By HIDESHI NISHIMOTO/ Staff Writer
November 25, 2025 at 17:10 JST
Chen Yong, the Chinese consul general in Nagasaki, left, cuts grass during an annual cleaning event at Inasa Goshinji International Cemetery on Nov. 24. (Hideshi Nishimoto)
NAGASAKI—In a gesture of grass-roots friendship, about 150 volunteers from Japan and China gathered on Nov. 24 to clean a cemetery here where Chinese and other international residents rest.
The annual event at Inasa Goshinji International Cemetery held added significance because official exchange programs between the two countries have been postponed or canceled amid diplomatic tensions.
Among the participants was Chen Yong, China’s consul general in Nagasaki.
“No matter the difficulties in China-Japan relations, many predecessors have worked to promote friendship,” he said.
Chen, who assumed the post in March, said he felt he should join because the event is a longstanding tradition, and this was his first opportunity to take part.
Before the volunteers began trimming greenery, Chen and the leader of the local ethnic Chinese community offered prayers at the cemetery’s altar.
The cemetery traces its origins back about 400 years to a time when most of Japan was closed off from the outside world. Nagasaki was the country’s only port that allowed limited foreign trade.
The site is the final resting place for residents from countries that include China, Portugal and Russia.
Organized by a local Japan-China friendship association, the tradition of cleaning the cemetery began in 1974, two years after the normalization of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
Volunteers included association members, local business representatives and Chinese students studying in Japan.
One participant emphasized the importance of continuing such grass-roots efforts, noting that relations between governments and local exchanges are separate.
Diplomatic tensions have continued over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks earlier this month in the Diet about a possible Japanese response to a Chinese military-led crisis in Taiwan.
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