Peace memorial in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, on August 20 for nine female telephone operators who took their lives at Maoka Post Office in 1945.
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On August 20, a peace memorial service was held in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, to honor nine young female telephone operators remembered as the Nine Maidens of Maoka. They died in a group suicide at the Maoka Post Office (now Kholmsk) in southern Karafuto, which at the time was a prefecture of Japan on the southern half of Sakhalin Island, just north of Hokkaido. Their deaths occurred during the Soviet invasion of August 1945. Around 240 former residents of Karafuto and other attendees gathered to offer flowers in remembrance of the victims.
Their Final Hours
Eighty years ago, on August 20, 1945, Soviet troops landed in southern Karafuto, even after Japan had announced its surrender. Shells rained down on Maoka, and the town was soon in flames as civilians rushed to escape by sea. Amid the chaos, twelve young women, aged just 17 to 24, remained on duty at the Maoka Post Office, manning the switchboards.
While others fled, they chose to stay, relaying communications to Hokkaido and beyond. They kept the lines open until the very last moment, even as Soviet forces closed in. Eyewitnesses later remembered their calm resolve, working steadily at their posts despite the mortal danger.
As Soviet soldiers drew near, nine of the twelve operators made a fateful choice. According to accounts, they sent one last message over the lines: "Everyone, this is the end. Farewell, farewell." Moments later, they took their own lives with poison rather than face capture. Colleagues stopped the remaining three before they could follow.
Legacy and Memorial
In 1963, a monument known as the Monument of the Nine Maidens was erected in Wakkanai Park, inscribed with their names and final words. It stands on a hill overlooking the sea toward Sakhalin, the land they never returned to. Each year on August 20, survivors, families, and citizens gather there to lay flowers and pray.
The memorial soon gained national recognition. Emperor Showa and Empress Kojun visited in 1968, and the Emperor composed a poem in tribute to the women. Over time, they came to be remembered as the "Himeyuri of the North," a name that likens their fate to the Okinawan student nurses who also perished in the battle, symbols of young women's wartime sacrifice.
Voices of Memory
At this year's memorial, attendees offered flowers and bowed their heads in silence.
Among them was 85-year-old Etsuko Hamaya, who had lived in southern Karafuto as a child. She wept as she remembered the day her family was forced to leave. "Every time I come to this ceremony, I recall our repatriation," she said. Her voice broke as she added that her brother had passed away only last month.
Hamaya reflected on the passing of time. Fewer and fewer people remain who lived through those days, she noted. "Unless those of us who still remember continue to speak of the cruelty and the futility, I fear war will happen again."
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Author: The Sankei Shimbun
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