Japan-United States of America Relations

1. The Reunion of Honor Ceremony was held in front of the Japan-U.S. Reunion Monument on Iwo-To, co-organized by the Iwo-To Association and Iwo Jima Association of America, with the purpose of confirming post-war reconciliation between Japan and the United States and praying for further friendship through joint memorial and tribute activities for the Japanese and the U.S. war dead in Iwo-To.
2. Approximately 130 people attended the Japan-U.S. Iwo-To Reunion of Honor Ceremony from the Japanese side, including government officials represented by Prime Minister Ishiba, members of the Diet, including Mr. AISAWA Ichiro, Member of the House of Representative (President of Parliamentary League for Iwo-To) and Mr. SHINDO Yoshitaka, Member of the House of Representative (Representative of Bereaved Families of the Iwo-To Association), and representatives of the Iwo-To Association, which consists of families of the war dead.
3. From the U.S. side, approximately 160 people attended, including the Honorable Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense of the United States, Mr. Joseph M. Young, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the U.S. Embassy in Japan, General Eric M. Smith, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, Lieutenant General Richard Mills, Marine Corps (Ret), Chairman of Iwo Jima Association of America, and Major General David Bice, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret), President of Iwo Jima Association of America and members of U.S. Congress.
4. At the ceremony, Prime Minister Ishiba delivered an address to the war dead and their families from both Japan and the United States. In his address, he renewed Japan’s pledge for peace and expressed his determination to elevate the Japan-U.S. Alliance, which brings peace and prosperity to the world, to new heights.

Following the Japan-U.S. Iwo-To Reunion of Honor Ceremony, the Japanese attendees relocated to the Tenzan Memorial Monument, for the Memorial Ceremony for the Japanese War Dead on the Battle of Iwo-To, and Prime Minister Ishiba attended the ceremony and delivered his memorial remarks.

In addition, Prime Minister Ishiba visited the sites where the remains were collected.