As the Emperor Showa was to have visited Okinawa Prefecture in 1987 until he got sick in autumn of the same year, the Japanese government had started the preparation from the previous year by earmarking an extraordinary budget to improve the environment, such as gathering the remains of the war dead in the southern battle site.
なお、この昭和62年の訪沖は同年秋に昭和天皇が病臥するまでは天皇の訪沖が予定されていたこともあって、前年から日本の政治は特別予算を組んで南部戦跡の戦死者遺骨収骨作業を行うなど環境の整備に努めた。