Japanese Cemetery Park
I’m cleaning out some of the old photos that I’ve taken but not had the time to process and upload. I’m coming to terms with my procrastination!
In September, I came across a quiet little cemetery just off Yio Chu Kang Road. The Japanese Cemetery Park sits in the middle of a private housing estate, near Serangoon Gardens. Because it is off the main road, it attracts few visitors. Even though I had lived in that area for several years in the early 90s, I had no recollection of hearing about this place until this year.
The cemetery was used by the pre-WW2 Japanese community, and later by the Japanese military itself for some of the casualties of war. Perhaps it was because of the unpleasant memories of the Japanese Occupation that this site has remained relatively unknown for half a century. Few of the tombstones carried photos of officers in the uniform of the Imperial Army. These are some of the rare artifacts left behind by the Japanese from their occupation of Singapore.
The garden itself was in immaculate condition. The lawn was carefully tended and the tombstones were clean. There was a small Shinto temple in the middle of the park that looked relatively new - perhaps it has been recently renovated. There were two gardeners at work on a Sunday afternoon weeding and tending to the flowers. It was almost like one of the many small gardens in Tokyo itself.
There was a tablet that acknowledged donations from Japanese corporations and individuals toward the maintenance of the park. It may have been forgotten by the host country, but it has certainly not been forsaken by the Japanese people. I wonder how Japanese history remembers this place?