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417 sites · page 6 of 18
Chosei Coal Mine Disaster Site
長生炭鉱水没事故跡
Site of the devastating Chosei Coal Mine flooding disaster on February 3, 1942, in which 183 miners perished — 136 of them from the Korean Peninsula — when the ceiling of an undersea tunnel collapsed approximately 1.1 km offshore. Most of the victims' remains still lie in the flooded tunnels beneath the seabed; the first were recovered by divers in 2025. Two concrete ventilation towers ("piya") protruding from the sea mark the location of the submerged mine.
Domei News Agency Headquarters (Shisei Kaikan)
同盟通信社本社跡（市政会館）
The Domei News Agency (同盟通信社, Dōmei Tsūshinsha) was the sole official news agency of the Empire of Japan from 1936 to 1945. Operating under direct government control from its Tokyo headquarters, Domei monopolized all domestic and international news distribution, serving as a critical instrument of wartime propaganda and information management. With approximately 5,500 employees and bureaus spanning from China to Southeast Asia, the agency controlled the flow of information throughout the Japanese empire. After GHQ ordered a halt to its overseas foreign-language service, Domei dissolved itself on October 31, 1945. Its operations were split between Kyodo News (general reporting) and Jiji Press (economic reporting) on November 1, 1945. From 1942 its headquarters was in the Shisei Kaikan (市政会館) in Hibiya Park, which still stands; the successor Kyodo News moved from there in 1966 to its own Kyodo Tsushin Kaikan (共同通信会館) in Toranomon, Minato-ku.
Former 11th Division Headquarters (Nogi Museum), Zentsuji
旧陸軍第十一師団司令部（乃木館）
The headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army 11th Division, completed in 1898 (Meiji 31) in Zentsuji, Kagawa Prefecture — the only divisional headquarters on the island of Shikoku. The Renaissance-style Western building with plastered walls and a hipped-and-gabled tile roof was the command post of General Nogi Maresuke, who served as the first divisional commander from 1898 to 1901. The 11th Division recruited soldiers from all four Shikoku prefectures and fought in the Russo-Japanese War (Battle of Port Arthur and Mukden under Nogi's Third Army), fought at Shanghai in 1937 and was stationed in Manchuria from 1938, and returned to Shikoku in April 1945 for homeland defense of Tosa Bay. The Zentsuji garrison also housed one of the first Allied POW camps in the Japanese Home Islands (January 1942), holding American servicemen captured on Guam and Wake Island. Today the building serves as the Nogi Museum (乃木館) within JGSDF Camp Zentsuji, home of the 14th Brigade. Remarkably, the original headquarters, red-brick armories, barracks, and the adjacent Kaikosha officers' club (Important Cultural Property, 1903) all survive in situ — an exceptionally rare ensemble of Meiji-era military architecture still in active use.
Former 16th Division Headquarters (Seibo Jogakuin)
旧陸軍第十六師団司令部庁舎（聖母女学院）
The former headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army 16th Division, completed in 1908 in the Fukakusa district of Fushimi-ku, Kyoto. Designed by the Army Ministry and constructed by Matsumura-gumi, this two-story red-brick building with a copper-plate roof is one of the finest surviving examples of Meiji-era military architecture in Japan. The 16th Division, recruited from the Kyoto region, gained lasting notoriety for its role in the Nanjing Massacre of December 1937 and was later virtually annihilated during the Battle of Leyte in 1944–45. After the war, the building and surrounding military grounds were transferred to the Catholic educational foundation Seibo Jogakuin in 1948, where it now serves as the main hall of Kyoto Seibo Gakuin. Designated a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property, the building retains its imposing classical facade with a columned entrance and triangular pediment, and still bears traces of black camouflage paint applied during wartime air-raid precautions.
Former 18th Division Headquarters (Chrysanthemum Division), Kurume
久留米第十八師団司令部跡（菊兵団）
The former headquarters site of the Imperial Japanese Army 18th Division — the renowned "Chrysanthemum Division" (菊兵団, Kiku Heidan) — located in the Suwanomachi district of Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Established on 13 November 1907 as part of the post-Russo-Japanese War military expansion, the 18th Division bore the chrysanthemum (菊) as its tsūshōgō code name, the same flower that serves as the Imperial crest. Recruiting primarily from Kyushu, the division took part in the "Malayan Blitzkrieg" (マレー電撃戦) from December 1941 under the 25th Army of Lieutenant General Yamashita Tomoyuki, and in the capture of Singapore in February 1942. Transferred to Burma under the 15th Army, the division fought Chinese and American forces in the Hukawng Valley of northern Burma (1943–1944) and at Meiktila in 1945, losing over 20,000 of its 31,444 men. The former divisional headquarters site — used by the 18th Division from 1907 to 1925 and afterwards by the 12th Division, transferred from Kokura — is now occupied by the Kurume Tax Office (久留米税務署). A memorial stele for the 18th Division stands in nearby Suwanomachi Park, while the adjacent JGSDF Camp Kurume (久留米駐屯地) preserves related military heritage in its public relations museum.
Former 3rd Division Headquarters, Nagoya
名古屋第三師団司令部跡
The former headquarters site of the Imperial Japanese Army 3rd Division, one of the oldest divisions in the Japanese military, garrisoned within the Sannomaru (outer bailey) of Nagoya Castle from 1873. Originally established as the Nagoya Garrison (名古屋鎮台) in 1873 and reorganized as the 3rd Division in 1888, this was the command centre for a division that fought in every major Japanese conflict from the First Sino-Japanese War through the Pacific War — including the Battle of Shanghai (1937) and the advance on Nanjing under General Iwane Matsui. The division headquarters occupied the castle grounds until it deployed for overseas operations. After the 1945 air raids destroyed much of Nagoya Castle, the military facilities were dismantled. Today a deteriorating brick wall (煉瓦塀) approximately 50 metres long on Demachi-dōri street near the Ninomaru intersection is the primary surviving remnant of the 3rd Division headquarters compound. The site is now occupied by the Water Resources Organization Chubu Branch (水資源機構中部支社).
Former 7th Division Headquarters Site (Hokuchin Memorial Museum)
旭川第七師団司令部跡（北鎮記念館）
Site of the Imperial Japanese Army 7th Division headquarters in Asahikawa, Hokkaido — the elite "Hokuchin" (Pacifier of the North) force responsible for the northern defense of Japan. Formed in 1896 from Tondenhei (soldier-farmer) units that had colonized Hokkaido, the 7th Division earned a fearsome reputation as one of the IJA's most battle-hardened formations. It fought at the Siege of Port Arthur and Battle of Mukden in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), suffered devastating losses at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol (Nomonhan Incident) against Soviet armour in 1939, and its North Sea Detachment seized Attu in June 1942, the island whose garrison was annihilated in May 1943 in the first Japanese "gyokusai" (honorable death) of the Pacific War. The Hokuchin Memorial Museum, established in 1963 adjacent to the JGSDF Camp Asahikawa, preserves approximately 2,500 artefacts spanning the Tondenhei era through the 7th Division's campaigns, including the relocated gate piers of the original 1902 headquarters building.
Former Army Kaikōsha (Kudan Kaikan Terrace)
旧陸軍偕行社（九段会館テラス）
Originally built in 1934 as the Gunjin Kaikan (Military Personnel Hall) in the Imperial Crown Style, this building at Kudan in Chiyoda served as the martial law headquarters during the February 26 Incident (1936), was requisitioned by GHQ as "Army Hall" after the war, and later operated as Kudan Kaikan by the Japan War-Bereaved Families Association. After earthquake damage in 2011, the site was redeveloped as Kudan Kaikan Terrace (2022), preserving the registered tangible cultural property façade while adding a modern 17-story tower.
Former German Embassy Site (now Embassy of Germany)
旧ドイツ大使館跡（現・ドイツ連邦共和国大使館）
The wartime German Embassy in Tokyo was the diplomatic base of Nazi Germany in Japan during the Axis alliance. Originally located in Nagatacho (designed by Josiah Conder, completed 1897), the embassy served as the operational headquarters for Tripartite Pact diplomacy and was also the workplace of legendary Soviet spy Richard Sorge, who operated under cover as a press attaché. The compound — encompassing approximately 18,300 m² with ambassador and minister residences, old and new office buildings, and military attaché offices — was completely destroyed in the devastating B-29 air raid of May 25, 1945. After the war, the Nagatacho site was repurposed for the National Diet Library (1961). As compensation, the Japanese government sold the former Koizumi Sakutaro estate in Minami-Azabu to West Germany for the symbolic price of one yen, where the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany stands today.
Former Hiro Naval Air Arsenal (11th Naval Air Arsenal)
旧海軍航空廠 広工廠跡（第11海軍航空廠）
The Hiro Naval Arsenal, established in 1921 as a branch of the Kure Naval Arsenal in Hiro Village (now Kure City), Hiroshima Prefecture, was Imperial Japan's premier facility for designing and manufacturing flying boats, seaplanes, and aero engines. Elevated to independent status as Hiro Naval Arsenal (広海軍工廠) in 1923, its aircraft division separated in 1941 to form the 11th Naval Air Arsenal (第11海軍航空廠). The facility produced pioneering aircraft including the Hiro H1H Type 15 flying boat, H4H patrol flying boat, and G2H long-range bomber, while later mass-producing the Yokosuka D4Y Suisei (Judy) carrier dive bomber. On May 5, 1945, 148 B-29 Superfortresses dropped 578 tons of bombs from 20,000 feet, devastating the complex and halving production capacity. The site is now occupied by the Oji Materia Kure Paper Mill, with scattered wartime remnants including tunnel shelters and gate pillar ruins along the coast.
Former Hitachi Aircraft Tachikawa Factory Substation
旧日立航空機立川工場変電所
The Former Hitachi Aircraft Tachikawa Factory Transformer Substation in Higashiyamato, Tokyo, is one of the few surviving bomb-damaged industrial buildings in the Tokyo area. Built in 1938 as part of an aircraft engine factory, the reinforced concrete substation bears countless bullet holes and shrapnel scars from three U.S. air raids in 1945. Designated a cultural property by Higashiyamato City in 1995, it stands in Higashiyamato Minami Park as a powerful memorial to the devastation of strategic bombing.
Former IJA 10th Division Headquarters Site, Himeji Castle
姫路第十師団司令部跡
The headquarters site of the Imperial Japanese Army 10th Division (鉄兵団, "Iron Division"), established on 1 October 1898 within the eastern grounds of Himeji Castle, Hyogo Prefecture. The 10th Division recruited soldiers primarily from Hyogo, Okayama, Tottori, and parts of Shimane prefectures. Its first commander was Lieutenant General Prince Fushimi Sadanaru. The division compiled a distinguished and ultimately tragic combat record spanning every major conflict of modern Japan: the Russo-Japanese War (Battles of Hsimucheng, Liaoyang, Shaho, and Mukden), the Manchurian Incident (1931), and the Second Sino-Japanese War — where it suffered a serious reverse at the Battle of Taierzhuang (March–April 1938), the first major Chinese victory of the war and a devastating blow to the myth of Japanese invincibility. In 1944, the division was transferred from Manchuria to the Philippines under the 14th Area Army and was virtually annihilated during the Battle of Luzon in 1945. At its peak the Himeji garrison comprised over 100 military buildings across the castle grounds, including the division headquarters on the eastern side, barracks for the 39th Infantry Regiment to the southwest, a garrison hospital, and ammunition depots. The devastating American firebombing of July 3–4, 1945 destroyed nearly all military structures, though Himeji Castle's main keep miraculously survived. Today only two original military buildings remain: the red-brick former weapons warehouse (now the Himeji City Museum of Art, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1905) and the former division commander's residence (now the Junshin-kai headquarters).
Former IJA 2nd Division Headquarters Site (Sendai Castle)
仙台第二師団司令部跡
The site of the Imperial Japanese Army 2nd Division Headquarters, located within the ni-no-maru (second bailey) of Sendai Castle (Aoba Castle) in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. The 2nd Division — known as the "Sendai Division" (仙台師団) or by its code name "Isamu" (勇) — was established in 1888 from the former Sendai Garrison and became one of the IJA's most battle-tested formations. It fought in the Sino-Japanese War, Russo-Japanese War, and the Siberian Intervention before suffering catastrophic losses at Guadalcanal in 1942–43, where it lost over 7,000 men in a campaign that included the disastrous Battle for Henderson Field under Lieutenant General Maruyama Masao. The division later fought in Burma and ended the war in French Indochina. The headquarters and surrounding military facilities in the castle grounds were destroyed in the Sendai air raids of 10 July 1945. After postwar occupation by U.S. forces as "Camp Sendai," the ni-no-maru site became Tohoku University's Kawauchi Campus. The broader Sendai Castle site (Aobayama Park) preserves the iconic stone walls and the equestrian statue of Date Masamune on the honmaru.
Former IJA 8th Division Headquarters Site, Hirosaki
弘前第八師団司令部跡
The Imperial Japanese Army 8th Division (第八師団) was established on 1 October 1898 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, as part of the post-Sino-Japanese War military expansion. Recruited primarily from the Tohoku prefectures of Aomori, Akita, and Yamagata, the division was one of the northernmost formations in the IJA and became synonymous with the identity of Hirosaki as a "garrison city" (軍都). The division headquarters building, designed by prominent Aomori architect Horie Sakichi, was erected on what is now the Hirosaki University Bunkyocho campus, while the Sannomaru (third enclosure) of Hirosaki Castle served as the army weapons arsenal (兵器支廠). The 8th Division fought in the Russo-Japanese War (Battle of Heikoutai, 1905), the Siberian Intervention (1921), and was permanently stationed in Manchuria from 1940 as the core anti-Soviet defense force along the eastern border. In 1944, the division deployed to the Philippines, where the 5th Infantry Regiment fought at Leyte and the main force defended Luzon until Japan's surrender in August 1945. Within Hirosaki Park (弘前公園), vestiges of the military era survive: the Sannomaru retains the rear gate and pathways of the former weapons arsenal, while the Kita-no-kuruwa houses the Butokuden (武徳殿), a Meiji-era martial arts hall now repurposed as a rest facility. The former Division Commander's Residence (旧第八師団長官舎, 1917), a half-timbered Western-style building, is now a nationally registered tangible cultural property operating as a Starbucks Coffee shop — one of the most architecturally distinctive Starbucks outlets in Japan.
Former IJA Central Special Intelligence Division Site
旧陸軍中央特種情報部跡
Site of the Imperial Japanese Army's Central Special Intelligence Division (中央特種情報部, Chūō Tokushu Jōhōbu), one of Japan's most secretive wartime signals intelligence organizations. Originally established in 1933 as the North Tama Army Communications Station in present-day Higashi-Kurume City, the unit was responsible for radio intercept, code-breaking, and cryptanalysis of Allied and foreign military communications. As the war situation deteriorated, operations were partially relocated to a welfare facility in the Takaido area of Suginami Ward, Tokyo. The division played a critical role in Japan's SIGINT efforts throughout the Pacific War.
Former Japanese Red Cross Society Headquarters
旧日本赤十字社本社
The wartime headquarters of the Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS), located in Shiba-Daimon, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Established in 1887 after Japan ratified the Geneva Convention, the JRCS headquarters served as the nerve center for the nation's wartime medical relief operations throughout the Second World War. From this location, the society coordinated the mobilization of over 30,000 nurses for military service, dispatched up to 960 medical relief teams to combat zones across Asia and the Pacific, managed infectious disease control programs in occupied territories, and administered limited prisoner-of-war welfare activities. The original headquarters was a grand red-brick building completed in 1912, designed in Western architectural style and symbolizing Japan's commitment to international humanitarian norms. The building was replaced in 1977 by the current modern structure designed by architect Kurokawa Kishō to mark the society's centennial. Elements of the original 1912 building, including the front staircase and first-floor marble columns, are reported to have been salvaged when it was demolished.
Former Matsuyama Naval Air Base
松山海軍航空基地跡
The site of the former Matsuyama Naval Air Base in Ehime Prefecture, home to the elite 343rd Naval Air Group (Tsurugi Unit) commanded by Captain Minoru Genda. Equipped with the Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden Kai, the unit was Japan's last elite interceptor force. Three wartime aircraft revetments (entaigo) survive near Matsuyama Airport, one designated as a Matsuyama City tangible cultural property.
Former Ministry of Communications (Teishin-shō)
旧逓信省（通信院）
The Ministry of Communications (逓信省, Teishin-shō) was a Cabinet-level ministry of the Empire of Japan that administered postal services, telegraph, telephone, and broadcasting. During WWII, it served as the central hub for wartime communications control and postal censorship. Its headquarters stood in the Ōtemachi district of Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, before being reorganized into the Communications Agency (通信院) in 1943 and the Communications Board (逓信院) in 1945.
Former Ministry of Education Site
旧文部省跡
Site of the former Ministry of Education (文部省) in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo — the wartime nerve center of Japan's education control apparatus. The Ministry directed the 1935 Kokutai Meichō Statement (國體明徴声明), enforced thought control through the Teaching Bureau (教学局), nationalized all textbooks, converted elementary schools into National People's Schools (国民学校) in 1941, and orchestrated the 1943 Gakuto Shutsujin (学徒出陣) student conscription. The original 1933 reinforced-concrete building survived the war and air raids; its Sakurada-dōri facade was preserved as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2007 when the site was redeveloped into the Kasumigaseki Common Gate complex.
Former Nippon Kogaku (Nikon) Oi Plant
日本光学工業大井製作所跡
Site of the former Nippon Kogaku Kogyo (now Nikon Corporation) Oi Plant in Shinagawa, Tokyo — the company's founding factory established in 1918. During WWII, this facility was the nerve center of Japan's military optical industry, producing bombsights, rangefinders, periscopes, and binoculars for the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army. At its wartime peak, Nippon Kogaku operated up to 20 factories with 25,000 employees. The Oi Plant notably produced the massive 15-meter rangefinders installed on the battleships Yamato and Musashi. After the war the company reinvented itself as the camera maker Nikon; in 2024 Nikon moved its headquarters back to the site.
Former Prime Minister's Official Residence (Suzuki Kantarō Era)
鈴木貫太郎首相官邸跡（内閣総理大臣官邸旧庁舎）
The former Prime Minister's Official Residence (旧官邸) in Nagatacho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, served as the nerve center of Japan's wartime government. It was here that Prime Minister Suzuki Kantarō (April–August 1945) navigated the final months of World War II, and convened the critical cabinet meetings on the Potsdam Declaration; the Imperial Conferences at which the decision to surrender was made were held in the Imperial Palace. The original 1929 building also bore the scars of the February 26 Incident (1936), during which Suzuki, then Grand Chamberlain, was shot and nearly killed at his own official residence elsewhere in Tokyo. In the early hours of August 15, 1945, a rebel group acting in concert with the Kyūjō Incident coup attempt attacked the Kantei and tried to set it on fire. The old building was relocated and renovated in 2005 and now serves as the Prime Minister's Official Residence (公邸).
Former Sanadayama Army Cemetery
旧真田山陸軍墓地
Japan's first and largest former Imperial Japanese Army cemetery, established in 1871 in Tennoji Ward, Osaka. The site contains over 5,100 gravestones and a memorial ossuary holding more than 8,200 remains of soldiers who died in conflicts spanning from the Satsuma Rebellion (1877) through the Pacific War (1945), making it an unparalleled repository of Japan's modern military history.
Former Sasebo Naval District Victory Memorial Hall (Sasebo Citizens' Cultural Hall)
旧海軍佐世保鎮守府凱旋記念館
Built in May 1923 with donations from 12 prefectures (Kyushu, Shikoku, and Okinawa) under the Sasebo Naval District's jurisdiction, this reinforced concrete two-story hall commemorated the achievements of the Second Special Squadron (第二特務艦隊) during World War I. The squadron, centered on Sasebo-based warships, earned the title "Guardian of the Mediterranean" for its 358 sorties escorting Allied vessels and rescuing over 4,000 personnel from U-boat attacks. The building served as a venue for naval ceremonies throughout the interwar and WWII periods. After the war it was requisitioned by U.S. forces, returned in 1977, and transferred to Sasebo City in 1982 as a civic cultural hall. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 1997, it was designated a component of the Japan Heritage site "Naval Stations: Yokosuka, Kure, Sasebo, Maizuru" in 2016.
Former Senzaki Repatriation Port Site
旧仙崎引揚港跡（海外引揚げ上陸跡地）
The site of a major postwar repatriation port in Senzaki, Nagato City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, where approximately 414,000 Japanese repatriates landed and 340,000 Korean residents departed between September 1945 and October 1946. Selected as an alternative to Shimonoseki — whose harbor was blocked by mines and sunken vessels — Senzaki became the fifth-largest repatriation port in Japan.