Himeyuri students

Japanese wartime nurses in Okinawa

"Himeyuri" redirects here. For the ship, see Himeyuri Maru.

Himeyuri students

姫百合学徒隊 (Himeyuri Gakutotai)

A class of Himeyuri students prior to mobilisation

Active| 23 March 1945 – 18 June 1945
Country|  Japan
Branch| Imperial Japanese Army
Type| Nursing unit
Role| Emergency Medical Treatment
Munitions transportation
Size| 240
Nickname(s)| Lily Corps[a]
Lily Princesses Student Corps[b]
Engagements| World War II

* Battle of Okinawa

Military unit

The Himeyuri students (姫百合学徒隊, Himeyuri Gakutotai, Lily Princesses Student Corps), sometimes called "Lily Corps" in English, was a group of 222 students and 18 teachers of the Okinawa Daiichi (First) Girls' High School [ja] and Okinawa Shihan Women's School [ja] formed into a nursing unit for the Imperial Japanese Army during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. They were mobilized by the Japanese Army on March 23, 1945.

The students were wrongly told that the Japanese army would defeat the American invasion easily, and that they would be safe from danger. Many brought their school supplies and uniforms with them to study and prepare to return to school. Deployed instead to frontline cave hospitals under constant gunfire and bombings, few students and teachers managed to survive the war.

## History

[edit]

Falsely briefed of working in Red Cross hospitals away from the fighting,[1][2] the Himeyuri students were instead positioned on the front lines performing crude surgery and amputations, burying the dead, transporting ammunition and supplies to front-line troops, and other life-threatening duties under continuous fire throughout the nearly three-month battle.[3] Near the end of the Okinawan battle, those still alive endured disease and malnutrition in dark caves filled with countless gravely injured and dead civilians, soldiers, and co-students.[4]

### Unit dissolution and casualties

[edit]

The entrance to a cave where several dozen Himeyuri students died on June 19, 1945

Up until the Himeyuri unit was dissolved, only 19 students had been killed. On June 18, 1945, a rough dissolution order was given to the unit. Told simply to "go home" amidst total war, the schoolgirls suffered a high casualty rate in the crossfire of Japanese and American forces.[4][5] In the early hours of the next day (June 19), 5 teachers and 46 students hiding inside the Ihara third surgery shelter were killed by white phosphorus munitions during an attack by US forces.[6]

In the week following the dissolution order, approximately 80% of the girls and their teachers remaining on Okinawa Island died. 136 of the Himeyuri unit mobilised into the Haebaru Army Field Hospital were killed, 123 of them students and 13 teachers. Overall, 211 students and 16 teachers were killed, including those not mobilised.[5]

Some committed suicide in various ways because of fear of systematic rape by US soldiers. Before the fighting could end, some students threw themselves off the jagged cliffs of the Arasaki seashore or poisoned themselves with cyanide (earlier administered to soldiers in terminal condition), while others killed themselves with hand grenades given to them by Japanese soldiers.[7]

### Himeyuri Monument

[edit]

The Himeyuri Monument was built on April 7, 1946, in memory of those who died. The monument stands in front of the Peace Museum. It lists the names of every Himeyuri student and teacher killed during the War. Many of those who survived helped build and continue to maintain the facilities. As of 2020, there are still several Himeyuri students alive.[citation needed]

The Himeyuri Monument in Itoman, Okinawa

### Himeyuri Peace Museum

[edit]

Main article: Himeyuri Peace Museum

The Himeyuri Peace Museum was modeled after the main school building in which the girls had once studied. Renovated and reopened on Okinawa Memorial Day in 2009, the museum has six display chambers displaying photos from the eve of the Battle of Okinawa, the Haebaru Army Field Hospital, portraits of all the young victims who died after the military's retreat to the southernmost tip of the Kyan Peninsula, panels explaining the circumstances under which they died, twenty-eight volumes of testimonials and memoirs by survivors, and a life-sized diorama of the aforementioned cave where many students lost their lives.[8][9]

The testimonials bring to life each phase of the battle, as witnessed by the student nurses. Some of the former nurses have served as both tour guides and curators at the museum.[10][11] A second renovation of the museum took place in June 2020, with input from surviving Himeyuri students.[citation needed]

## In media

[edit]

* Himeyuri no Tô (Tower of the Lilies): Japanese war drama (1953)[12]
* Taiheiyô Sensô to Himeyuri Butai (The Pacific War and Himeyuri Corps): Japanese war drama (1962)[13]
* Â Himeyuri no Tô (Ah, The Tower of Lilies): Japanese war drama (1968)[14]
* Himeyuri no Tô (Tower of the Lilies): Japanese war drama (1982)[15]
* Himeyuri no Tô (Tower of the Lilies): Japanese war drama (1995)[16]
* Himeyuri: Japanese documentary (2007)[17]
* Cocoon (manga): Japanese manga (2009–2010)

## See also

[edit]

* Battle of Okinawa
* Boeitai
* Gakutotai
* Himeyuri Peace Museum
* History of the Ryukyus
* Rape during the occupation of Japan
* Total war
* Volunteer Fighting Corps

## External links

[edit]

* Himeyuri Peace Museum
* Himeyuri Gakutotai
* Himeyuri Monument and the third army field hospital in cave

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ English nickname
2. ^ Translation of Japanese nickname

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Student nurses who survived Battle of Okinawa still campaign against war". Retrieved January 7, 2020.
2. ^ Shima, Diago (2015). The purification of victims: The Himeyuri student corps through the lens of Okinawa, Japan, and the U.S. 1945–1953 (Thesis). McGill University.
3. ^ Yoshioka, Shun (19 June 2024). "Tragic story of young nurses' fate in Battle of Okinawa goes overseas". Kyodo News+. Retrieved 2025-01-28.
4. ^ a b Miyagi, Kikuko (1992). "Okinawa: Student Nurses of the "Lily Corps"". Japan at War: An Oral History. New York: New Press. pp. 354–363\. ISBN 9781565840393.
5. ^ a b "The Number of Mobilised Students and the Death Toll". Himeyuri Peace Museum. 2006. Archived from the original on 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
6. ^ "Asian Historical Records Center". Retrieved January 7, 2020.
7. ^ "Reflecting on the Horrors of War: Okinawa's Himeyuri Cenotaph and the Himeyuri Peace Museum". nippon.com. 2022-05-13. Retrieved 2025-01-28.
8. ^ "Project MUSE - Testimonials--Himeyuri Student Nurses". Manoa. 13 (1): 142–151\. April 2001. doi:10.1353/man.2001.0011. S2CID 201790076.
9. ^ "Himeyuri No To Monument". Retrieved June 7, 2014.
10. ^ "Project MUSE - Testimonials--Himeyuri Student Nurses". Manoa. 13 (1): 142–151\. April 2001. doi:10.1353/man.2001.0011. S2CID 201790076.
11. ^ "Himeyuri No To Monument". Retrieved June 7, 2014.
12. ^ "Himeyuri no Tô" - via www.imdb.com.
13. ^ "Taiheiyô Sensô to Himeyuri Butai" - via www.imdb.com.
14. ^ "Âh himeyuri no tô" - via www.imdb.com.
15. ^ "Himeyuri no Tô" - via www.imdb.com.
16. ^ "Himeyuri no Tô" - via www.imdb.com.
17. ^ "Himeyuri". www.imdb.com.

* v
* t
* e

World War II

* Outline
* Battles
* Operations
* Leaders
* Allied
* Axis
* Commanders
* Casualties
* Conferences

General|

| Topics|

* Air warfare of World War II
* In Europe
* Blitzkrieg
* Comparative military ranks
* Cryptography
* Declarations of war
* Diplomacy
* Governments in exile
* Home front
* Australian
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Lend-Lease
* Manhattan Project
* British contribution
* Military awards
* Military equipment
* Military production
* Naval history
* Nazi plunder
* Opposition
* Technology
* Allied cooperation
* Mulberry harbour
* Total war
* Strategic bombing
* Puppet states
* Women
* Art and World War II
* Music in World War II
* Weather events during World War II

|

Theaters|

* Asia and Pacific
* China
* South-East Asia
* Pacific
* North and Central Pacific
* South-West Pacific
* Indian Ocean
* Europe
* Western Front
* Eastern Front
* Mediterranean and Middle East
* North Africa
* East Africa
* Italy
* West Africa
* Atlantic
* timeline
* Americas

Aftermath|

* Chinese Civil War
* Cold War
* Decolonization
* Division of Korea
* First Indochina War
* Expulsion of Germans
* Greek Civil War
* Indonesian National Revolution
* Keelhaul
* Marshall Plan
* Occupation of Germany
* Occupation of Japan
* Osoaviakhim
* Paperclip
* Soviet occupations
* Baltic
* Hungary
* Poland
* Romania
* Territorial changes of Germany
* Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
* United Nations

War crimes|

* Allied war crimes
* Soviet war crimes
* British war crimes
* United States war crimes
* German war crimes
* forced labour
* Wehrmacht war crimes
* The Holocaust
* Aftermath
* Response
* Nuremberg trials
* Italian war crimes
* Japanese war crimes
* Nanjing Massacre
* Unit 731
* Prosecution
* Croatian war crimes
* Genocide of Serbs
* Persecution of Jews
* Romanian war crimes
* Sexual violence
* German military brothels
* Camp brothels
* Rape during the occupation of Germany / Japan / Poland
* Rape during the liberation of France / Serbia
* Sook Ching
* Comfort women
* Rape of Manila
* Marocchinate

Participants|

| Allies|

* Algeria
* Australia
* Belgium
* Brazil
* Bulgaria (from September 1944)
* Canada
* China
* Cuba
* Czechoslovakia
* Denmark
* Ethiopia
* Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
* Finland (from September 1944)
* France
* Free France
* Greece
* India
* Italy (from September 1943)
* Liberia
* Luxembourg
* Mexico
* Netherlands
* Newfoundland
* New Zealand
* Norway
* Philippines
* Poland
* Romania (from August 1944)
* Sierra Leone
* South Africa
* Southern Rhodesia
* Soviet Union
* Tuva
* United Kingdom
* British Empire
* United States
* Puerto Rico
* Yugoslavia

|

Axis|

* Albania protectorate
* Bulgaria (until September 1944)
* State of Burma
* Republic of China (Wang Jingwei)
* Independent State of Croatia
* Finland (until September 1944)
* German Reich
* Hungary
* Azad Hind
* Iraq
* Italy (until September 1943)
* Italian Social Republic
* Empire of Japan
* Manchukuo
* Mengjiang
* Philippines
* Romania (until August 1944)
* Slovak Republic
* Thailand
* Vichy France
* Guangzhouwan
* French Indochina
* French Madagascar
* Syria–Lebanon
* French North Africa
* French West Africa
* Collaboration

Neutral|

* Afghanistan
* Andorra
* Bhutan
* Ireland
* Liechtenstein
* Monaco
* Portugal
* San Marino
* Saudi Arabia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Tibet
* Turkey
* Vatican City
* Yemen

Resistance|

* Albania
* Austria
* Belgium
* Bulgaria
* Czech lands
* Denmark
* Dutch East Indies
* Estonia
* Ethiopia
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Hong Kong
* Italy
* Japan
* Jews
* Korea
* Korean Liberation Army
* Korean Volunteer Army
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malaya
* Netherlands
* Northeast China
* Norway
* Philippines
* Poland
* Romania
* Thailand
* Soviet Union
* Slovakia
* Western Ukraine
* Vietnam
* Quốc dân Đảng
* Viet Minh
* Yugoslavia

POWs|

* Finnish prisoners in the Soviet Union
* German prisoners
* Soviet Union
* Azerbaijan
* United States
* United Kingdom
* Italian prisoners in the Soviet Union
* Japanese prisoners
* Soviet Union
* German atrocities against Polish POWs
* Soviet prisoners
* Finland
* atrocities by Germans
* Polish prisoners in the Soviet Union
* Romanian prisoners in the Soviet Union

Timeline|

| Prelude|

* Africa
* Second Italo-Ethiopian War
* Asia
* Second Sino-Japanese War
* Battles of Khalkhin Gol
* Europe
* Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
* Anschluss
* Munich Agreement
* Occupation of Czechoslovakia
* Operation Himmler
* Italian invasion of Albania

|

1939|

* Invasion of Poland
* Battle of the Atlantic
* Phoney War
* First Battle of Changsha
* Battle of South Guangxi
* Winter War
* 1939–1940 Winter Offensive

1940|

* Norwegian campaign
* German invasion of Denmark
* Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang
* German invasion of Luxembourg
* German invasion of the Netherlands
* German invasion of Belgium
* Battle of France
* Dunkirk evacuation
* Battle of Britain
* Battle of the Mediterranean
* North Africa
* West Africa
* British Somaliland
* Hundred Regiments Offensive
* Baltic states
* Eastern Romania
* Japanese invasion of French Indochina
* Italian invasion of Greece
* Compass

1941|

* Battle of South Henan
* Battle of Shanggao
* Invasion of Yugoslavia
* German invasion of Greece
* Battle of Crete
* Anglo-Iraqi War
* Battle of South Shanxi
* Syria–Lebanon campaign
* East African campaign
* Invasion of the Soviet Union
* Summer War
* Finland (Silver Fox)
* Lithuania
* Battle of Kiev
* Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
* Second Battle of Changsha
* Siege of Leningrad
* Battle of Moscow
* Bombing of Gorky
* Siege of Sevastopol
* Attack on Pearl Harbor
* Japanese invasion of Thailand
* Fall of Hong Kong
* Fall of the Philippines
* Battle of Guam
* Battle of Wake Island
* Malayan campaign
* Battle of Borneo
* Japanese invasion of Burma
* Third Battle of Changsha
* Greek famine of 1941–1944

1942|

* Fall of Singapore
* Battle of the Java Sea
* St Nazaire Raid
* Battle of Christmas Island
* Battle of the Coral Sea
* Battle of Madagascar
* Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign
* Battle of Gazala
* Battle of Dutch Harbor
* Battle of Midway
* Aleutian Islands campaign
* Kiska
* Attu
* Blue
* First Battle of El Alamein
* Battle of Stalingrad
* Kokoda Track campaign
* Rzhev
* Jubilee
* Second Battle of El Alamein
* Guadalcanal campaign
* Torch
* Chinese famine of 1942–1943

1943|

* Black May
* Tunisian campaign
* Battle of West Hubei
* Battle of Attu
* Bombing of Gorky
* Battle of Kursk
* Allied invasion of Sicily
* Smolensk
* Solomon Islands campaign
* Cottage
* Battle of the Dnieper
* Allied invasion of Italy
* Armistice of Cassibile
* Burma
* Northern Burma and Western Yunnan
* Changde
* Second Battle of Kiev
* Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
* Tarawa
* Makin
* Bengal famine of 1943

1944|

* Tempest
* Monte Cassino / Anzio
* Korsun–Cherkassy
* Narva
* U-Go
* Imphal
* Ichi-Go
* Kohima
* Overlord
* Neptune
* Mariana and Palau
* Bagration
* Western Ukraine
* Second Battle of Guam
* Tannenberg Line
* Warsaw Uprising
* Eastern Romania
* Liberation of Paris
* Dragoon
* Gothic Line
* Belgrade offensive
* Battle of San Marino
* Lapland
* Market Garden
* Estonia
* Crossbow
* Pointblank
* Vietnamese famine of 1944–1945
* Philippines (1944–1945)
* Leyte
* Syrmian Front
* Hungary
* Budapest
* Burma (1944–1945)
* Ardennes
* Bodenplatte
* Dutch famine of 1944–1945

1945|

* Vistula–Oder
* Battle of Manila
* Battle of Iwo Jima
* Indochina
* Vienna offensive
* Project Hula
* Western invasion of Germany
* Bratislava–Brno offensive
* Battle of Okinawa
* Second Guangxi campaign
* West Hunan
* Italy (Spring 1945)
* Battle of Berlin
* Prague offensive
* Surrender of Germany
* document
* Borneo
* Taipei
* Naval bombardment of Japan
* Manchuria
* Atomic bombings
* Debate
* South Sakhalin
* Kuril Islands
* Shumshu
* Surrender of Japan
* Potsdam Declaration
* document
* End of World War II in Asia

* World portal
* Bibliography
* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template