American military personnel have maintained a presence on the island of Okinawa,

the largest in the Ryukyu Island chain, now a prefecture of mainland Japan, and in 1945,

the site of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, with nearly equal

numbers of soldiers and civilians perishing.

Potentially due to its history of violent death, stories of supernatural encounters

are common on the island. In fact, many American service members

consider Okinawa the most haunted place in the U.S. military. What if ghosts and specters

were not the only supernatural beings these men and women encountered.

This is the story of the Kitsunei. The I'm Luke Lamanah, and this is Wartimeon.

And this is wartime stories.

...werey. The Battle of Okinawa, occurring from April 1st until June 21st of 1945, was the last major battle of World War II and one of the bloodiest.

The combatants and civilians both endured grisly casualties as American forces attempted to root out a defending Japanese army

from their many tunnels and fortifications. Approximately 7,500 U.S. Marines and soldiers, and another 5,000 sailors were killed.

Japan sacrificed even more men, at least 110,000 soldiers, with less than 8,000 Japanese soldiers

surrendering, while many committed Sepakou,

a form of honorable and ritualistic suicide.

Civilian death counts are undetermined,

with some estimates as high as 160,000,

more than a third of the island's population at the time.

They were either caught in the crossfire between the two armies or died by the act of Shudan Jigetsu, or mass suicide.

...