Tarkong said DPS received a call at about 5:14 p.m. on June 20 from a man who reported the incident.
Tarkong said police officers who responded to the scene saw the victim lying motionless and face up on the sand.
He said two bystanders were performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the victim.
Tarkong said Police Officer Kelly Camacho found that the victim had no pulse and was no longer breathing.
When DPS Fire/Medical personnel arrived, they transported the victim to the Commonwealth Health Center where he was pronounced dead by Dr. Kotheimer Gregorio at 5:48 p.m.
Police learned that the victim and his wife arrived on Saipan earlier on Saturday and checked in at the Hyatt.
At about 4 p.m., the couple went for a swim in the waters off the Hyatt beach.
Tarkong said the victim and his wife were just about a foot away from each other when they started struggling in the water because their feet could no longer touch the bottom.
The victim’s wife was able to get back to shallow water but when she looked back, she saw that her husband was floating face down.
She went back to shore and asked for help.
Jeffrey Cepeda Repeki, an employee of Island Blue Marine, brought the victim back to shore where he and a co-employee conducted CPR on the tourist.
The victim and his wife were scheduled to return to Japan yesterday.
