Liminality in Yambaru Forest: Piecing Together War Memoirs of Survival and Loss During the Battle of Okinawa

Dominant narratives about the 1945 Battle of Okinawa often portray Okinawans as sacrificed for the Japanese Empire. Recent scholarship highlights the complexity of wartime experiences, how citizen memoirs disrupt state-centric discourses, and the complex ongoing legacy of the Battle of Okinawa. This article highlights themes that emerge from memoirs by Okinawan citizens who sought refuge in Yambaru Forest, a rugged forest in the northernmost part of Okinawa Island. Historical documents report that approximately 30,000 refugees fled to Yambaru Forest, but their stories are often peripheral to narratives of the battle. I argue that the forest introduced a unique aspect of liminality both spatially and temporally for war refugees. Further, the forest fostered a distinct and harsh environment for refugees, one mostly lacking prominent landmarks. In comparison to the south, the forest has fewer physical commemoration sites devoted to the Battle of Okinawa, and almost no acknowledgement appears in the contemporary public narratives about the area. For critical island studies, such liminal spaces provide important perspectives that center on islander experiences over state-centric discourses.