Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery Audio Guide

Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery

   Welcome to Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery, known in Japanese as 千鳥ヶ淵戦没者墓苑. It sits beside the waters of Chidorigafuchi in Chiyoda Ward, in the heart of Tokyo. This is a quiet place of remembrance, and the pace of the visit is a gentle one. The cemetery holds the remains of people who died in the Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War and whose remains could not be handed back to their families. It is laid out as a cemetery park, and it is one of the national parks and gardens overseen by the Ministry of the Environment. Over the next few minutes I will tell you why it was built, how it was designed, and what you will find as you walk in. The grounds cover roughly 5,000 tsubo, the traditional Japanese unit of land area. From Kudanshita Station, take exit 2 and walk about 12 minutes along the Chidorigafuchi Greenway. Please keep your voice low and your steps unhurried as you arrive.

2. 02

   Why Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery Was Built

   To understand this place, start with a number. Those who died on overseas battlefields in the last war are counted at about 2.1 million soldiers and military civilian staff, plus about 300,000 civilians caught up in the fighting. That makes roughly 2.4 million people in all. From around 1952, the Japanese government began collecting remains from abroad, and a hard question came with them. What should be done with remains that could not be identified, and so could not be returned to a family? In December 1953 the state set out to bury them together. Remains brought home by returning units and by individuals were added to those gathered by government delegations from 1953 onward. The site chosen was land beside Chidorigafuchi that had been managed by the Imperial Household Agency. Construction began in July 1958. The cemetery was completed on March 28, 1959, and on that day Emperor Showa and the Empress attended a solemn ceremony of homage here. Civilians who died overseas are among those laid to rest, not only soldiers.

3. 03

   The Hexagonal Pavilion and the Golden Urn at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery

   At the center of the grounds stands the hexagonal pavilion, the Rokkakudo. Inside it rests a symbol of everyone who fell. Emperor Showa gave an urn for the cemetery's completion, shaped like a tea jar, about 28.3 centimeters tall and 23.8 centimeters across at its widest. Its surface is covered in gold leaf, an act of care so that the spirits of the dead might rest in peace. Into this urn were placed small portions of remains representing the war dead of every battlefield. The urn rests inside a brown ceramic coffin at the center of the pavilion. Beneath the grounds, the burial chambers and an added chamber hold more than 358,000 sets of remains. After the homage ceremony held on May 29, 2023, the government counted a total of 370,485. The added chamber is managed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, while the Ministry of the Environment looks after the grounds themselves.

4. 04

   Design, Stones and a Poem at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery

   The designers set out clear principles: simple and dignified, large enough to hold many people for memorial events, and not tied to any one religious style. Landscape designer Tsuyoshi Tamura chose a Japanese approach that is simple, pure and solemn. All the materials are domestic, and the trees are species associated with the Musashino plain. Most are evergreens, with few flowering trees. The paving stones of the plaza come from Nebukawa in Izu and are laid irregularly so the ground blends with nature. Straight lines tie it all together, and ornate Western-style decoration is avoided. There is almost no writing here. Choosing words and an author for an inscription proved too difficult, so the only markers are stones at the two entrances. The front bears the cemetery's name in the hand of Prime Minister Kishi. The back records the completion date in the hand of Health Minister Sakata. Kishi's stone uses an older variant of the character for fuchi, the word for deep water or pool. To the left of the pavilion stands a granite monument carved with a poem Emperor Showa gave in the autumn of 1959. It runs roughly: when I think of those who gave their lives for the country, my heart is filled with emotion. Princess Chichibu Setsuko wrote out the calligraphy, and the monument was unveiled on March 28, 1960, the cemetery's first anniversary.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Remembrance here is not only a matter of the past. Every year the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare holds a homage ceremony at the cemetery, and a foundation organizes an autumn memorial service. Associations of former army and navy personnel, together with those from the Self-Defense Forces, continue to pay monthly visits. Cadets from the National Defense Academy walk through the night from their campus in Yokosuka to pay respects here and at Yasukuni Shrine. Before you leave, think about how little is written on these grounds. The spaces between the stones and the evergreens say a great deal. The cemetery is open during daytime only. In summer, from April to September, it is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. In winter, from October to March, it closes at four. Free parking is available for visitors. Notice which entrance stone you passed and which way the plaza stones lie, and let the water of Chidorigafuchi be the last thing you see as you walk back along the greenway.