Tama Cemetery

Coordinates: 35°41′00″N 139°30′37″E / 35.68333°N 139.51028°E / 35.68333; 139.51028
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Tama Cemetery
Entry to Tama Cemetery in Fuchū, Tokyo
Map
Details
Established1923
Location
CountryJapan
Coordinates35°41′00″N 139°30′37″E / 35.68333°N 139.51028°E / 35.68333; 139.51028
TypeMetropolitan
StylePark-type
Owned byCity of Tokyo
Size128 hectares (316 acres)[1]

Tama Cemetery (多磨霊園, Tama Reien) in Tokyo is the largest municipal cemetery in Japan. It is split between the cities of Fuchu and Koganei within the Tokyo Metropolis. First established in April 1923 as Tama Graveyard (多磨墓地, Tama Bochi), it was redesignated Tama Cemetery in 1935. It is one of the largest green areas in Tokyo.

History

Around 1900, Tokyo had five public cemeteries -

Zoshigaya and Kameido. As the population of Tokyo grew, and cemetery space grew scarce, there was a need to build a cemetery outside of the city limits of Tokyo. In 1919, city park manager Kiyoshi Inoshita issued a plan to establish a large park/cemetery to the north, east and west of Tokyo. Tama, to the west of Tokyo, was selected in 1920, with construction started two years later. It was said that the site was chosen because of access to transportation infrastructure, such as the Kōshū Kaidō, Keiō Line, Seibu Tamagawa Line, and Chūō Main Line
. The cemetery was opened in 1923. The planned northern and eastern cemeteries are Sodaira and Yahashira, respectively.

In 1934,

Chofu Airfield
were hidden and repaired in the cemetery. Some facilities in the cemetery still have bullet holes from U.S. strafing.

Use of the cemetery increased, with the last open spot used in 1963. Since 1963, only reburials and other such uses have opened up new spaces. In 1962 a green lawn-type cemetery was added, and in 1993, Mitama Hall, a columbarium, was added.

Notable interments

Fountain in Tama Cemetery
urban open space
in the Tokyo metropolitan area
  • Ino Hiroya (1891–1980), a politician and cabinet minister in Japan
  • Lt-General Inoue Masakichi (1886-1975), a senior commander in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II
  • Inoue Shigeyoshi
    (1889–1975), a senior commander in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II and a Vice-Minister of the Navy
  • Kanemitsu Tsuneo (1877-1955), politician and cabinet minister in the Empire of Japan
  • Lt-General Kawagishi Bunzaburō (1882-1957), a senior commander in the Imperial Japanese Army during the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War
  • Baron Den Kenjirō (1855-1930), a cabinet minister in the pre-war government of the Empire of Japan and the 8th Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan from October 29, 1919 to September 1923
  • Baron Hiranuma Kiichirō (1867-1952), a prominent pre–World War II right-wing Japanese politician and the 35th Prime Minister of Japan from 5 January 1939 to 30 August 1939
  • Kinoshita Mokutarō
    (1885-1945), a Japanese author, Dramaturge, poet, art historian and literary critic
  • Kishida Ryūsei
    (1891-1929), a Taishō and Shōwa period painter
  • Kitagawa Fuyuhiko (1900-1990), a Japanese poet and film critic
  • Count Kodama Hideo (1876-1947), a politician, and wartime cabinet minister in the Empire of Japan
  • Gensui Koga Mineichi (1885-1944), a commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet
  • Kurata Hyakuzō
    (1891-1943), a Japanese essayist and playwright on religious subjects that was active during the Taishō and early Shōwa periods
  • Kurita Takeo
    (1889-1977), a senior commander in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II
  • Matsuda Genji (1876-1936), a politician and cabinet minister in the Empire of Japan
  • metallurgist
Mishima Yukio
Grave of Richard Sorge
Tombstone of Uchimura Kanzō
Grave of Isoroku Yamamoto

See also

References

  1. ^ "Tama Cemetery (Fuchu)". wikimapia.org. Retrieved 13 December 2012.

External links