A memorial ceremony was held in Naha, Okinawa, on 22 August to mark the 81st anniversary of the sinking of the evacuation ship Tsushima Maru, which was torpedoed by a U.S. submarine during World War II. The wartime disaster claimed the lives of more than 1,400 people, the majority of them schoolchildren who were being evacuated from Okinawa to Nagasaki. Survivors, relatives of the dead and local officials gathered at the service to offer prayers and observe a moment of silence. Participants stressed the importance of passing on memories of the tragedy as the number of living witnesses continues to decline. Separately, the Tsushima Maru Memorial Museum said it has added five newly donated portraits of child victims to its collection, underscoring continuing efforts to document each life lost in the incident.