Suicide Cliff is a

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

above

Marpi Point Field Marpi Point Field or NAB Marpi Point is a former World War II airfield at the northern end of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. The airfield was vacated by the United States in 1962; it is currently unused and overgrown. History World War ...

near the northern tip of

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

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 ...

, which achieved historic significance late 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Also known as Laderan Banadero, it is a location where numerous Japanese civilians and

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

soldiers took their own lives by jumping to their deaths in July 1944 in order to avoid capture by the United States. Japanese propaganda had emphasized brutal American treatment of Japanese, citing the

American mutilation of Japanese war dead During World War II, some members of the United States military mutilated dead Japanese service personnel in the Pacific theater. The mutilation of Japanese service personnel included the taking of body parts as "war souvenirs" and "war tro ...

and claiming U.S. soldiers were bloodthirsty and without morals. Many Japanese feared the "American devils raping and devouring Japanese women and children." The precise number of suicides there is not known. One eyewitness said he saw “hundreds of bodies” below the cliff, while elsewhere, numbers in the thousands have been cited. By 1976, a park and peace memorial was in place and the location had become a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

destination, particularly for visitors from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. and In that year, of the site were listed on the US National Register of Historic Places. The cliff is, along with the airfield and

Banzai Cliff Banzai Cliff is a historical site at the northern tip of Saipan island in the Northern Mariana Islands, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Towards the end of the Battle of Saipan in 1944, hundreds of Japanese civilians and soldiers (of the Imperial Ja ...

, a coastal cliff where suicides also took place, part of the

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

Landing Beaches; Aslito/Isley Field; & Marpi Point, Saipan Island Landing Beaches; Aslito/Isely Field & Marpi Point, Saipan Island is a National Historic Landmark District consists of several discontiguous areas of the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. The sites were designated for their associat ...

, designated in 1985.

References

Cliffs Historic district contributing properties in the Northern Mariana Islands World War II sites of the United States World War II on the National Register of Historic Places in the Northern Mariana Islands Saipan Cliffs of Oceania Landforms of the Northern Mariana Islands {{NorthernMarianas-geo-stub

See also

References