A new exhibition led by University of Melbourne researchers will shed light on a little‑known chapter of post‑war reconciliation when it opens on Anzac Day (25 April) at the Yokohama Archives of History Museum, Japan.
Eucalypts of Hodogaya: The Architecture of the Yokohama Commonwealth War Cemetery explores the design and creation of Yokohama War Cemetery, developed after the Second World War under Australian leadership, through close collaboration with Japanese architects, gardeners and contractors. The result is a distinctive commemorative space.
Opening in the 50th anniversary year of the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Australia and Japan, the exhibition highlights the cemetery as an overlooked act of reconciliation that pre-dated formal diplomatic relations.
Curated by Melbourne School of Designresearchers Professor Anoma Pieris and Athanasios Tsakonas, in collaboration with Dr Kenta Awazu, (Sophia University Tokyo) and the Yokohama Archives of History Museum, the exhibition draws on video, photographs and displays to reflect on how landscape architecture can weave together memory and stories of reconciliation.
The Australian Section in Winter, Yokohama War Cemetery, 2026. Image: Shingo Machida
"In the immediate post-war, a time of deep hostility and painful memory, these architects, landscapers and builders worked together to create a place of dignity and contemplation," Professor Pieris said.
"The cemetery's hybrid design — blending Western memorial forms with Japanese garden traditions, native flora and local materials such as Oya stone — represents an early and powerful act of reconciliation between former enemies."
The exhibition features material samples of the various stones used in the construction of the cemetery, accompanied by interpretive text explaining where and how each was used, as well as the cultural meanings that informed these choices.
It also highlights the integration of Japanese and Western traditions through carefully selected drawings, sketches, photographs and paintings, reflecting the attention to detail that went into the cemetery's creation.
Today, the cemetery is recognised as one of the world's most exceptional examples of funerary landscape architecture.
"Yokohama War Cemetery is far more than a burial ground," Tsakonas said. "It is a sophisticated landscape that transformed grief into a shared commemorative space. Our exhibition uncovers the largely anonymous Australian and Japanese architects, horticulturalists and officials who collaborated to realise this extraordinary site, despite hostile public sentiment in both countries."
Melbourne audiences are invited to experience the exhibition locally at the Shrine of Remembrance, where Eucalypts of Hodogaya is also on display until August.
The Melbourne version has a comprehensive number of objects, prints, photographs, sketches and other ephemera. Presented in one of Melbourne's most significant commemorative sites, the Shrine exhibition offers local visitors a rare opportunity to explore this powerful story of Australian–Japanese reconciliation close to home.
A future phase of the project will extend this legacy. In partnership with Green Legacy Hiroshima, the University of Melbourne will propagate seeds from the sole atomic-bomb–surviving eucalyptus tree in Hiroshima for planting at Springvale War Cemetery in Melbourne, creating a living memorial to peace and transnational remembrance.
Eucalypts of Hodogaya: The Architecture of the Yokohama Commonwealth War Cemetery opens at 1.00 pm, Saturday 25 April (Anzac Day) 2026 at the Yokohama Archives of History Museum, followed by a public plenary at 2.30 pm with Australian and Japanese researchers. The exhibition runs until 25 October 2026.
This project is supported by the Australia-Japan Foundation, which marks its 50th anniversary this year.
More information: https://msd.unimelb.edu.au/research/projects/the-architecture-of-confinement/exhibitions
