Okinawan Student Nurse Assistants

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

During the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, students from all high schools were used as auxiliaries and supporters for the Imperial Japanese Army. The 10 girls’ high schools provided over 500 students age 15-19 with basic medical training to assist in medical facilities.  The largest and best known of these were the “Himeyuri Student Corps” from the First Girls’ High School and Women’s Normal School in Asato, Naha. They endured hellish living conditions in unmarked hospital caves and bunkers. More than 200 student nurses died during the three month battle. Painted examples are resin prototypes for illustrative purposes.

In games, they can represent an alternate medic, though in real life they worked in caves, as civilians or militia. The only "military" item they wear is a green enlisted man's undershirt, so if painted in other colors it can just be another civilian item.

I've released a set of four unpainted metal miniatures in 28mm, scaled a hair down so they're slightly shorter than the average GI. A set comes with a history card and is $20 plus shipping, message me if interested.

[HerbertTarkel]

What a unique piece of late WW2 history - fantastic!

[Tom Dulski]

 I wonder what their casualty rate was, pretty high I would imagine.

[Daeothar]

As per the OP's post: 200 out of 500 died. So 40%. That's excessively high...

Very nice miniatures of a quite obscure subject. I learned something new today at any rate!

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Glad I could do that then, one of the reasons I make these is to share their stories. I made a casualty board that shows how many students came from each school against the number killed. Most died in the final three days of battle. After the Americans had cornered the Japanese army in the south, the students were discharged from service onto the active battlefield. Here they died in the crossfire or fleeing; Japan didn't allow anyone- even civilians- to surrender. The stories from this time are some of the most horrendous and heartbreaking.

[FifteensAway]

Another who had never heard of this, poignant bit of history.  What is striking to me is not the death rate but the survival rate, 60% of the girls survived seems high compared to the other losses on Okinawa, says they felt they had something to live for - as such young folks should.

[carlos marighela]

Fascinating! That really is a poignant story and the miniatures look great. Thanks for sharing.

Forty percent in a single battle is indeed a very high casualty rate. It's worth bearing in mind though that it's less than the casualty rate of RAF Bomber Command and only a bit over half of the rate for U-boat personnel.

[BillK]

Fascinating bit of history I new nothing about.
I'm not on F'book so can't get your whole background, but kudos to you for producing these miniatures.

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Thanks; I'll put up more material here. I regularly update the Facebook page with historical background as well as miniatures I have in the works, though I'm not sure how much of that extra real world background would be appreciated here. Beyond Okinawa, my range includes wartime Japanese civilians and soon will have "scatter terrain," such as wooden trash bins, firefighting water basins, and distinctly Japanese phone booths.

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

I'm proud to have been published in the National Museum of the Pacific War's new scholar series with an article on the real life Himeyuri that inspired these miniatures!

https://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/education/scholar-series/himeyuri-student-corps