Suicide and Bonzai Cliffs

Nov. 28, 2011

Today Mom and I went to Bonzai and Suicide Cliffs,The Grotto and Bird Island. These sites are about a 30 minute drive from our apartment.
In June of 1944 a major and decisive battle took place on this island of Saipan. Over 40,000 soldiers and civilians lost their lives in the battle to control this small Pacific island. The Japanese had control of these islands after WWI and moved many people here to colonize the islands and produce sugar cane and other commodities for the Japanese Empire. Saipan was controlled by Japan and the local Chamorro people worked for the Japanese and were treated well by them. After Pearl Harbor in Dec. 1941 the Americans had to regroup and try to push the Japanese west through the Pacific Islands and back to Japan. These battles to control these islands were some of the most ferocious battles in the history of warfare. Major battles took place in such islands as Iwo Jima, Wake Island, Midway, Leyte, Guadacanal and many more. Much American blood was shed and many lives were lost. Saipan was the last major island as a defense to prevent American marines and soldiers from invading Japan. It also had an airstrip which was necessary for the U.S. in order to send aircraft toward Japan.  The Enola Gay bomber that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima actually departed from the neighboring island of Tinian.

In June, 1944 American troops landed on the beaches of Saipan and pushed the Japanese troops to the northern most part of the island.  Many of the Japanese civilians retreated with them. They found themselves caught between the Americans and the waters of the Pacific. The Japanese had a code of honor which required them to loose their lives rather than surrender. Japanese propaganda also warned the civilians that the Americans were evil and would commit great atrocities against them if they were captured. Thousands of Japanese soldiers and civilians took their own lives rather than be captured. They did so by jumping off Suicide cliffs from frightening heights to the ground below or from  Bonzai cliffs into the beautiful blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. Children and infants were often in the arms of the mothers. The sight has become a place of reverence and solace for visiting Japanese who have erected memorials at the sight. It was a moving and  spiritual visit.