Banzai Cliff Monument

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Banzai Cliff Monument is a memorial to the thousands of Japanese civilians and soldiers who jumped to their deaths in the ocean and the rocks below rather than surrender to U.S. forces during the Battle of Saipan in July 1944. Another nearby cliff is called Suicide Cliff. That was the site of other suicides by Japanese soldiers and civilians. Those who didn't die after jumping were captured by American ships. The monument includes several stone structures, including one representing a mother and child kneeling in prayer. There is also a small Buddhist shrine nearby. The 7.5-acre monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

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Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Banzai Cliff is between 120 and 150 feet above the ocean. It lies at the northern tip of Saipan Island, in the U.S. territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The cliff face itself has been largely unchanged since the 1944 Battle of Saipan during World War II. The top of the cliff has been developed for tourism purposes. It includes a Buddhist shrine and stone monuments to the Japanese soldiers and civilians who jumped to their deaths rather than surrender to the Americans. There's also a walkway leading to an overlook point.

The Battle of Saipan took place between June and July of 1944. The island was important to put the Japanese home islands within range of B-29 bombers. The Americans captured the island at great human cost. At least 3,400 of the 71,000 American soldiers, and all but 921 of the 32,000 Japanese soldiers were killed during the brutal fighting. About 22,000 civilians died during and after the fighting. How many died by suicide after the battle versus being killed by soldiers is still unknown. The battle, like much of the Pacific theatre of World War II, was brutal, with little quarter given or received. U.S. propaganda often depicted Japanese people in a racist fashion, which added to the brutality of the conflict.

There were as many as 30,000 civilians on the island. However, about 4,500 were Chamorros and Carolinians. The rest were Japanese and Korean settlers. The Japanese civilians were manly poor migrant workers. Mainland Japanese often saw them as second-class citizens. U.S. troops saw them as a novelty, as they had only encountered Japanese soldiers or local natives during the Pacific War. U.S. civil affairs officers reported to soldiers about the peoples on the island. They also tried to give colored armbands to the civilians on the island: red for Japanese, red and white for Koreans and white for ‘others.’ But there were too few civil affairs officers on the island.

After the fighting, thousands of Japanese soldiers and civilians at Banzai Cliff and Suicide Cliff jumped to their deaths. They feared how they would be treated in American captivity. This was partly thanks to Japanese propaganda, but they also considered surrendering dishonorable. It is called Banzai Cliff because many of those who jumped shouted "Banzai" as they jumped. They were wishing the Japanese emperor 10,000 years of life. This was in spite of several American efforts to convince them to surrender. Indeed, American servicemen made rescue attempts at the bottom of the cliff. Many of the bodies were never recovered. The Japanese people saw the suicides as an act of bravery. Throughout the war, Japanese civilians and soldiers were encouraged to give their lives for the emperor rather than be captured. However, Chamorros and Carolinians were usually willing to surrender, and did so early in the battle.

Many from Japan elsewhere visit this and other sites on the island every year. The old Japanese airstrip still stands, and a nearby peace memorial features Japanese Ha Go tanks. The Buddhist shrine and other memorials are reminders that in war, casualties don't often end on the battlefield.

Sources

Banzai Cliff Monument, National Register of Historic Places. Accessed July 20th 2020. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/d2ddb257-77fc-457b-b9f3-04eb0037a04f/.

Banzai Cliff - Northern Mariana Islands, Atlas Obscura. Accessed July 20th 2020. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/banzai-cliff.

O’Brie, Francis A.. Battle of Saipan, HistoryNet. May 1st 1997. Accessed July 21st 2020. https://www.historynet.com/battle-of-saipan.

When Soldiers Kill Civilians: The Battle For Saipan, History Today. Accessed July 21st 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20100127030443/http://www.historytoday.com/MainArticle.aspx?m=33822&amid=30301719.