Suicide Cliff

Suicide Cliff
Nearest city San Roque (Saipan), N. Mariana Islands
Coordinates 15°16′38″N 145°48′35″E / 15.27722°N 145.80972°E / 15.27722; 145.80972Coordinates: 15°16′38″N 145°48′35″E / 15.27722°N 145.80972°E / 15.27722; 145.80972
Area 9 acres (3.6 ha)
Part of Landing Beaches; Aslito/Isley Field; & Marpi Point, Saipan Island (#85001789)
NRHP Reference # 76002193[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP September 30, 1976
Designated NHLDCP February 4, 1985

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 hundreds of Japanese civilians and Japanese soldiers committed suicide by jumping to their deaths in 1944 in order to avoid capture by the United States. The precise number of suicides there is not known.

By 1976, a park and peace memorial was in place and the location had become a pilgrimage destination, particularly for visitors from Japan.[2] In that year, 9-acre (3.6 ha) of the site were listed on the US National Register of Historic Places.[1]

The cliff is, along with the airfield and Banzai Cliff, a coastal cliff where suicides also took place, part of the National Historic Landmark District Landing Beaches; Aslito/Isley Field; & Marpi Point, Saipan Island, designated in 1985.

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