Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery for the War Dead

photo by Abasaa · Public domain

It holds more than 371,000 remains of unnamed war dead, from battlefields abroad

In the hexagonal pavilion at the centre of the garden, an urn holds a symbolic bone for each theatre of war: it is the heart of the cemetery. Around it lie more than 371,000 remains of Japanese soldiers and civilians who died overseas, brought home without anyone ever tracing their names. On 28 March 1959 Emperor Shōwa presided in person over the founding ceremony.

Between 1937 and 1945 about 2.4 million Japanese died, 2.1 million military personnel and about 300,000 civilians. From 1952 the government collected the bones of the war dead abroad, but some remained without a name and without a family to return them to: for them the Chidorigafuchi Cemetery for the War Dead was created on 28 March 1959, the closest Japan has to a tomb of the unknown soldier. The site is run by the Ministry of the Environment as a National Garden (国民公園), not by the Ministry of Defence.

ℹ️ Car park for 8 coaches. Twelve minutes on foot from exit 2 of Kudanshita station (Tōzai, Hanzōmon, Toei Shinjuku lines), ten from exit 5 of Hanzōmon. Every May an official government ceremony (拝礼式) is held; the exact opening hours are not clearly stated on the official pages consulted.

🚉 Hanzomon · 11 min walk

Sources: boen.or.jp · env.go.jp · env.go.jp · commons.wikimedia.org

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