Former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui embarked on a four-day trip to Okinawa Prefecture on Friday to pay tribute to Taiwanese killed in the 1945 battle on the island.
Lee's office said the former president, who is visiting at the invitation of the Japan-Taiwan Peace Foundation, is scheduled to meet members of the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association in Japan on Saturday.
Saturday marks Okinawa Memorial Day, a holiday observed on the island every June 23 to remember the lives lost in the Battle of Okinawa. Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule for a half century until 1945.