Event Details
- Date:
- Saturday 25 July 2026 10:30 am to Sunday 26 July 2026 2:30 pm
- Location:
- Visitor Centre,
- Price:
- Free
This Open House Melbourne weekend, we invite you to join us for a free 30-minute curator-led tour of the special exhibition Eucalypts of Hodogaya. This intimate talk explores the remarkable story of the Yokohama Commonwealth War Cemetery in Japan—a place where Australian and Japanese designers collaborated after the Second World War to create a landscape of peace.
Discover how architecture, gardening traditions, and cultural exchange shaped a site that harmonises Eastern and Western design philosophies. The tour reveals themes of reconciliation, care, and shared humanity, offering insight into how design can express generosity across borders and generations.
Important Information
- Curator-led tours will run at 10:30am and 2:30pm
- Maximum group size of 20 people
- Tours will run for 30 minutes
- Tours will depart from the Shrine Visitor Centre
About the Shrine
The Shrine of Remembrance is one of Australia’s most recognisable civic monuments. Completed in 1934, the building blends classical architecture with symbolic design, drawing inspiration from ancient mausoleums while expressing a distinctly Australian identity. Its geometry, materials, and alignment were carefully conceived to create a space dedicated to reflection, memory, and shared experience.
Beyond its monumental form, the Shrine functions as a living public place. Expansive forecourts, landscaped gardens, and open vistas invite visitors to gather, pause, and connect with Melbourne’s history and civic life. Light, proportion, and spatial sequencing shape the visitor journey, reinforcing the Shrine’s role as both an architectural landmark and a deeply human environment.
Today, the Shrine continues to evolve as a cultural and educational destination. Contemporary exhibitions and programs sit alongside heritage spaces, creating dialogue between past and present. This layering of architecture, landscape, and storytelling makes the Shrine a powerful example of how design can foster contemplation, inclusion, and collective understanding.
About Eucalypts of Hodogaya
Marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Eucalypts of Hodogaya tells the story of how Australians and Japanese—recent wartime enemies—came together to create a place of peace and remembrance.
Discover the extraordinary legacy of Melbourne’s Anzac Agency in designing the Commonwealth War Cemetery at Yokohama: a stunning fusion of Eastern and Western traditions that continues to honour the fallen.
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