TOKYO » About 5,000 people including Japan’s prime minister and the U.S. ambassador to Japan held a memorial service to mark the 70th anniversary of the World War II Battle of Okinawa.

They observed a moment of silence Tuesday at Peace Memorial Park in Okinawa.

Naeko Teruya, a representative of bereaved families, said that remains and unexploded bombs are still found underground and at construction sites.

She said: "We still feel that the war hasn’t truly ended."

Many civilians were among the more than 200,000 people who died in the fighting on Okinawa in the final months of World War II.