A place of pilgrimage for visiting Japanese descendants. The cemetery houses ancient Japanese graves and a memorial dedicated to the 599 Japanese who arrived in Thio as free workers in 1892 on board the ship Hiroshima Maru.
The nickel discovered in New Caledonia in 1864 resulted in extensive mining activity from 1873 and a strong demand for labour.
Société Le Nickel recruited workers from Japan by offering attractive contracts to future immigrants. The first Japanese workers arrived in Bota Méré Bay on 25 January 1892.
By 1918, almost 2,500 of them had settled on Grande Terre. But in December 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese of New Caledonia were suspected of spying and locked up in Nouville. Their belongings were sequestered and they were transferred to Australia before being repatriated to Japan at the end of the war. Few of them returned to New Caledonia.
The “Japanese” cemetery is divided into two parts: one modern and the other historical, where the graves of Japanese, Javanese, Arab and Tonkinese are grouped. Most of the Japanese graves are made from flat stone with an epitaph engraved in Japanese. Tradition dictates that these stones come from a site where the deceased worked. There are other cemeteries in New Caledonia with Japanese graves, including in Nouméa (at the 4th km), Hienghène, Koné and Koumac. In 2012, to mark the 120th anniversary of the Japanese arriving in New Caledonia, a memorial was built and dedicated to the Japanese resting here.
Société Le Nickel recruited workers from Japan by offering attractive contracts to future immigrants. The first Japanese workers arrived in Bota Méré Bay on 25 January 1892.
By 1918, almost 2,500 of them had settled on Grande Terre. But in December 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese of New Caledonia were suspected of spying and locked up in Nouville. Their belongings were sequestered and they were transferred to Australia before being repatriated to Japan at the end of the war. Few of them returned to New Caledonia.
The “Japanese” cemetery is divided into two parts: one modern and the other historical, where the graves of Japanese, Javanese, Arab and Tonkinese are grouped. Most of the Japanese graves are made from flat stone with an epitaph engraved in Japanese. Tradition dictates that these stones come from a site where the deceased worked. There are other cemeteries in New Caledonia with Japanese graves, including in Nouméa (at the 4th km), Hienghène, Koné and Koumac. In 2012, to mark the 120th anniversary of the Japanese arriving in New Caledonia, a memorial was built and dedicated to the Japanese resting here.
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All year 2025 - Open everyday
