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  2. SAIPAN 2018

AUGUST 14, 2018: SAIPAN'S OLD JAPANESE JAIL

Built in 1930 and used until 1944, Saipan's old Japanese Jail probably could tell some amazing stories, if the old walls could talk. AtlasObscura.com refers to etchings on the wall, implying that some are from American POW's during WW II (After reading this, I've gotta get back there and look some more! I've never seen those etchings -- maybe in a future Omtimimagery gallery! Stay tuned!). Many locals are adamant that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan spent their last days alive here (although this has, in my opinion, been quite convincingly debunked -- the ghosts of the two live on here quite strongly in the collective cultural memory).

After you bring up the video (click on the photo), you may need to click on a small "up" arrow beneath the video to read the caption.

Music by Kevin MacLeod of https://incompetech.com/
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SAIPAN JAPANESE JAIL VIDEO: Click on the photo and allow it to buffer (You may have to then click on a triangle).
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SAIPAN JAPANESE JAIL VIDEO: Click on the photo and allow it to buffer (You may have to then click on a triangle).

I'm not sure whether the first 4 rooms were some type of storage rooms or were small, solitary confinement spaces. It's difficult to walk these grounds without seeing, feeling, hearing, and talking to the ghosts of those who had to stare at the drab walls while aching for loved ones they never saw again. The floors and the ceiling / roof have long since rotted away, allowing an aerial view both stunning and mournful.

The building near the end of the video which you (through the drone) enter for a while and which has no bars was, I think, an administration building. A work area for dedicated people far, far from home -- also missing the places where they grew up, and (no doubt) hoping for an end to the war which would allow them to return to friends and loved ones far away in the honor and good graces of their beloved Emperor.

I hope that, in addition to enjoying this video, you will let the walls, the foundations, the missing floors and ceilings, and (above all) the ghosts of previous inhabitants (and even those of Ms. Earhart and Mr. Noonan) speak to you. They have wisdom to share. They have seen a past which I (and I would bet you) can not even imagine. Let them talk.

Listen.

Please.

saipanoldjapanesejaildrone

  • SAIPAN JAPANESE JAIL VIDEO: Click on the photo and allow it to buffer (You may have to then click on a triangle).
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