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150 Japanese arrive for WWII memorial
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Posted on Jun 24 2004
Days after the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Battles of Saipan and Tinian, some 150 Japanese would arrive today on Saipan for an annual memorial service to honor those who perished during World War II.
Tour operator Pacific Development Inc.’s Gordon Marciano said the group would arrive on Saipan in two batches today for the 18th Annual Shiko Gakuen Mission set on Saturday. Marciano said the group would stay on-island for five days.
PDI and the Marianas Visitors Authority collaborate on the annual visit of the Japanese group, which conducts a memorial service at the Shiko Gakuen Memorial Monument at Banzai cliff.
This Saturday’s memorial service would be from 10am to 12noon, according to the MVA, which invited the public to attend the ceremony—the 18th in about two decades.
“The annual memorial service is held through prayers at the Shiko Gakuen Memorial Monument at Banzaii cliff to honor the memory of those [who] were lost in the war,” said MVA managing director Vicky Benavente.
Benavente said the monument was built in October 1988 to memorialize the Japanese and people of diverse nationalities who died during World War II.
Benavente said the annual mission stress the importance of world peace.
