Previous Story
MRA makes annual pilgrimage
A group photo of the Micronesian Repatriation Association of Okinawa is taken on Saturday May 27, 2017, at the Marpi memorial shrine, together with Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, Japanese Consul Kinji Shinoda, and members of the 20th CNMI Legislature: Sen. Sixto Igisomar and Reps. Frank Dela Cruz, Edmund Villagomez, Greg Sablan Jr., and Joseph Lee Pan De Leon Guerrero. (Contributed Photo)
Forty-five members of the Micronesian Repatriation Association of Okinawa, who have been coming to the Marianas for their annual pilgrimage, came back for their yearly visit.
Pacific Development, Inc., which is handling the group’s visit, said that this year marked the 48th anniversary of MRA’s visit to Saipan and the 40th anniversary of the group’s pilgrimage to Tinian.
PDI managing director Gordon Marciano said that, since some of the MRA members are getting older and can’t travel, other family members are now coming to see the places and sites where their family were born and raised.
Many of the senior members of the MRA had once lived on Saipan or Tinian.
Marciano said that families from Saipan and Tinian have been busy meeting and hosting the group.
“Most of them are being sponsored by local families whom most of our Okinawan guests remember while growing up with their parents, when they were growing up in the Marianas. They still find themselves mesmerized by their hometown today,” said Marciano.
Whenever he is asked where he was born, MRA chair Kamiunten Kensei still responds that he is a “San Roque boy.” Kensei was born in Matansa, San Roque, along with MRA vice chair Isa Zenki and board members Nakasone Seiji, Tomimoto Yuei, Higa Toshio, and HokamaYoshiko.
The group is accompanied by Okinawa government vice president Akamine Noburo, Okinawa Assembly secretary Fukuhara Kengo, and Nakai Takeshi of the Okinawa Peace Foundation.
“They really enjoyed both Saipan and Tinian and are looking forward to their return next year,” said Marciano.
Kensei extends his appreciation to Marianas Visitor Authority managing director Chris Concepcion and for the community’s continued support.
The group arrived on May 25 and held memorial services on both Saipan and Tinian on Saturday. They were scheduled to depart yesterday, May 30. (PR)
