Research from the University of Melbourne forms part of the new exhibition Eucalypts of Hodogaya, launched at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The exhibition shines a light on a little-known yet remarkable story of the Yokohama War Cemetery, created by Australian and Japanese designers as part of post-war cross-cultural collaboration and reconciliation.
A masterpiece of cemetery landscape architecture, the Yokohama War Cemetery was designed and built by the Melbourne-based Anzac Agency (formerly the Australian War Graves Service) in the aftermath immediately following WWII and stands as Australia's most significant transnational design intervention of that era.
View of the Australian Section. Image credit Anoma Pieris.
The exhibition introduces the unsung Australian and Japanese architects, landscapers, horticulturalists, craftspeople and officials who put aside cultural differences to come together to bury Australia's war dead.
Called "organic cultural diplomacy" by researchers, their collaboration resulted in a hybrid design blending Western memorialisation with Japanese garden aesthetics.
"Eucalypts of Hodogaya reveals how the Yokohama War Cemetery embodies the complexities of post-war reconciliation and an emerging Australian commemorative practice totally distinct from British traditions," says co-lead researcher Professor Anoma Pieris from the University of Melbourne.
"The site represents a pivotal moment where Australian design sensibilities reshaped global practices in war remembrance through architectural innovation and cultural sensitivity."
The research highlights the central role of Australian designers like University of Melbourne architecture graduates Peter Spier, Brett Finney, Robert Coxhead and Clayton Vize, who collaborated closely with renowned Japanese architects Yoji Kasajima and Yoshio Iwanaga.
Their collective vision integrated local Japanese materials, garden features and even eucalypts from Australia into the cemetery's design.
Eucalypts of Hodogaya is now open at the Shrine of Remembrance and includes a series of talks and commemorative events. For more information, visit.
