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Banzai Cliff is a historical site at the northern tip of Saipan island in the Northern Mariana Islands, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.Towards the end of the Battle of Saipan in 1944, hundreds of Japanese civilians and soldiers (of the Imperial Japanese Army) jumped off the cliff to their deaths in the ocean and rocks below, to avoid being captured by the Americans.
Suicide Cliff is a cliff above Marpi Point Field near the northern tip of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, which achieved historic significance late in World War II.. Also known as Laderan Banadero, it is a location where Japanese civilians and Imperial Japanese Army soldiers took their own lives by jumping to their deaths in July 1944 in order to avoid capture by the United States.
Suicide Cliff and Banzai Cliff, along with surviving isolated Japanese fortifications, are recognized as historic sites on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Banzai Cliff monuments. Marpi Point is the northernmost part of the island. At the north-facing Suicide Cliff, an unknown but large number of civilians and soldiers jumped to their deaths rather than surrendering to the advancing U.S. forces. The area is now marked by memorials at the top and base of the cliff.
Of the estimated 30,000 Japanese defenders, only 921 were taken prisoner. The weapons used, and the tactics of close quarter fighting, also resulted in high civilian casualties. Some 20,000 Japanese civilians perished during the battle, including over 1,000 who jumped from "Suicide Cliff" and "Banzai Cliff" rather than be caught and taken prisoner.
The following are approximate tallies of current listings in the Northern Mariana Islands on the National Register of Historic Places. These counts are based on entries in the National Register Information Database as of April 24, 2008 [2] and new weekly listings posted since then on the National Register of Historic Places web site. [3]
The Banzai Cliff memorial is located at the western end of the former airfield. The former airfield is part of the National Historic Landmark District Landing Beaches; Aslito/Isely Field; & Marpi Point, Saipan Island , designated in 1985.
Banzai Cliff, North end of Saipan: Cenotaph for war casualties in the central Pacific Ocean (中部太平洋戦没者の碑, Chubu taiheiyou senbotsusha no hi) for 43,000 Japanese killed in action and 12,000 citizens killed in the war regardless of nationality including Japanese migrants to the Saipan, Tinian, Guam islands until the end of the ...