The 2005 trip by the then Japanese Emperor Akihito to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands remains one of the Pacific island's most memorable occasions even nearly 14 years later.News about the emperor's April 30 abdication stirred memories among some residents, both local and foreign, of the imperial couple's June 27 to 28 visit in 2005 to this nearly 20-kilometer-long, 9-km-wide island to honor the souls of those who died in World War II.Saipan, the principal island of the 14 comprising the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, which politically is a self-governing U.S. territory, was …READ FULL ARTICLE
