Previous Story
Castaways on Anatahan to be unveiled in exhibit
|
Posted on Apr 11 2005
A three-month exhibit featuring the rescue missions for members of the Japanese navy who were stranded on Anatahan during World War II would open on Thursday at the CNMI Museum of History and Culture.
The exhibit, entitled “Castaways on Anatahan: the Last Surrender. 1944 to 1951,” will open at 10am.
Museum curator Barbara Moir said the exhibit would showcase records of the 31 Japanese seamen who were stranded on the northern island of Anatahan when the United States bombed and sank their ships at the onset of the Battle of Saipan in 1944.
She said photos and other materials would portray how these men swam ashore and learned the rudiments of island survival—all taught by 43 Carolinians and two Okinawans. The museum would also show records of how the Carolinians were evacuated to Saipan. The Japanese refused evacuation because they did not believe the war was already over. It wasn’t until 1951, when they received a letter from relatives in Japan, that they finally accepted the fact.
Moir said that, although the story received tremendous press coverage in 1950 to 1951, the CNMI community remembers little of the story.
“Even many of the grown children of the local men who played a part in the rescue missions were unaware of their fathers’ roles in the historic event [until the museum contacted them to inform them of the exhibit],” said Moir.
She said the exhibit aims to inform the community about the remarkable story, not only about the stranded Japanese men but the remarkable deeds of the local people, who taught the stranded Japanese survival skills and the help they extended to bring the group back to their home country.
The exhibit will also be attended by two man’amko who were involved in the rescue mission. Family members of the locals who participated in the rescue will also be at the opening of the exhibit. Moir said she will be reading a letter of greeting from the U.S. deputy civil administrator, who was in charge of the rescue mission. He is now 90 years old and lives in Florida.
The deputy civil administrator, Moir said, was responsible for tracking down the stranded seamen on Anatahan, and notifying the Japanese men’s families in Japan.
