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Okinawan group returns to Saipan
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Posted on May 29 2006
The Micronesian Repatriation Association of Okinawa has returned for its 37th annual pilgrimage tour to the Northern Marianas.
Some 150 delegates, led by MRA chairman Choken Ginoza, arrived on Sunday and held a memorial service at the Okinawa Peace Memorial Tower at the Last Command Post in Marpi yesterday morning.
During the ceremony, the pilgrims offered prayers and flowers to those who perished during World War II. Okinawan students also performed the ryukyu, a traditional dance from the southern Japanese island chain.
The MRA members were scheduled to join local community members for the Okinawa-CNMI Friendship Night at the Hafa Adai Beach Hotel on Monday evening.
The Okinawan delegation includes Takeichi Meijo, vice chairman of the Okinawa War Bereaved Family United Association; Choshun Kiyuna, representative for Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inanime; Seizen Hokama, chairman of the Okinawa Legislature; and Urazoe Mayor Mitsuo Gima.
Today, the group will head south to conduct a similar memorial service at Banzai Cliff in Tinian.
Pacific Development Inc. marketing manager Gordon Marciano said the delegates would stay in the Commonwealth until June 3, 2006.
Marciano also reported that the MRA of Okinawa had confirmed its sponsorship of the 18th CNMI and Okinawa student cultural exchange.
This year, five students from Northern Marianas will be selected to participate in the cultural exchange and to represent the Commonwealth as ambassadors of goodwill.
Two students from Palau will join the CNMI representatives in the trip to Okinawa, tentatively slated for June 21.
