From the first days of the Asia- Pacific war, Okinawa was fortified as the location of airbases and as the frontline in the defense of mainland Japan. Land and farms were forcibly expropriated throughout Okinawa and the Imperial Japanese Army began the construction of airbases.
In 1944, the 32nd Army of Okinawa was established and fighting units of the military were dispatched to the Okinawa Islands and the Sakishima Islands ( Sakishima Island and the Miyako and Yaeyama Island groups). In the areas to which they were dispatched, the local schools and houses were used as garrisons and the local farmers were required to provide logistical supplies from their own food and domesticated animals.
As the war entered its final stage, the fall of Saipan Island, home to so many immigrants from Okinawa, had a deep impact on the people of Okinawa. Not only sorrow because of the loss of fellow countrymen but also dread knowing that the next target of the advance would be Okinawa.
In order to fight a protracted war using Okinawa as a frontline, the young, old, and infirm were evacuated from the prefecture. The Japanese government made plans to evacuate 80,000 Okinawans to mainland Japan and 20,000 to Taiwan but because of reluctance to go to an unknown land and the presence of enemy ships in the seas near Okinawa, the plans were not fully implemented. Incidents such as the torpedoing of the Tsushima Maru, which was carrying 1700 passengers, including 800 school children , heightened the anxiety surrounding evacuation considerably.
However, after the 10/10 Air Raid attacks on October 10, 1944, the number of those willing to chance evacuation increased greatly.
The 10/10 Air Attack, so called because it took place in the tenth month on the tenth day was a massive aerial bombardment of the entire Nansei Island region by the U. S. Military. Attacks were made on the Amami-jima islands in the north to Ishigaki-jima Island in the south and Daito-jima Island in the east. In Naha City the fierce attack burned out 90% of the buildings in the city and many priceless cultural treasures of the Ryukyuan Kingdom were lost. The air attack consisted of 1400 aircraft and inflicted 600 deaths and 700 injuries.
