IWO JIMA: Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Monday made a rare visit to the tiny Pacific island of Iwo Jima to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Japanese island, around 1,250 kilometres south of Tokyo, was the scene of a five-week battle between wartime enemies Japan and the United States in 1945.
Nearly all of Japan's 21,000 soldiers on the island were killed during the fight, while the US side saw more than 6,800 fatalities and 19,000 wounded. The royal couple bowed deeply as they offered flowers and ritually poured water at a memorial for the war dead as rain fell on the island, which is known in Japan as Iwo-To. — AFP
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