Cowra, NSW has the ONLY Japanese War Cemetary in the world outside of Japan. The thousands of other Japanese War dead in the the Pacific theatre were usually cremated with ceremony by the Japs and remembered with a shrine, or buried in unmarked graves. After the Cowra Breakout (where 1104 Jap POWs staged a mass escape from the POW camp. Four Aust guards were killed, while 231 POWs were killed in the escape, the roundup, or committed suicide), the burials were reported to the Japanese Govt and the bodies were buried with dignity. The Japanese contended that the prisoners must have been interned civillians, as no Imperial Japanese Soldier would live with the shame of being captured. Proper notification to families was difficult as many Japs would list false names to avoid the shameful news reaching their families. It was not until 1964 that the Japanese Government overcame the cultural, social and official attitude to POWs, which was one of disgrace and embarrassment, to recognise the site as an Official War Cemetary.
The four sailors bodies recovered from the Sydney Harbour mini sub raid were also treated with dignity. Those bodies were cremated and the ashes returned to the Japanese families. As warriors who had fallen in the line of duty, they were feted in Japan as mini-gods. The Japanese Government was impressed with the dignity and honour with which the sailors were treated.
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