KUENTAI-USA representatives on Tuesday met with Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang to seek assistance in resuming the excavation of Japanese and American remains in Achugao and surrounding areas.
Secretary General Yukari Akatsuka and Chair Usan Kurata spoke with Variety after their meeting with Apatang.
Akatsuka said they have also reached out to the Historic Preservation Office to move the recovery project forward.
According to Akatsuka, from around 2011 to 2015, their organization excavated World War II burial grounds near Aqua Resort Club.
Akatsuka said around 800 Japanese remains were recovered in mass burial sites in the area, which was associated with the last banzai charge during the Battle of Saipan.
She said they also found American remains, which were repatriated to their families in the U.S.
However, Akatsuka said after 2015, “the conditions to do the digging got complicated and difficult to achieve.”
She added, “The permitting was not issued anymore and because we are a non-profit group … our budget is limited always, so there is no point in coming back to the island without getting official permission.”
Akatsuka and Kurata have historical data indicating that more Japanese and American remains are buried in Achugao.
Also, there could be human remains as well in the caves in the surrounding areas.
“There are sites we want to search and continue the excavation and recovery, but again we have to go through all the permission process, which we are OK with, but HPO is not communicating with us,” Akatsuka said.
She said the regulatory processes — such as whether or not the group must hire an osteologist — are further delaying the project.
“[HPO] keeps adding different conditions every time we submit the applications, and that makes it very hard [to move forward],” Akatsuka said. “Because we have limited time and budget it’s very difficult to follow those rules as a non-profit group. We want to negotiate what we can and cannot do, but they are not talking to us.”
Variety has reached out to HPO for comment.
Akatsuka and Kurata will return to Japan this week, and will return to the island for the 5th Joint Memorial Service on Saipan, which will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Saipan.
It will be held on July 7 at 10 a.m. at the Aqua Resort Club.
Akatsuka said approximately 40-50 Japanese visitors, including Shinto and Buddhist religious leaders, will travel to the island to hold a joint memorial service with the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa. The event is open to the public.
From left, Kuentai-USA Chair Usan Kurat, Secretary General Yukari Akatsuka, Lt. Gov. David Apatang, and his Chief of Staff Henry Hofschneider pose for a photo after a meeting regarding Kuentai-USA’s efforts to resume excavations in Achugao and surrounding areas.
The remains of an American servicemember were recovered in Achugao and repatriated to his family in the states.
Excavations in this area of Achugao, south of Aqua Resort Club, resulted in the discovery of human remains, including those of American servicemembers. Kuentai-USA believes there are more human remains in the immediate and surrounding areas.
