The Emperor and Empress visited the Monument of the War Dead in the Mid-Pacific, the Banzai Cliff and Japanese WWII veterans on the beach on June 28, 2005.
Japan emperor visits Korean war memorial on Saipan
By Linda Sieg 15 minutes ago
SAIPAN (Reuters) - In a gesture of reconciliation, Japanese Emperor Akihito made a surprise visit on Tuesday to a Korean war dead memorial during a pilgrimage to the island of Saipan where a decisive World War II battle was fought.
Akihito's journey, his first trip outside Japan to honor war dead, coincides with a chill in Japan's ties with China and South Korea, still tormented by the wartime past 60 years later....
Emperor prays for peace - and for the victims of Suicide Cliff
By Richard Lloyd Parry
When Tazu Sato was growing up in the 1940s on the remote Pacific island of Saipan, every school day began with the same ritual. Standing in rows, facing north in the direction of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, the pupils would bow deeply three times and shout aloud: “Tenno Heika Banzai!”
The words mean, literally, “May His Majesty the Emperor live 10,000 years”, and they were heard repeatedly during the vicious three-week battle for Saipan in 1944. Japanese soldiers shouted them as they charged into combat, armed with daggers and sharpened bamboos in suicide raids.
Miss Sato herself heard a young soldier scream them as he joined hundreds of others in jumping to his death from Suicide Cliff. Last night Emperor Akihito — the son of the late Hirohito, in whose name so many people died — and Empress Michiko arrived in Saipan to pray for peace on a foreign battlefield for the first time....
SAIPAN-In their first trip overseas to pay tribute to victims of World War II, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko offered condolences Monday in Saipan to the families of the war dead....
That just seems bizarre--since when are women who marry forced to give up their jobs? And for marriage to a city planner? She has a far more exciting job than him.
July 1, 2005: Lalla Salma and Japanese Princess Takamado attend the national day ceremony of the 2005 World Expo Aichi at the Expo Hall.
Moroccan musicians also performed for the Japanese audience.
Linear Mode
