War in the Pacific Historic Resource Study

VI. Agana Tunnels

These tunnels or caves were dug by the forced labor of Chamorros for the benefit of the Japanese occupants of the capital, Agana. They are at the bottom of the limestone cliff, Kasamata Hill, an which the postwar Government House is situated. Nearby is the concrete bunker the Japanese cut into the cliff to serve as a communications center. It is essentially one large room having some partial partitions of concrete. There are three entrances to the bunker, two of which are adjacent to each other. Japanese characters are inscribed in the concrete above the two. Painted metal gates have been placed at the entrances. One feature at the bunker which is unique to Guam but found elsewhere in the Pacific is a number of oil drums that the Japanese filled with concrete to provide protection to the entrances. The metal drums have eroded away leaving their ghosts on the concrete cylinders. The bunker is essentially the same kind of structure as found on Fonte Plateau. Neither the bunker, nor the tunnels have any on-site interpretation.