Emperor travels to honour Saipan war dead

SAIPAN - Japanese Emperor Akihito headed for the site of one of World War II's most decisive battles to pay tribute to those who died in a conflict that still haunts Tokyo's ties with Asian neighbours more than 60 years later.

The journey to the United States territory of Saipan - the first by Akihito outside Japan to mourn war dead - coincides with a chill in Tokyo's ties with China and South Korea, where many feel Japan has not owned up to its wartime atrocities.

"Sixty-one years ago today, a fierce battle was still being fought on this island. Our hearts ache when we think of those people who fought at a place where there was no food, no water, and no medical treatment for the wounded," Akihito said in remarks before he and Empress Michiko left Tokyo.

Akihito attends annual ceremonies to mark the August 15 anniversary of the war's end, and in 1995 he went to Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Japan's southern island of Okinawa to mourn war dead.

"This time, on soil beyond our shores, we will once again mourn and pay tribute to all those who lost their lives in the war and we will remember the difficult path the bereaved families had to follow, and we wish to pray for world peace."

Japanese veterans and families of war dead - key support groups for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's ruling party - are pleased that Akihito, 71, son of Emperor Hirohito in whose name their comrades fought and died, is making the journey.

"Those who fought then were soldiers of the Emperor, and they and we who remain are happy that he is coming to comfort their souls," said Seiichi Oike, 87, who was one of only about 2000 Japanese who survived the bloody 24-day Battle of Saipan in 1944.

Saipan, controlled by Japan after World War I and considered vital to homeland defence, was the site of fierce fighting from June 15 to July 9, 1944.

US forces wanted the island as a base from which its new B-29 bombers could strike Tokyo, about 2000km to the north.

About 43,000 Japanese soldiers and 12,000 Japanese civilians died in more than three weeks of intense battle, according to Japanese figures, many committing suicide rather than surrender in shame.

More than 5000 Americans died in the battles for Saipan and nearby Tinian and the naval Battle of the Philippine Sea, along with about 900 native islanders, including infants and elderly.

Japanese officials have stressed that Akihito and Michiko will mourn all those who lost their lives in the Pacific conflict, whatever their nationality.

In a sign that history still rankles, Korean residents of Saipan had asked that the Emperor visit a memorial on the island to their compatriots who lost their lives in the war.

The huge loss of life was repeated on Iwo Jima and Okinawa the next year and helped to persuade the United States to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, prompting Japan's unconditional surrender.

The planes carrying both bombs took off from Tinian.

Tens of thousands died in 1944 on an island 2000km from Tokyo

Tragic history

The royal couple will visit memorials dedicated to American and local war dead as well as Japanese.

Among the sites are two rocky heights, now known as Banzai Cliff and Suicide Cliff.

Following the ritual suicide of the Japanese commander, Lieutenant-General Yoshitsugu Saito, and a doomed assault by his remaining troops, Japanese soldiers and civilians fled to the two cliffs.

Many people, women and children included, leaped to their deaths.

- REUTERS