Somei cemetery

Somei cemetery plan (see text)

The Somei Cemetery ( Japanese 染 井 霊 園 , Somei reien , colloquially 染 井 墓地 , Somei bochi ) is a large old cemetery in Komagome in what is now the Toshima district of Tokyo in Tokyo .

To the cemetery

Somei Cemetery was opened on September 1, 1874 as an extension of a previous burial site in a village in what was then Toshima County . In 1889 the cemetery came under the administration of the new city ​​of Tokyo , although the area was not incorporated into the city of Tokyo until 1932. In the Second World War, the city was abolished and the administration fell to the Prefectural Government of Tokyo . With around 7 hectares, it is the smallest cemetery in the metropolis, but is known for its old cherry trees. It has not been possible to lease graves since 1962, so that the cemetery is increasingly taking on the character of a public green area.

On the southeast side, the 100 × 200 m large area (1 in the plan) with the graves of Mitsubishi founder Iwasaki Yatarō and his descendants connects . On the northeast side, the temples Shōrin-ji (勝 林寺; 2), Renge-ji (蓮華 寺; 3) and Senshu-in (専 修院; 4) border the cemetery.

Known Japanese

• Aeba Kōson (1855-1922), writer and theater critic of the Meiji period
• Fukuoka Takachika (1835–1919), statesman in the Japanese Empire
• Futabatei Shimei (1864–1909), writer
• Hamao Arata (1849–1925), cultural politician
• Hijikata Yoshi (1898–1959), theater director
• Itō Michio (1893–1961), dancer and choreographer
• Iwamoto Yoshiharu (1863–1942), journalist, literary critic and educator
• Kabayama Sukenori (1837–1922), major general of the Imperial Japanese Army, admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy and politician
• Miyatake Gaikotsu (1867–1955), journalist and media historian
• Mizuhara Shūōshi (1892–1981), doctor and haiku poet
• Okakura Kakuzō (1862-1913), art scholar and patron
• Shidehara Kijūrō (1871–1951), diplomat and politician
• Shimooka Renjō (1823-1914), photographer
• Takamura Chieko (1886–1938), painter and poet
• Takamura Kōtarō (1883–1956), sculptor, poet and essayist
• Takamura Kōun (1852–1934), sculptor
• Wakamatsu Shizuko (1864–1896), translator, teacher and writer
• Wakatsuki Reijirō (1866-1949), politician

See also in Tokyo

• Aoyama cemetery
• Tama cemetery
• Yanaka Cemetery
• Zōshigaya cemetery

literature

• 東京 都 歴 史 教育 研究 会 Tōkyō-to rekishi kyōiku kenkyūkai (Ed.): Somei Reien . In: Tōkyō-to no rekishi sampo (chu). Yamakawa Shuppan, 2005. ISBN 978-4-634-24713-0 . P. 31.

Web links

Commons : Somei Cemetery  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Tokyo Prefectural Administration , Construction Department ( kensetsu-kyoku ): Prefectural Cemeteries (Japanese)
• Tōkyō-to kōen kyōkai (foundation which operates parks, green spaces and cemeteries on behalf of the building department of the Tokyo Prefecture Administration ): Somei Cemetery (Japanese)
• Meiji portraits

Coordinates: 35 ° 44 ′ 19 ″  N , 139 ° 44 ′ 14 ″  E