Foreign cemeteries in Japan
Encyclopedia
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
are chiefly located in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and at the former treaty ports of Nagasaki, Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, and Hakodate. They contain the mortal remains of long-term Japan residents, and are separate from any of the military cemeteries.
Tokyo
The TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
foreign cemetery is a section of the Aoyama Reien municipal cemetery in Aoyama, Tokyo
Aoyama, Tokyo
is a neighborhood of Tokyo, located in the northeastern Minato Ward. During the Edo Period, Aoyama was home to various temples, shrines, and samurai residences. The name Aoyama derived from a samurai named Aoyama Tadanari who served the Tokugawa Shogunate and held his mansion in this area...
. By 2005 it was under threat from the city's bureaucracy, planning to make a park on the site and posted Kanpo notices in front of endangered graves for which fees have not been paid by families of the deceased. These notices expired at the end of September 2005—after which the graves may be removed and reburied elsewhere.
According to the cemetery's rules, if a plot's 590 yen per square metre annual fee is unpaid for five years, a notice goes up and the plot will be razed one year later. 78 plots in Aoyama Reien were flagged on October 1, 2004 and many of them are in the foreign section. They were therefore at risk of removal after September 30, 2005.
These are the graves of expatriates from the Meiji era, men and women who promoted Western ideas and practices in Japan—doctors, educators, missionaries, and artists. Many of them were o-yatoi gaikokujin
O-yatoi gaikokujin
The Foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan, known in Japanese as oyatoi gaikokujin , were those foreign advisors hired by the Japanese government for their specialized knowledge to assist in the modernization of Japan at the end of the Bakufu and during the Meiji era. The term is sometimes...
.
Famous non-Japanese buried at Aoyama Reien include the British minister plenipotentiary Hugh Fraser who died in the post in 1894, Captain Francis Brinkley
Francis Brinkley
Francis Brinkley was an Irish newspaper owner, editor and scholar who resided in Meiji period Japan for over 40 years, where he was the author of numerous books on Japanese culture, art and architecture, and an English-Japanese Dictionary...
, Guido Verbeck
Guido Verbeck
Guido Herman Fridolin Verbeck was a Dutch political advisor, educator, and missionary active in Bakumatsu and Meiji period Japan...
, Henry Spencer Palmer
Henry Spencer Palmer
Major General Henry Spencer Palmer was a British army military engineer and surveyor, noted for his work in developing Yokohama harbor in the Empire of Japan as a foreign advisor to the Japanese government-Biography:...
, Edoardo Chiossone
Edoardo Chiossone
Edoardo Chiossone was an Italian engraver and painter, noted for his work as a foreign advisor to Meiji period Japan, and for his collection of Japanese art.-Biography:...
, Joseph Heco
Joseph Heco
Joseph Heco was the first Japanese person to be naturalized as a United States citizen and the first to publish a Japanese language newspaper.-Early years:...
, Edwin Dun
Edwin Dun
Edwin Dun was a rancher from Ohio who was employed as an o-yatoi gaikokujin in Hokkaidō by the Hokkaidō Development Commission and advised the Japanese government on modernizing agricultural techniques during the Meiji modernization period.Dun was a native of Chillicothe, Ohio and had studied at...
, Mary True and several others.
The Foreign Section Trust http://www.ii-idea.com/ has recently been formed to campaign to preserve the foreign part of the cemetery.
Nagasaki
Nagasaki has three main international cemeteries: 1) Inasa International Cemetery, which is the oldest foreign cemetery in Japan and consists of separate plots for Chinese, Dutch and Russian people; 2) Oura International Cemetery, which was established in the early 1860s near the site of the Nagasaki Foreign Settlement and served the foreign community until being closed in 1888; and 3) Sakamoto International CemeterySakamoto International Cemetery
The is located in Sakamoto in the Urakami area of the city of Nagasaki, Japan. The cemetery for foreigners was established following the 1888 closure of an earlier burial ground near the international quarter of the city. It is administered by the city government....
, which has some 440 graves including that of Scottish merchant Thomas Blake Glover
Thomas Blake Glover
Thomas Blake Glover, Order of the Rising Sun was a Scottish merchant in Bakumatsu and Meiji period Japan.-Early life :...
.
Tales of the Nagasaki International Cemeteries http://www.nfs.nias.ac.jp/page033.html.
Kobe
The KobeKobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
cemetery is on Mount Futatabi in a pleasant woodland location and has the graves of many long-term residents, including Alexander Cameron Sim.
Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
cemetery, located in Naka ward, includes among many others the grave of Charles Lennox Richardson
Charles Lennox Richardson
Charles Lennox Richardson was an English merchant based in Shanghai who was killed in Japan during the Namamugi Incident. His name is properly spelled as “Charles Lenox Richardson” according to the census and family documents.-Merchant:Richardson was born in London in 1834. He relocated to...
, murdered in the Namamugi Incident
Namamugi Incident
The was a samurai assault on foreign nationals in Japan on September 14, 1862, which resulted in the August 1863 bombardment of Kagoshima, during the Late Tokugawa shogunate...
in September 1862, John Wilson
John Wilson (Captain)
John Wilson was the Anglicized name of Captain Frederick Walgren, a Swedish sailor and o-yatoi gaikokujin who was active in the development of British-Japanese ties in the late 19th century....
, and that of Charles Wirgman
Charles Wirgman
Charles Wirgman was an English artist and cartoonist, the creator of the Japan Punch and illustrator in China and Meiji period Japan for the Illustrated London News....
and Ludovicus Stornebrink
Ludovicus Stornebrink
Ludovicus Stornebrink , was the founder of the Yokohama Ice Works in Yokohama, Japan. Stornebrink was born on March 15th 1847 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and moved to Japan at an early age...
. The French military advisors of the Boshin War
Boshin War
The was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....
, François Bouffier
François Bouffier
François Bouffier was a French non-commissioned officer of the 19th century, a sergeant of the 8th Battalion of infantrymen. He was a member of the first French Military Mission to Japan in 1867, in which he accompanied Jules Brunet...
, Jean Marlin
Jean Marlin
Jean Marlin was a non-commissioned officer, a sergeant of the French 8th Battalion of infantry. He was a member of the first French Military Mission to Japan in 1867, in which he accompanied Jules Brunet...
, and Auguste Pradier are also buried there.
On the weekends of the Spring, Summer and Fall (from noon to 4:00 p.m.), the cemetery is opened up to the public for a small donation to help with the upkeep of the premises. Visitors will get a small pamphlet showing graves of interest, and they can also view the museum at the site. These events are organized by the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery Foundation http://www.yfgc-japan.com which is responsible for the upkeep and general maintenance of the cemetery, considered a very important historic spot in Yokohama.
The Yokohama Cemetery has undergone recent revisions inspired by a generous bequest by Seiji Ozawa
Seiji Ozawa
is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.-Early years:...
, whose parents-in-law are buried there.
There is another section of the near Yamate station on the Keihintouhoku line, called "Negishi Foreign Cemetery". It was established in 1880, but first used in 1902. Many of the 1923 Kantou Earthquake victims were buried there.
Yokohama is also home to a war cemetery and monument housing British and Commonwealth war dead. The war graves themselves are split up according to nationality with sections for British, Australian & New Zealand as well as Indian graves.
Yokohama also has a Chinese cemetery near Negishi Park, called "Nanjing Cemetery". It was used to store the remains of Chinese from China town before being sent back to the mainland.
Hakodate
The Hakodate cemetery includes the grave of a mariner from the fleet of Commodore Matthew Calbraith PerryMatthew Perry (naval officer)
Matthew Calbraith Perry was the Commodore of the U.S. Navy and served commanding a number of US naval ships. He served several wars, most notably in the Mexican-American War and the War of 1812. He played a leading role in the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854...
.
Naha
There is a foreign cemetery in Naha, Okinawa. The earliest graves are of Chinese sailors. Several contemporaries of Matthew C. Perry are buried there.See also
- o-yatoi gaikokujinO-yatoi gaikokujinThe Foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan, known in Japanese as oyatoi gaikokujin , were those foreign advisors hired by the Japanese government for their specialized knowledge to assist in the modernization of Japan at the end of the Bakufu and during the Meiji era. The term is sometimes...
- Heads of the United Kingdom Mission in Japan
- Anglo-Japanese relationsAnglo-Japanese relationsThe history of the relationship between Britain and Japan began in 1600 with the arrival of William Adams on the shores of Kyūshū at Usuki in Ōita Prefecture...
- Franco-Japanese relationsFranco-Japanese relationsFrance-Japan relations refers to bilateral relations between France and Japan. The history of goes back to the early 17th century, when a Japanese samurai and ambassador on his way to Rome landed for a few days in Southern France, creating a sensation...
External links
- The Foreign Section Trust - formed in 2005 to preserve the foreign section of Aoyama cemetery in Tokyo.
- Tales of the Nagasaki International Cemeteries
- Tokyo scraps eviction policy for tombs of foreigners in Japan - Asahi Shimbun, October 20, 2005
- The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery Foundation - Foundation formed in 1900 to maintain the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery