In Conversation: Landscapes of Remembrance and Reconciliation

Join us for a powerful panel conversation exploring the story of a unique war cemetery and its role in post-war reconciliation.

The Yokohama War Cemetery is recognised as one of the most significant military cemetery designs of the post-war period and is the final resting place of 1,555 Commonwealth service personnel.

The Shrine’s new exhibition, Eucalypts of Hodogaya(opens in a new window), explores the cemetery’s creation and legacy, shedding light on its importance and design.

Convened by broadcaster and author Jon Faine AM, this enlightening panel conversation will trace the vision, people and politics behind the creation of key post-war cemeteries, including in Yokohama, and reflect on their role as early acts of reconciliation between Australia and Japan in the aftermath of war.

Following the conversation, explore the Eucalypts of Hodogaya exhibition before joining us on the Shrine Forecourt for a special Last Post Service(opens in a new window) marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific.

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Panellists

Professor Anoma Pieris

Anoma Pieris is Professor of Architecture and Associate Dean Research at the Melbourne School of Design. Her recent books include the multi-authored Immigrant Industry: Building Postwar Australia (Berghahn 2024); with Lynne Horiuchi, The Architecture of Confinement: incarceration camps of the Pacific War (Cambridge University Press 2022); and the anthology: Architecture on the Borderline: Boundary Politics and Built Space (Architext 2019). In 2022, she was guest curator for the Museum of Modern Art, New York exhibition The Project of Independence: Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia 1947-1985. Anoma’s recent work is on war cemeteries across the Indo Pacific region.

Athanasios Tsakonas

Athanasios Tsakonas is an architect, writer, educator, and co-founder of Singapore design practice Tan + Tsakonas Architects LLP. His book In Honour of War Heroes: Colin St Clair Oakes and the Design of Kranji War Memorial, (Marshall Cavendish, 2020) revealed in detail the architect responsible for most of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s important sites of commemoration, throughout Asia. As of 2020, he joined the University of Melbourne as a sessional tutor for post-graduate Design Studio C, which introduces indigenous competencies to the students. His work has been published in journals such as Singapore Architect, Fabrications, BiblioAsia and Interstices.

Dr Keiko Tamura

Dr Keiko Tamura is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. She is an anthropologist and historian with broad interests in Australia–Japan relations, including Japanese war brides, Japanese migrants in Australia, and the Pacific War and its memories. Between 2016 and 2019, she led a Japanese government-funded project, the Cowra Japanese War Cemetery Online Database, which documents all 525 Japanese prisoners of war and civilian internees buried in the Cowra Japanese Cemetery. She has been actively involved in reconciliation efforts between Australia and Japan.

About the host

Jon Faine is a lawyer, broadcaster, writer, MC and public speaker. He was the host of the ABC Radio morning broadcast for more than 20 years. Before joining the ABC in 1989 to host ‘The Law Report’ on Radio National, Jon had practised for seven years in both commercial litigation and as a legal aid/human rights advocate. He has written several books and is a Vice Chancellors Fellow at the University of Melbourne, based in the Law School but with a roving commission across the entire academy. Jon sits on the Board of Museums Victoria and is the Chair of Museums Victoria’s Foundation Committee.