Public Pawnshop Ruins

These building ruins are located north along the road from the Ie Village Office. An estimated 3,500 people including around 1,500 islanders and around 2,000 officers and men of the island's garrison died on Ie Island during the Battle of Okinawa near the end of World War II. In addition to heavy human casualties, nearly all of the buildings on the island were burnt to the ground during the fighting. The lone building to avoid this fate was this village-operated pawnshop built with government financing in 1929. The building still retains a large hole in the wall as well as countless bullet holes, conveying the tragedy that was the Battle of Okinawa.