[temujin77]

To the Japanese, I see it as rather moot point. The writing did not change, therefore it is *not* a re-naming. It is simply a change in pronunciation. For example, there is a city called Newark in New Jersey, and we read the word like "new-wurk". If for some unknown reason, the Newark city council decided to officially read the word as "new-ark", should it really generate that much attention?

To the Americans, though, I see why the change is being mis-labeled as "re-naming". We phonetically translate Japanese into English, so a change in pronunciation is almost like a re-naming to us. I for one do not think we should change the name of the battle to Battle of Ioto (Iwoto). For example, when Stalingrad was renamed Volgograd in 1961, we never changed the name of the big battle that took place there. So why is Battle of Iwo Jima name an issue now?