YOKOHAMA, Japan  (February 14, 2023) In this photo by MC2 Ashley M.C. Estrella, U.S. Navy Chaplain Lt. Junior Grade Nicolas Tobin, assigned to Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka, hands flowers to a service-veteran family member during a war memorial ceremony for the Japanese/POW(s) Friendship Program at Yokohama Commonwealth War Cemetery. The cemetery includes a large urn containing the ashes of 335 Sailors, Soldiers, and Airmen from the United States, the British Commonwealth, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who died as POWs in Japan. The ceremony is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Commander, Navy Region Japan, bringing families of U.S. prisoners of war to Japan for a week-long reconciliation tour.

This special event with family members of former American Prisoners of War is at the invitation of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of a cultural diplomacy program that started in 2010. The Japanese/POW Friendship Program seeks to promote a mutual understanding between the Japanese and American people by inviting former POWs, their family members, and caregivers to Japan as a gesture of reconciliation.

The Yokosuka base is located on 568 acres 43 miles south of Tokyo at the entrance of Tokyo Bay and is one of the most strategically important bases in the U.S. military. The base has a population of 24,500 military and civilian personnel making it the largest overseas U.S. Naval installation in the world.