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 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. Japanese government "Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare" conduct the public project to search and collect remain of war dead and bring back to home country Japan and also build and visit cenotaphs.^[1]

Monuments to victims of the United States' internment of citizens of Japanese ancestry are prevalent in the western US.

Asia

Afghanistan

• Jalalabad outskirt, Gamberi park: Doctor Serve Nakamura Memorial Tower, built in Jan. 2020^[2]

Bhutan

• Paro: Burial place with the pagoda of botanist Keiji Nishioka

Cambodia

• Phnom Penh: Cenotaph, Haruyuki Takada, police officer. Died in the line of duty while participating in the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia – Phnom Penh
• Siem Reap Province: Tomb, Taizo Ichinose
• Kampong Thom City, Kampong Thom Province: Atsu Elementary and Junior High School and monument A in a garden bearing the name Atsuhito Nakata. It was built by his father with donations from Japanese people and based on the wishes of the local people (instead of the initial idea of using it for food supplies after a flood in 1998).^[3]

China

• Hong Kong: Japanese cemetery area in Hong Kong Cemetery; 465 tombs of Japanese who died in Hong Kong from 1878 to 1945.^[4]
• Fangzheng County, Heilongjiang: Sino-Japanese Friendship Forest, originally Fangzheng Japanese Cemetery .
• Tengchong, Yunnan: Mountain pass of Japanese tombs (日本人の墓の峠), referred to as such by elder people in this area; interred those killed in action in the Battle of Mount Song and Battle of Lamèng･Tengchong(Japanese)(Chinese) at Lamèng (拉孟), Longling County, Baoshan, Yunnan and Tengchong (騰越).^{[5] [6]}

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.

Indonesia

• Jakarta - Kalibata Heroes' Cemetery: Honors ex-Japanese soldiers of the Pacific War who participated in the Indonesian National Revolution.
• Tabanan Regency: Cemetery park, Honors ex-Japanese soldiers of the Pacific War participated in the Indonesian National Revolution,).

Kazakhstan

• Karaganda: Burial cenotaph in honor of POWs

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.^[7]

Malaysia

Peninsular Malaysia

• Ipoh Japanese cemetery^[8]
• Johor Bahru Japanese cemetery^[8]
• Kuala Lumpur Japanese cemetery. Cenotaph for the people who died on Japan Airlines Flight 715.^[8]
• Kuala Terengganu Japanese cemetery^[8]
• Malacca Japanese cemetery^[8]
• Penang Japanese cemetery^[8]

East Malaysia

• Kota Kinabalu Japanese cemetery^[8]
• Kuching Japanese cemetery^[8]
• Labuan, Borneo, Labuan Peace Park: for the 12,000 men who died during the war in Borneo and the surrounding ocean area. Constructed by the Japanese government and with the cooperation of government of Malaysia and the government of Sabah in September 1982.^[9]
• Miri Japanese cemetery (in Tun Datu Tuanku Haji Bujang College)^[8]
• Sandakan Japanese cemetery^[8]
• Tawau Japanese cemetery^[8]

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.^[10] 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.)^[11]
• Japanese cemetery^[10]
• burial (12 Japanese)^[10]

Myanmar

• Yangon Japanese cemetery: For Karayuki-san and Pacific War casualties., memorial to the approximately 190,000 Japanese who died in war and prayed for peace. 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.^[12]

• 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 temperature, stagnant and/or illness.
• Hamhung: Cemetery and burial place.

Philippines

One of the bloodiest battlefields of the Pacific War; there are many cenotaphs.^[13]

• Luzon: Approximately 270 cenotaphs in various locations. Kalayaan –, commemorate approximate 518,000 Japanese war dead in Battle of Luzon. Constructed by Japanese government in March 1973.^[14]
• Visayas: Approximately 110 cenotaphs in various locations; Japanese casualties of Battle of the Visayas.
• Mindanao: Approximately 20 cenotaphs in various locations; Japanese casualties of Battle of Mindanao.
• Leyte: Cenotaph in Tacloban, Ormoc and various locations. approximately 80,000 Japanese killed in action out of 520,000 casualties in Battle of Leyte., a peace commemoration statue between Asia, including Philippines, and Japan in the Kanfuraw Hill where Tacloban City hall is. There is Shrine in Dulag Airfield.
• Guiuan, Eastern Samar, Samar: Cenotaph in Dumpao Beach.

Russia (Asia region)

• Primorsky Krai: 146 Japanese cemeteries and burial places.^[15]

• Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai: Cenotaph of a deceased POW father and others, constructed by the son under the valuable efforts of a student from Russia to Japan, on 2 October 2015.^[16]

^[17]

• Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin Oblast: Japanese cemetery, location is midway between downtown and the airport.^[15]
• Smirnykh, Sakhalin Oblast: (Constructed by Japanese government in November 1996.^[18]
• Former, Kholmsk, Sakhalin Oblast: Cenotaph constructed at a former Japanese cemetery place, by affiliated Maokacho people interested, in August 1995.^[19]
• Nagornaya street, Nakhodka: Japanese cemetery.^[15]
• Listvyanka, Irkutsky District, Irkutsk Oblast, Khabarovsk: ; approximately 60,000 remembered as POWs in Siberia. It was constructed by the Japanese government in July 1995.^[18]
• Irkutsk Oblast: Cenotaph of approximately 40 buried.^[18]
• Amur Oblast: Cenotaph of approximately 41 buried.^[18]

Singapore

• Japanese Cemetery Park

South Korea

• Geumjeong District, Busan Metropolitan City:
• Port Hamilton: Japanese cemetery removed after the Treaty of San Francisco

Sri Lanka

• Colombo: Japanese Cemetery area in Kanatte Cemetery - and built in 1965 and 1979 respectively.^{[20] [21]}

Taiwan

• Tainan:'s Japanese columbarium. The former Japanese cemetery before was exhumed and displacement took place in 1997. The then tomb of Akashi Motojiro moved to Cemetery in Sanzhi District, Taipei, other remains 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 attacked then shipwrecking by United States Navy in 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 built Chouonji temple with his own money in 1981 to memorialize compatriots; 60 families of the deceased, Taiwanese, and Japanese attended the ceremony in August 2015.^[22]

Tajikistan

• Dushanbe, Tajikistan office of United Nations Development Programme: Cenotaph of Yutaka Akino, voluntary participant from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff. Killed in duty of United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan.^[23]

Thailand

• Ayutthaya Japanese cemetery
• Kanchanaburi: ; Japanese soldiers worked to build Mueang Kanchanaburi District Burma Railway, including POWs of Allies of World War II and workers from Southeast Asia. It was built by Japanese army railway workers in 1944. Epitaph is written in Japanese, English, Malay, Tamil, Chinese and Vietnamese.

Uzbekistan

There are thirteen Japanese cemeteries in Uzbekistan.^{[24] [25]}

• Andijan
• Angren
• Bekabad
• Bukhara
• Chirchiq
• Fergana
• Kokand
• Tashkent – Tashkent Japanese POWs (Prisoner of war) in Tashkent Yakkasaray citizen cemetery .^{[24] [25]}

Vietnam

• Hội An

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

• Broome, Western Australia

Burial of approximately 900 Japanese immigrants in the Meiji period from Taiji, Wakayama. The immigrants were in Broome to dive for pearls.

• Cowra

Cemetery of Cowra breakout Japanese.

• Darwin, Northern Territory

Cenotaph of I-121-class submarine.^[26]

• Thursday Island, Queensland

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.^[27]

• Territories of the United States - Tomb of Matagoro SAKURAI (櫻井又五郎) in Meiji era^[28]

New Zealand

• Featherston

cenotaph of Featherston POW camp

• Christchurch

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

• Wewak

, 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.^[29]

• Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Archipelago:, 200,000 killed in action at the Battle of Rabaul. It was constructed by the Japanese government and the in September 1980.

• Majuro

. It was constructed by the Japanese government with the cooperation of the government of Republic of the Marshall Islands in March 1984.^[30]

• Wotje island, Wotje Atoll: Stele of Sekisei troop death in duty (lit.) of more than 1,000 prisoner from Yokohama prison, in 1939, constructed Wotje Airport and North Field (Tinian) (formerly ^{[31] [32]}

• Thio

Burial of 230 Japanese immigrants that came for nickel mining since 1892.^[33]

• Burial of the crew of Japanese submarine I-17 killed in action^[34]

• Peleliu

, built in March 1985.^[35]

• Banzai Cliff

, built in March 1974.^[36]

• Guadalcanal

Solomon Peace Commemorative Park, built in 1998.^[37]

North America

Canada

• Cumberland, British Columbia

Cumberland Japanese cemetery. Headstones date back to 1901.

Dominican Republic

• Dajabón Province

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.^[38]

• 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.

South America

Bolivia

• Santa Cruz Department

Japanese cemetery in the Santa Cruz de la Sierra public cemetery.

Brazil

• São PauloÁlvares Machado Japanese cemetery.
• Marajó, Pará: Japanese cemetery. Grave robbed in Jangle.
• Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo: Portuguese: MONUMENTO EM HOMENAGEM AOS PIONEIROS DA IMIGRAÇÃO JAPONESA FALECIDOS

Peru

• Cañete Province, Lima Region: Casa Blanca Japanese cemetery.

Europe

Malta

• Tomb of casualties of the in Kalkara Naval Cemetery. Under Anglo-Japanese Alliance, Winston Churchill called for squadron reinforcements of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Russia (Europe region)

• Moscow

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

• Wales

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.^[39]

See also

• Japan War-Bereaved Families Association
• Foreign cemeteries in Japan
• Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery

Notes and References

1. Web site in Japanese; conduct the public project

   Web site in Japanese;

2. http://www.peshawar-pms.com/eg/index2.html Peshawar-kai
3. https://www.travelbook.co.jp/spot/19062 Atsu Elementary and junior high school, Travel guide
4. 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.
5. 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
6. https://4travel.jp/travelogue/10156683 Japanese blog site
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Web site: http://www.nippon-izokukai.jp/memorial.html . ja:慰霊碑を訪ねる. Japanese. Visiting cenotaph. 2016-06-06 .
10. 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.
11. 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
12. 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.
13. 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)
14. 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)
15. 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.

    In Japanese:

16. News: https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASHBQ6VJJHBQUTIL070.html. ja:シベリア抑留の地に日本人慰霊碑 ロシア人留学生が尽力 . 2015-11-06. ja . . Japanese Cenotaph, by the effort of a student from Russia . 2016-06-06.

    Pull/scroll down screen approx. 45 - 50 lines:

17. [Yomiuri Shimbun]
18. Home page of, activities by, Japan War-Bereaved Families Association
19. [Yomiuri Shimbun]
20. Built by History of Japanese Solidarity Association in Sri Lanka (スリランカ日本人会-沿革史)
21. 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)
22. [Yomiuri Shimbun]
23. [Shinzō Abe]
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. 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.
28. 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
29. 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.

    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 -

30. Web site: http://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/engo/seido01/ireihi08.html . ja:東太平洋戦没者の碑 . . Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare.
31. 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;

32. 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.
33. 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.
34. 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
35. Web site: http://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/engo/seido01/ireihi09.html . ja:西太平洋戦没者の碑 . . Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare.
36. 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 . . Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare.
37. ”Archive only due to Norton 360 warned": Cenotaph titled with calligraphy by Japanese ink brush, by Junichiro Koizumi, then engraving.
38. Archive only due to seems not healthy website :
39. News: Cenotaph Honoring Hirano Maru Sailors Established by UK Volunteer Group . . 2019-05-19 .