Japanese cemeteries and cenotaphs explained
Many and cenotaphs are located outside of Japan for Japanese people who have died in war or other historical events. This article lists graves, tombs and burial places.
History
The oldest known Japantown featuring a Japanese cemetery is in Ayutthaya, Thailand, which was established between the 14th and 18th centuries. The oldest known Japanese national recorded by name and buried outside Japan is the early explorer Yamada Nagamasa.
Wars, particularly World War II, have accounted for a majority of the Japanese burial sites located outside of Japan. There is a cemetery for the Imperial Japanese Navy in Malta, multiple sites for POWs in Siberia, and many Pacific War sites, which include Japanese cemeteries, cenotaphs, and remains in the Nanpō Islands, the Philippines, New Guinea, and other Pacific Islands. There have been multiple efforts by veteran organizations and the Japanese government to return remains to living relatives. The Japanese government's "Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare" conducted a public project to search and collect the remains of war dead to bring the remains back to Japan.[1]
Monuments to victims of the United States' internment of citizens of Japanese ancestry are prevalent in the Western United States.
Asia
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
- Cemetery in Comilla District, Chittagong Division and other locations; Search and collect the remains project learned 43 tombs are Japanese, searching since 2014. Bangladesh government granted permission to Japan for the collection of remains of war dead in July 2024, then the first collection from tomb of Cemetery in Comilla District to be scheduled for 24 war dead remains in November 2024.[3]
Bhutan
Cambodia
China
India
- Imphal: Cenotaph for Japanese war casualties in the)
- Worli, Mumbai: Mumbai Japanese cemetery; 3000 Japanese lived in the Mumbai area to procure cotton in the early Shōwa period. Most of the remains and property of the deceased were brought back to Japan, and the remains of only 30 people remain in Mumbai as of 2008.[8]
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
Laos
- Vientiane Province, Nam Ngum Dam: The grave site of several Japanese engineers surveying possible dam locations who died in December 1960 when their boat overturned. The burial site is in close proximity to the dam.[9]
Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia
East Malaysia
Mongolia
To resolve the lack of labor, the Mongolian government requested to transfer POWs in October and December 1945, and approximately 12,318 Japanese prisoners were forced to work, from which more than 1,600 have died.[12] There are 16 Japanese cemeteries including those listed below.
- Altanbulag Selenge Province Japanese cemetery
- Sükhbaatar Japanese cemetery
- Ulaanbaatar, and, for approximately 1,700 POWs who died after the war ended. They were constructed by the Japanese government in October 2001.)[13]
- Japanese cemetery[12]
- burial (12 Japanese)[12]
Myanmar
- Yangon Japanese cemetery: For Karayuki-san and Pacific War casualties., a peace memorial to the approximately 190,000 Japanese who died during war. It was constructed by the Japanese government in March 1981 before being moved and expanded in size by the Myanmar government in March 1998.)
Nepal
- Mustang District: Toru Kondo contributed to the development of the Mustang District.
North Korea
Cemetery and burial place of Japanese who lived in the South Korea area before and after World War II. There are 71 cemeteries and burial places in North Korea.[14]
- Suburb of Pyongyang: ; 2,421 people evacuated to Pyongyang after the end of World War II, August 15, 1945, and died in the period of October 1945 to April 1946 due to cold temperatures and/or illness.[15]
- Hamhung: Cemetery and burial place.[16]
Philippines
One of the bloodiest battlefields of the Pacific War; there are many cenotaphs.[17]
- Luzon: Approximately 270 cenotaphs in various locations.
Kalayaan –, to commemorate approximately 518,000 Japanese war dead in the Battle of Luzon. Constructed by the Japanese government in March 1973.[18]
Russia (Asia region)
- Primorsky Krai: 146 Japanese cemeteries and burial places.[19]
- Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai: Cenotaph of a deceased POW father and others.[20]
- Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin Oblast: Japanese cemetery, located midway between downtown and the airport.[19]
- Smirnykh, Sakhalin Oblast: (Constructed by the Japanese government in November 1996.[21]
- Former, Kholmsk, Sakhalin Oblast: Cenotaph constructed at the location of a former Japanese cemetery, by affiliated Maokacho in August 1995.[22]
- Nagornaya street, Nakhodka: Japanese cemetery.[19]
- Listvyanka, Irkutsky District, Irkutsk Oblast, Khabarovsk: ; approximately 60,000 remembered as POWs in Siberia. It was constructed by the Japanese government in July 1995.[21]
- Irkutsk Oblast: Cenotaph of approximately 40 buried.[21]
- Amur Oblast: Cenotaph of approximately 41 buried.[21]
Singapore
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Taiwan
- Tainan: 's Japanese columbarium. The former Japanese cemetery before was exhumed and displacement took place in 1997. The tomb of Akashi Motojiro was then moved to the cemetery in Sanzhi District, Taipei, other remains were moved to Houkakuji temple in Taichung.
- Sanzhi District, Taipei: tomb of Akashi Motojiro
- Taipei: Tomb of Mr. Rokushin
- Taipei:, Japanese cremated remains morgue
- Tainan: Tomb of Yoichi Hatta and his wife.
- Kaohsiung: Japanese cemetery in
- Hualien County:
- Hualien County:
- Pingtung County : At Bashi Channel, Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Kuretake, transport Tamatsu Maru and many other ships that were attacked by the United States Navy during Pacific War time. This area was called the in Japan, where more than 100,000 were killed in action. Japanese veteran survived for 12 days and was saved in August 1944. He self-funded the construction of the Chouonji temple in 1981 to memorialize compatriots. In August 2015, sixty families of the deceased, Taiwanese, and Japanese attended the ceremony.[25]
Tajikistan
Thailand
Uzbekistan
There are thirteen Japanese cemeteries in Uzbekistan.[27] [28]
Vietnam
Hội An Japanese cemetery memorializing 30 years after the Sakoku and the Japanese started foreign trade by the red seal ships. As a result, Japanese residents of Vietnam could not return to Japan and died there.
Africa
Madagascar
- Two cenotaphs of four Japanese Imperial Japanese Navy killed in Battle of Madagascar in Antsiranana, named Diego-Suarez prior to 1975. First cenotaph for two of four Japanese was constructed in 1976 by the Japanese embassy. Second cenotaph of four was constructed by voluntary efforts of war veterans in 1997.
Oceania
Australia
Burial of approximately 900 Japanese immigrants in the Meiji period from Taiji, Wakayama. The immigrants were in Broome to dive for pearls.
Cemetery of Cowra breakout Japanese.
- Darwin, Northern Territory
Cenotaph of I-121-class submarine.[29]
Cemetery of Japanese immigrants from the Meiji period to the end of World War II. Primary occupation was diving for pearls.
- South Pacific Memorial Park, cenotaph of South Pacific war dead and ossuary built in May 1970.[30]
New Zealand
cenotaph of Featherston POW camp
cenotaph of those who died in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake
Northern Mariana Islands
- Banzai Cliff, North end of Saipan: for 43,000 Japanese killed in action and 12,000 citizens killed in the war regardless of nationality including Japanese migrants to the Saipan, Tinian, Guam islands until the end of the war in 1945. It was constructed by the Japanese government with the cooperation of the Northern Mariana Islands government in March 1974.
Papua New Guinea
, It commemorates 130,000 Japanese killed in action and 50,000 residents killed in the war. It was constructed by the Japanese government with the cooperation of Papua New Guinea in September 1980.[32]
. It was constructed by the Japanese government with the cooperation of the government of Republic of the Marshall Islands in March 1984.[33]
Burial of 230 Japanese immigrants that came for nickel mining since 1892.[36]
, built in March 1985.[38]
, built in March 1974.[39]
Solomon Peace Commemorative Park, built in 1998.[40]
North America
Canada
Cumberland Japanese cemetery. Headstones date back to 1901.
Dominican Republic
Cemetery of Japanese settlement in the Dominican Republic.
United States
- Bronx, New York City: Woodlawn Cemetery. Tomb of Hideyo Noguchi, Jōkichi Takamine, and, and others.
- Brooklyn, New York City: Cypress Hills National Cemetery. Tomb of, representative of former Sony, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, in New York, and others.
- Colma, California
Japanese Cemetery. Contains three Kanrin Maru crew members who died during the first Japanese Embassy to the United States, and others.[41]
- Honolulu, Hawaii, Kakaako Waterfront Park: cenotaph of victims of the Ehime Maru and USS Greeneville collision.
- Makiki, Honolulu, Hawaii: Makiki Japanese cemetery built in the early 1900s by Japanese immigrants and the first cemetery of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
- Manzanar, Owens Valley, Inyo County, California: Tomb and cenotaph is near to the visitor center. The cenotaph was built on 15 cent donations from each family in the camp in August 1943. It also holds the remains of six unidentified people.
- Queens, New York City: Mount Olivet Cemetery. Tomb of, who founded the with Jōkichi Takamine in 1914.
- Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony, Placerville, California: Grave of Okei Ito, the first known Japanese woman to be buried on American soil. Died 1871.
- Willow Grove Cemetery, New Brunswick, New Brunswick, New Jersey -, Kijiro Hasegawa (長谷川雉郞), Kosuke Matsukata (松方蘇介),, Otojiro Irie (入江音次郎), Shinjiro Kawasaki (川崎新次郎), Tatsuzo Sakatani (阪谷達三) [42] and Died young eldest daughter of and his wife.[43]
South America
Bolivia
Japanese cemetery in the Santa Cruz de la Sierra public cemetery.
Brazil
Peru
Europe
Malta
Russia (Europe region)
Donskoy Japanese cemetery in Donskoy Monastery. Tomb of Yasunao Yoshioka, Harbin Consul who died as a POW in Moscow in 1950, and others.
United Kingdom
Cenotaph of the that was shipwrecked by U-boat on December 5, 1918. The wooden cenotaph was renewed with stone cenotaph on its 100th anniversary on October 4, 2018.[44]
See also
Notes and References
- Web site in Japanese; conduct the public project
Web site in Japanese;
- http://www.peshawar-pms.com/eg/index2.html Peshawar-kai
- Search and collect the remains of war dead project is carried out by site Japan Association for Recovery and Repatriation of War Casualties (ja: 日本戦没者遺骨収集推進協会) commissioned by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
NHK News Web; 2024年バングラデシュから初めて遺骨収集
NHK News Web;
- https://www.travelbook.co.jp/spot/19062 Atsu Elementary and junior high school, Travel guide
- Web site: http://ameblo.jp/ciasia/entry-10080335043.html. ja:香港日本人墓地慰霊祭. 2008-03-16. Japanese. Hong Kong Japanese cemetery memorial service. 2016-08-26. 2014-12-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20141219174623/https://ameblo.jp/ciasia/entry-10080335043.html. dead.
- 中国に残る日本人の遺骨 「キャッチ! 世界の視点」 2018年8月25日NHK BS1 放送
- https://4travel.jp/travelogue/10156683 Japanese blog site
- Yomiuri Shimbun, Page 6, Ver.13, 3/October/2008,
- Web site: http://www.data-max.co.jp/2014/03/24/post_16456_ik1.html. ja:ラオス発展貢献の知られざる日本人. 2014-03-24. Japanese. Not widely known Japanese contributed to Laos development. 2016-06-06. 2014-03-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20140327070431/https://www.data-max.co.jp/2014/03/24/post_16456_ik1.html. dead.
- Web site: マレーシア日本人墓地を訪ねて. www.eva.hi-ho.ne.jp. Japanese. Visit a Japanese cemetery in Malaysia. 2019-09-06. 2015-09-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924004116/http://www.eva.hi-ho.ne.jp/yasu-ito/travel/malaysia_jpn_cemy/malaysia_jpn_cemy_body.shtml. dead.
- Web site: http://www.nippon-izokukai.jp/memorial.html. ja:慰霊碑を訪ねる. Japanese. Visiting cenotaph. 2016-06-06. 2005-04-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20050424034155/http://www.nippon-izokukai.jp/memorial.html. dead.
- Web site: http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/people/gyokuju/page013.html. ja:モンゴル慰霊団参紀行記. Japanese. memorial journey in Mongolia. 2016-06-06. 2023-02-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20230208014300/http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/people/gyokuju/page013.html. dead.
- https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/engo/seido01/ireihi15.html 日本人死亡者慰霊碑 (モンゴル) / 3 地域
- Web site: http://www.asahi.com/special/08001/TKY201210010607.html. ja:平壌郊外の日本人墓地、遺族が初の墓参り. 2012-10-01. Japanese. Bereaved family first visit to Suburb of Pyongyang Japanese cemetery. 2016-06-06. 2012-10-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20121002085655/http://www.asahi.com/special/08001/TKY201210010607.html. dead.
- Web site: List of Japanese war dead buried in Ryuzan cemetery, Pyongyang (ja:平壌市龍山墓地日本人埋葬者名簿) . 2017-02-02 . 2014-02-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140227161612/http://www.senbotsusya.com/ryuzan.php . dead .
- Web site: "North Korea, Grave Travelogue" Hamhung, the city where many Japan people were interned and died is now (ja:"北朝鮮・墓参紀行"咸興、多くの日本人が収容され、死亡した街はいま) . 23 September 2014 . 2024-08-16 . 2014-09-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140923112942/https://www.huffingtonpost.jp/2014/09/22/dprk-grave-visitor-hamheung_n_5862148.html . bot: unknown .
- http://www.pwmemorial.gr.jp/index.htm Philippines WAR MEMORIAL PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION, INC.(ja:NGOフィリピン戦没者慰霊碑保存協会)
- https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/engo/seido01/ireihi02.html Cenotaph for Japanese war dead at Philippines islands (ja:比島戦没者の碑)
- Web site: http://www.vladivostok.ru.emb-japan.go.jp/jap/japan-info/1-primorye-4.html. ja:在ウラジオストク日本領事館、4.我が国との関係、(10)日本人墓地. Japanese. Consulate-General of Japan in Vladivostok, 4. Relation to Japan (10)Japanese cemetery Japanese. 2016-06-06. 2012-12-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20121211075229/https://www.vladivostok.ru.emb-japan.go.jp/jap/japan-info/1-primorye-4.html. dead.
In Japanese:
- [Yomiuri Shimbun]
- Home page of, activities by, Japan War-Bereaved Families Association
- [Yomiuri Shimbun]
- Built by History of Japanese Solidarity Association in Sri Lanka (スリランカ日本人会-沿革史)
- https://srilanka-jr-japan.hatenablog.com/entry/2017/03/27/000000#日本人墓地 Japanese cemetery (ja: 日本人墓地 & 大日本帝国海軍戦死者慰霊碑)
- [Yomiuri Shimbun]
- [Shinzō Abe]
- Web site: http://uz.iio.org.uk/tashkent_jpn_cemetery.htm. ja:タシケントに眠る日本人抑留者. Japanese. Japanese prisoners of war buried in Tashkent. 2016-06-06. 2012-03-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20120315100602/http://uz.iio.org.uk/tashkent_jpn_cemetery.htm. dead.
- Web site: http://www.uz.emb-japan.go.jp/jp/relations/political/boti.html. ja:在ウズベキスタン日本国大使館. 2016-01-01. Japanese. Japanese Embassy in Uzbekistan. 2016-06-06. 2012-06-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20120604045304/http://www.uz.emb-japan.go.jp/jp/relations/political/boti.html. dead.
- News: 安倍内閣総理大臣による豪州ダーウィンにおける伊号第124潜水艦慰霊碑訪問 2-19-11-17 . . 2019-05-19 . Japanese . Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe visit cenotaph of I-121-class submarine at Darwin, Northern Territory on 2018 Nov. 17 . 2018-11-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181117192825/https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/a_o/ocn/au/page4_004508.html . dead .
- Web site: http://www.spmaguam.org/irei/index.html . ja:南太平洋戦没者慰霊協会 . South Pacific Memorial Association, Inc . 2017-02-02 . 2010-09-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100909011353/https://www.spmaguam.org/irei/index.html . dead .
- https://www.google.com/maps/@28.2115864,-177.3723163,2a,60.5y,54.09h,67.09t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXYHtDA4qWcX6TDJsYPgehQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 Denoted Japanese Markers in Goole Maps as right side Tomb
- Web site: http://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/hokabunya/senbotsusha/seido01/index.html. ja:戦没者慰霊事業:ニューギニア戦没者の碑. 2016-01-01. Japanese. Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, implementation of commemorative project for war dead. 2016-06-06. 2024-05-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20240522184904/https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/hokabunya/senbotsusha/seido01/index.html. dead.
In Japanese; Page titled; “War dead memorial activities”, page lower half side; “Situation of construction for war dead cenotaphs” in South Pacific Ocean & New Guinea (ja: 南太平洋戦没者の碑 & ニューギニア戦没者の碑) “ (ja: 戦没者慰霊碑建立状況, ニューギニア戦没者の碑 -
- Web site: http://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/engo/seido01/ireihi08.html . ja:東太平洋戦没者の碑 . . . 2017-02-02 . 2007-05-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070507042213/http://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/engo/seido01/ireihi08.html . dead .
- A member of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers found the stone in front of a house in 2016, but it is the stele, then placed near by Japanese War Remains and Bones Search Group (日本國戦死者遺体収容団: Japanese NPO) in 2018. Reference photo copy: 2020, July 2, page 17, in Japanese article titled 石碑がつなぐ南の島の歴史(lit.: stele connecting histories in island of southern Pacific Ocean)
A member of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers found the stone in front of a house in 2016, but it is the stele, then placed near by Japanese War Remains and Bones Search Group (ja:日本國戦死者遺体収容団: "Japanese NPO") in 2018. Reference photo copy: 2020, July 2, Japanese page 17.
Article in Japanese titled;
- News: Kyodo News. (共同通信社, Kyōdō Tsūshinsha). 2020-08-17. 南洋の島の慰霊碑、民家の踏み石に. Photo of Cenotaph in island in southern Pacific Ocean, Step stone at entrance of house. Japanese. Tokyo. 2022-08-16. 2021-08-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20210809065938/https://nordot.app/667926116146283617?c=39546741839462401. dead.
- Web site: http://nichigopress.jp/nichigo_news/goleaks/41243/. ja:ニューカレドニア日本人移民120周年. 2012-08-05. Japanese. 120 anniversary of Japanese Immigrants to New Caledonia. 2017-01-18. 2013-03-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20130312193859/http://nichigopress.jp/nichigo_news/goleaks/41243/. dead.
- https://ukikuro.blog84.fc2.com/blog-entry-670.html ニューカレドニア日本人墓地へ Dated: 2016.06.03 Fri
- Web site: http://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/engo/seido01/ireihi09.html . ja:西太平洋戦没者の碑 . . . 2017-02-02 . 2007-05-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070507065408/http://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/engo/seido01/ireihi09.html . dead .
- Web site: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/engo/seido01/ireihi03.html . ja:戦没者慰霊事業:中部太平洋戦没者の碑 . . . 2024-08-20 . 2007-05-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070507041826/https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/engo/seido01/ireihi03.html . dead .
- ”Archive only due to Norton 360 warned": Web site: Cenotaph for war casualties in the Solomon Islands (ja:ガダルカナル島に慰霊碑を建立; ソロモン諸島方面 戦没者慰霊碑 "ソロモン諸島方面戦没者慰霊碑" (揮毫:小泉純一郎; 厚生大臣、除幕式1998年(平成10年8月)) . 2024-08-20 . 2015-10-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151015003838/https://www.japan-solomon.com/cenotaph/ . bot: unknown . Cenotaph titled with calligraphy by Japanese ink brush, by Junichiro Koizumi, then engraving.
- Archive only due to seems not healthy website :Web site: Matters Historical: A bit of old Japan in a Colma cemetery . 6 December 2017 . 2021-10-10 . 2018-03-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180301200238/https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/05/matters-historical-a-bit-of-old-japan-in-a-colma-cemetery/ . bot: unknown .
- Slide down "Scrollbar" 30% to see;
- Slide down "Scrollbar" 70% to see;
- News: Cenotaph Honoring Hirano Maru Sailors Established by UK Volunteer Group . . 2019-05-19 . 2022-05-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220527010627/https://www.nyk.com/english/news/2018/20181005_01.html . dead .