Consider Minamiaoyama. It is a district where modern life thrives. Minamiaoyama is located in Minato, Tokyo. Let’s take a stroll and discover its hidden stories.
Minamiaoyama covers 1.37 square kilometers. About 15,177 people call it home. That’s roughly 11,000 people per square kilometer. This gives Minamiaoyama a vibrant density.
The PlayStation video game brand has ties to Minamiaoyama. Sony Interactive Entertainment owns PlayStation. This division of Sony is located here in Minato. The first PlayStation console launched in Japan in 1994. It quickly became a global phenomenon. Ken Kutaragi is the “Father of the PlayStation”. He worked at Sony. He was key to the PlayStation’s creation. The brand expanded. It included handhelds and online services. These include the PlayStation Network.
Minato City Board of Education manages schools here. Aoyama Elementary School serves some areas. Seinan Elementary School serves others. Both feed into Aoyama Junior High School. Akasaka Elementary and Junior High serve other parts. Education is a priority for the families of Minamiaoyama.
In the Meiji Period, foreign employees were in Aoyama Cemetery. Now, management fees are delinquent. The government wants to re-bury them. This is to modernize Japan. One organization fights for their legacy. It’s a battle between memory and development.
The foreign employees helped modernize Japan. After all, the Charter Oath of 1868 dictated “catching up with the west.” Experts came in politics and education. They worked in law and medicine. They sped up Japan’s progress. Some Japanese employers saw them as tools. “Live machines” replaced by locals was their belief.
Aoyama Cemetery became a public space in 1876. Plans emerged after World War II. Some wanted a park only. By 2003, the area was a park and a cemetery. This set the stage for development. The Foreign Section of Aoyama Cemetery had problems. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government posted eviction notices. The notices targeted graves with unpaid fees. They gave relatives a year to respond.
The Yomiuri Shimbun covered this. Takahashi Yūzō spoke up. He didn’t want people to forget the foreigners’ devotion. It would be welcome if it were preserved, he said.
In 2005, a government official admitted a financial incentive. The connection between notices and new plots was hard to ignore. One issue is the records. Cataloging used kana, not romanization. Determining names of foreign employees is nearly impossible.
Unrelated graves are bad. For the oyatoi gaikokujin, no ancestors could care for them. Citizens started the Foreign Legacy Society to protect Aoyama Cemetery’s Foreign Section. The Foreign Section Trust was established to preserve and maintain it. The Society approached Aoyama Cemetery’s management. Pressure from the Foreign Legacy Society mounted. The city is making a memorial to acknowledge the foreigners’ role. However, to those who were in the know, the intent is to quietly subsume graves of unimportant people.
Today, Minamiaoyama is still developing. Condos rise near the cemetery. Land values are high. Greenery and Tokyo modernity attract residents. Minamiaoyama blends history and progress. It is a district of contrasts. The blend can be seen and felt today.