撃沈８０年、戦没者しのぶ　戦艦大和、遺族らが献花―広島・呉

　旧日本海軍が建造した戦艦「大和」の撃沈から８０年となった７日、広島県呉市の長迫公園（旧海軍墓地）で追悼式が行われた。遺族や海上自衛隊の関係者ら約３００人が参列し、戦死した乗組員に黙とうをささげ、慰霊碑に献花した。
　８月には戦後８０年の節目を迎える。戦争体験者らが減る中、戦禍の記憶の風化防止や継承が課題になっている。
　追悼式は、乗組員の遺族などでつくる戦艦大和会が主催。大和が米軍の猛攻により鹿児島県沖で沈没した４月７日に式を例年開いている。追悼式では小笠原臣也会長が「乗組員の鎮魂、慰霊、顕彰を後世に引き継ぐことは私どもの使命。伝承を通じ平和日本の繁栄と世界平和維持に貢献したい」などと式辞を述べた。（2025/04/07-17:05）

A memorial service marking the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the now-defunct Imperial Japanese Navy's battleship Yamato was held in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, on Monday.
   Some 300 people, including bereaved families and Maritime Self-Defense Force members, attended the ceremony. Participants offered silent prayers to the crew members who died in the incident due to attacks by the U.S. military during World War II and laid flowers at the monument in the Nagasako Park in Kure.
   The memorial was organized by the Senkanyamato-kai group comprising bereaved families and others. The group hosts a memorial service every year on April 7, when the Yamato sank off the coast of Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
   Shinya Ogasawara, who heads the group, said that it is the group's "mission" to continue to console the souls of the victims and honor them down the generations.
   "We hope to contribute to the prosperity of peaceful Japan as well as the maintenance of world peace by passing down (the memories)," he also said.