Losses of the IJA, when they invaded Taiwan in 1895, sometimes were etched in stone. The above is a small monument with the markings of "軍人軍屬火葬場之碑" [The cremation site of soldiers and military employees] located in Keelung基隆三坑龍安街198巷.
And on its back side, in classical Chinese:
"明治二十八年,台灣之役起也.從軍之士或罹于戰鋒,或觸于瘴癘在基隆而死者,實二千一百五十有六人也,當時悾摠之際,不遑一一葬焉,乃於此所火葬,舉其遺骨至諸家鄉,今又更收燼灰而痊焉,以建碑云,明治二十八年十一月"
"In Meiji Year 28 [i.e., 1895], the Taiwan campaign started. The enlistees, either perished in battles or died from diseases in Keelung totaled 2,156. Since the circumstances did not allow proper individual burials, the remains were cremated and the ashes returned to their hometowns. To commemorate completion of the recovery of the ashes, this monument is hereby erected. [Dated] November, 1895"
In the haste of the battles, it might have been difficult to differentiate between deaths in battle or from diseases. The record did show, for example, in the battle of Rui-fang瑞芳, 8 war dead and 6 deaths from sicknesses. It is unknown if this ratio applied to other battlefields but was probably very close.
Graves of the Japanese, including that of the military, actually scattered throughout Taiwan, some were quite old dating from 1895. In 1945, through civilian efforts, more than 14,000 sets of remains were recovered from abandoned Japanese graves. They were interred in three locations, Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung. Only one site is well-known, the 日本人遺骨安置所墓園 [below] established in 1961 on the grounds of 寶覺寺Bao-jue Temple in Taichung [健行路140號]. Many have come to pay their homage. Buddhism memorial services, open to the public, are conducted every year in early December.
A number of Japanese cemeteries were built over when waves of refugees arrived from China in 1949 who desperately needed housing. The best known is the 三板橋 Japanese Cemetery in Taipei. This settlement was demolished in 2000 and turned into a public park, the 林森公園; although the whereabouts of the 2-3,000 sets of remains are unclear [may have been moved to 三芝San-zhi, north of Danshui]. Another site, a Japanese military cemetery, in Tainan was built over by 實踐三村 [台南市北區西門路門段], now converted into 實踐國宅. The construction occasionally uncovered bones together with military swords.
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