![Paseo de Marianas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Paseo_de_Marianas.JPG)
Garapan (
Old Japanese name: 柄帆町, ''Garapan-chō'') is the largest village and the center of the tourism industry on the island of
Saipan, which is a part of the United States
Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
(CNMI). Garapan, as a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...
, has an area of and a population of 3,588 (census of population, 2000).
Description
Garapan is located on Saipan's west coast and is home to the majority of the island's major hotels and the
American Memorial Park
American Memorial Park on the island of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, was created as a memorial honoring the sacrifices made during the Marianas Campaign of World War II. Recreational facilities, a World War II museum and flag monument kee ...
, which honors American soldiers who died during the
Battle of Saipan
The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June to 9 July 1944 as part of Operation Forager. It has been referred to as the "Pacific D-Day" with the ...
. Micro Beach, one of Saipan's more famous beaches, sits adjacent to the
American Memorial Park
American Memorial Park on the island of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, was created as a memorial honoring the sacrifices made during the Marianas Campaign of World War II. Recreational facilities, a World War II museum and flag monument kee ...
and has turquoise waters with a fine white, sandy shore.
Numerous shops, restaurants, and one of the CNMI's largest elementary schools, Garapan Elementary School, is located here. A popular tourist attraction, Paseo De Marianas (historically known as "Hotel Street"), is also located in Garapan.
One of the several churches on the island, Kristo Rai Church, is located in Garapan, just north of the Horiguchi Building.
History
![Garapan in the Japanese Period](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Garapan_in_the_Japanese_Period.JPG)
Garapan was a minor settlement during the Spanish colonial period of Saipan, and a location to which the
Chamorros
The Chamorro people (; also CHamoru) are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the encompassing Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Today, signif ...
forcibly relocated from other islands in the Northern Marianas were housed before being transferred to Guam. The forced transfer of the Chamorros to Guam was completed by 1749 and Saipan was recorded as uninhabited. The village name of Garapan derived from the Refaluwasch (Carolinian) name of Arabwal (Gharabwan), so named for the vine with heart-shaped leaves found along the beach there by a group from Satawal who arrived here to settle around the year 1815. Between the years 1865 and 1869, the Hispanicized descendants of the Chamorros that were forcibly relocated to Guam started a settlement in this area, although apart from the Refaluwasch (Carolinian) community. During the German colonial period (1898-1914) a road was built connecting Garapan with Tanapag. The village was selected by the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...
when Japan acquired the
South Seas Mandate from the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
in 1920 to be the capital of their holdings in the Mariana Islands. Under the
Nan’yō Kōhatsu Kabushiki Kaisha development company the town grew rapidly with a school, hospital, courthouse, bank, newspaper offices, cinema, and numerous public buildings constructed. By the mid-1930s, Garapan had a population of approximately 14,000 people, mostly Japanese and ethnic Koreans, Taiwanese and Okinawans, and was nicknamed "Tokyo of the South Seas".
This prosperity came to an abrupt end in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. During the
Battle of Saipan
The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June to 9 July 1944 as part of Operation Forager. It has been referred to as the "Pacific D-Day" with the ...
in 1944, Garapan was destroyed, and thousands of its civilian inhabitants were killed. The survivors were forcibly repatriated to the
Japanese home islands
The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East Chi ...
after the
surrender of Japan
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...
and the ruins of Garapan remained unpopulated until the late 1960s and 1970s, when the area was redeveloped into large resort hotels and condominiums for the tourist industry. Some of the few remaining structures from the Japanese period, such as the Nan'yo-cho Saipan Hospital, are preserved on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
Education
* Garapan Elementary School
Private schools:
*
Grace Christian Academy
See also
*
Kristo Rai Church
The Kristo Rai Church (or Christ the King Church, from Spanish ''Iglesia de Cristo Rey'') is a Roman Catholic church in the street Kopa Di Oru of the town of Garapan in the Northern Marianas Islands, a dependent territory of the United States in th ...
*
Garapan Heritage Trail
References
{{Coord, 15, 12, 22, N, 145, 43, 05, E, dim:3000_scale:30000_region:MP_type:isle_source:dewiki, display=title
Towns and villages in the Northern Mariana Islands
Saipan