The Emperor of Japan in Saipan: a symbolic visit
Despite controversy in the international press, Emperor Akihito undertook this visit to "commemorate, independently of nationality, people who lost their lives in the Second World War".
Tokyo (Asianews) On 28 June, Emperor Akihito (71 years) and Empress Michiko (70 years) went to Saipan, one of the pacific group of the Mariana islands to "commemorate, independently of nationality, people who lost their lives in the Second World War".
The Japanese media was unanimous in applauding the nobility of the gesture, which was however lost on analysts writing in the foreign press. Some journalists distorted its meaning, putting the trip on a par with much contested visits periodically made by the Japanese premier, Junichiro Koizumi, to the Shinto shrine Yasukuni, practically considering both as variations of the same theme.
On the evening of 27 June, responding to a greeting by survivors of the "battle of Saipan" (15 June 9 July 1944), the emperor said: "Tomorrow I will commemorate all those lost their lives in this region and I will visit memorials which remember them, praying for peace in the world".
Juan Babauta, governor of the Mariana islands and Thomas Schieffer, US ambassador to Japan, welcomed the imperial couple at Saipan airport. By the express desire of the visitors, there was no official reception since this visit not planned by the Japanese government but strongly and resolutely wanted by the emperor himself was expressly intended as a pilgrimage of condolence and penitence.
The story of the tragedy is well known. Until the start of the Pacific war (1941 1945), Saipan island, which the Japanese had governed for 20 years by mandate of the League of Nations, was a flourishing sugar cane colony. In the summer of 1944, it became an inferno. During the battle, 43,000 Japanese soldiers and 12,000 civilians were killed, as well as 10,000 Koreans and 900 islanders. The US military troops who lost their lives in the invasion attack numbered 5,000. From 9 July that year, the prosperous colony became the base from which groups of B29 flying fortresses flew out to bombard the main cities of the Japanese archipelago, one after another. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the last.
In the aftermath of war, the Japanese government, together with the local authorities, set up a monument for those fallen in the war, dedicated to all who had lost their lives on the island independent of nationality. Another two memorials dedicated respectively to US soldiers and local people killed in battle were erected in the island's central park. The imperial couple visited all three monuments, placing wreathes of flowers and bowing in prayer.
During a press conference in 1981, when still crown prince, Emperor Akihoto had said: "I want to think profoundly about how precious peace is and to dedicate all my strength to maintaining it." It was with this desire that he was moved to make repeated visits to famous battlegrounds, like Okinawa, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the Saipan visit was his first abroad for this scope. Before leaving Tokyo, he told journalists: "This time we will express condolences and honour the memory of all those who have lost their lives in the world war on soil which is beyond our borders, we will remember the suffering of their families and we want to pray for peace in the world."
On 6 July 1944, the admiral of the imperial ship Chuichi Nagumu, known in Japan as the hero of Pearl Harbour, ordered the remaining 3,000 soldiers to undertake a suicide attack to maintain their honour, before committing suicide himself. Alas, the nationalist indoctrination would end in ultimate tragedy: together with the military, thousands of civilians, including women hugging their children and crying "Banzai to the emperor" (long life to the emperor) threw themselves off two cliffs now known as "the banzai precipices". Emperor Akihoto, together with his wife, went there before starting the "pilgrimage of condolence" to the three memorials, his face saddened and tinged with deep regret for those unfortunates who sacrificed themselves in honour of Tenno Akihito, his father.
The schedule of the visit did not foresee other stops. But on the return journey to the hotel, the imperial car stopped in front of another "memorial", set up by the Korean association of Saipan in honour of Koreans killed in the battle. The imperial couple stepped out of the car and stood there in prayer for some minutes. The strong desire of the emperor got the better of the clout of the imperial agency, which had excluded this stop probably for political reasons and out of security concerns: recently links between Japan and Korea have not been good. A few days before the visit, Kim Baeg Seung, president of the Korean association expressed his intention of welcoming the imperial couple with feelings of sincere cordiality. But he also said: "Our position of asking pardon from Japan has not changed. Our grandparents, who were forced to work in the sugar plantations, and our grandmothers, who were used as 'comfort women' (for the military) cannot be forgotten." Anti-Japanese flags and banners had been put up on the façade of the office of the association; they were removed at the exhortation of the local Catholic Church before the visit took place.
The tribute of respect and condolence offered by the imperial couple did much to diminish the prevalent atmosphere of animosity. In the Far East, commemorative celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War have just started, and the atmosphere is not promising. It would be fitting if east Asian nations, especially China and Korea, could grasp the authentic symbolic dimension of the imperial couple's visit to Saipan to learn how to distinguish between the nostalgia of the extreme right and the true sentiments of the Japanese people who for 60 years now, have been showing they want peace in the world and are prepared to cooperate concretely to bring it about.
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11/04/2007
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