Meiji Graves in Happy Valley

Book excerpt: The Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley is home to over 470 graves connected to the city’s Japanese population. Most of these graves belong to individuals who died during the Meiji era (1868–1912), a remarkable period of modernisation and opening up of Japan that saw thousands of its inhabitants travel to other parts of the world to study, work, and settle. Who were these people? What were they doing in Hong Kong? And why were unbaptised Japanese buried in what was called at one time the ‘Protestant Cemetery’? Hong Kong’s Meiji-era Japanese community was one of two halves. Company executives sat atop the social ladder and karayuki-san, or prostitutes, occupied the lower echelons, with tradespeople and professionals somewhere in between. By revealing the personal journeys of these mostly forgotten Japanese, the authors aim to add to transnational perspectives on Hong Kong and Japan during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as increase recognition of this fragmented community’s place in the development of this diverse city. ‘Nakano and Challen unlock the secrets of the graves and bring to life the Japanese individuals of diverse backgrounds who had lived and died in Hong Kong. Thoroughly researched and sensitively written, the book throws light on the many factors that had made possible Hong Kong’s multi-ethnic communities and widespread transnational connections. Powerful and mesmerising.’ —Elizabeth Sinn, The University of Hong Kong ‘Through their meticulous and sensitive analyses of the Meiji-era graves in the Hong Kong Cemetery, Yoshiko Nakano and Georgina Challen bring to life the city’s historic yet often-forgotten Japanese community. Thoughtfully written and richly illustrated, Meiji Graves in Happy Valley reminds us how the dead do indeed tell tales.’ —John M. Carroll, author of A Concise History of Hong Kong