Aoyama reien is a cemetery in Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The cemetery is known for its cherry blossoms and is popular during the season of .
History
The cemetery was originally the land of the Aoyama family of the Gujō clan (now Gujō, Gifu) in the province of
Mino Province (now Gifu). Japan's first public cemetery was opened in 1874, and in the
Meiji era was the main locations of foreigners' graves.
[ Minor Sights: Aoyama – Tokyo's only Foreigners' Cemetery]
The cemetery has an area of 263,564 m2.
Japanese section
The Japanese section includes the graves of many notable Japanese, including:
Tateyama Branch
The cemetery also has a Tateyama branch, where
Tetsuzan Nagata, Kimura Heitarō, and Sagara Sōzō are buried.
Grave of Miki Matsubara
The famous city pop singer Miki Matsubara is also buried in the cemetery, although the exact location remains currently undisclosed.
Grave of Hachikō
One of the cemetery's most famous graves is that of Hachikō, the faithful and dutiful dog whose statue adorns
Shibuya Station. He was buried alongside his two owners, Hidesaburō Ueno and Yaeko Sakano.
Foreign section
The cemetery includes a gaikokujin bochi (foreign cemetery), one of the few such plots in Tokyo. Many of the graves are of foreign experts who came to Japan at the end of the 19th century, as part of the Meiji Government's drive for modernisation. Although some of the graves were threatened with removal in 2005 due to unpaid annual fees, the Foreign Section was awarded special protection in 2007. A plaque on the site recognises the men and women who contributed to Japan's modernization.
Some of the noted foreigners buried within the cemetery:
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Thomas Baty (1869–1954), English lawyer, writer and activist
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Francis Brinkley (1841–1912), Anglo-Irish journalist and scholar
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Edoardo Chiossone (1833–1898), Italian engraver
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W. K. Burton (1856–1899), Scottish engineer and photographer
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Edwin Dun (1848–1931), American agricultural advisor.
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William Clark Eastlake (1834–1887), American dentist, "Dental Pioneer of the Orient"
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Hugh Fraser (1837–1894), British Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Japan
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Flora B. Harris, American missionary and translator, wife of Merriman Colbert Harris
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Merriman Colbert Harris (1846–1921), American Methodist missionary
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Henry Hartshorne (1823–1897), American Quaker missionary and doctor, father of Anna Hartshorne
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Joseph Heco (1837–1897), the first naturalized Japanese-American
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Paul Jacoulet (1902–1960), French woodblock print artist in the Japanese style
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Arthur Lloyd (1852–1911), English Anglican Church in Japan minister, Keio University professor and translator
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Henry Spencer Palmer (1838–1893) British engineer and journalist
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Julius Scriba (1848–1905), German surgeon
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Alexander Croft Shaw (1846–1902), Canadian Anglican Church in Japan minister, Keio University professor
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Frederick William Strange (1853–1889), British. University instructor, founder of competitive rowing in Japan
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Guido Verbeck (1830–1898), Dutch political advisor, educator, and missionary
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Gottfried Wagener (1831–1892), German chemist, educator and ceramics specialist
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Charles Dickinson West (1847–1908), Irish engineer
See also
