Old Japanese Jail

This Old Japanese Jail was used from its construction in 1929 up to the day the Battle of Saipan began. Part of the wall surrounding the jail still stands. The wall shows the scars of countless bullet holes and bigger blasts, perhaps from American tanks. Inside the walls are two jail blocks. The larger of the two is on the right with 16 cells and was used for the male prisoners. The smaller cell row on the left with 4 cells was possibly for the women. It is rumored that Amelia Earhart was kept prisoner in this building for the last months of her life. Between the cell blocks are the quarters and offices for the guards. You can still walk through the hallway connecting the jail cells and imagine how terrible the living conditions must have been for the prisoners.

If you have any photos of this jail before or during WWII please send me a scan. Thanks.

Inside a cell.

Hallway of main cell block.





Small cell bolck. (Behind the goat.)

Cafeteria / torture building.



Tank blasts to what's left of the surrounding wall.



I believe a platoon of U.S. soldiers spent the night in the hallways of the Japanese Jail in the early days of the battle. It was easy to defend and a safe place during the vicious Garapan door-to-door fighting. That night they scratched their names and the name of their home towns on the hallway walls outside the cells.
"J.A. Beiser June 15 / 44"

Update. With the help of my Flickr site I located J.A. Beiser and am in email contact with his son Dave. John Beiser was attached to the 4th Marines. The 2nd and 4th Marines attacked the beaches on June 15, 1944 and John was there. He didn't write his name on the wall on that date. That would be impossible, although I have run through many scenarios in my head over the years to try to explain how it could have happened. He knew that date was (and still is) important and he was proud to be a part of D-Day in the Pacific. I am also proud of him and the others in the 2nd and 4th Marines. John doesn't remember putting his name here but this will become his Saipan memorial.
"Bill Warner
Newark New Jersey"

"John Ohetto"

"Gantnan
Brooklyn"

Japanese writing prisoners counted down the days on the inside cells walls.


This is a 1920's Japanese map of the jail. The red writing is from my present day observations of what survived of the Old Japanese Jail.
See below for notes on the above picture:

After a decade of searching, where many before me had given up, this is the only pre-'Battle of Saipan' picture I could find of the Old Japanese Jail. The photographer is unknown and most likely died during the battle as did the Japanese commander sitting at the table. After enhancing and enlarging the object outside the window I could see it was a cross from a grave at the cemetery that was across the street before WWII. Given the distance and angle and a pre-war Japanese map, I am reasonably sure I have located the foundation of this office. This picture was taken before June 13, 1944 at which time all of Garapan fell in rubble from American naval shelling.

Other interesting objects in this photograph:

The word on the phone: "Headquarters"
Written on the book in the hands of the man standing: "Police Notebook"
In the hands of the commander: an American pencil with an eraser. (Very unusual)
On the desk: an American 35mm film container. (That's strange)

How could they have gotten these items and perhaps even the camera that took this photograph?

In the early days of the Pacific War, a thousand miles south of Saipan, an American fighter plane pilot was shot down and captured by the Japanese. When American Marines arrived at this jail years later they found the pilot's recently (one day before) beheaded body in the courtyard and his flight jacket in a cell. Could these be his items? Could he have been the one who took and developed this photo?

Others believe Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were also brought to this jail. Could this be the connection to those items?

I could keep going but if you read this far then I congratulate you. I debated for years whether I should put this picture and story on the internet. Let me know what you think.