Japanese Occupation of Singapore - Syonan Jinjya

Syonan Jinjya

The Syonan (Shonan) Shinto Shrine, or Syonan Jinja, was built by British prisoners-of-war and the Japanese Army off Adam Road inside the MacRitchie Reservoir area. It was officially unveiled on 10 September 1942. However, the Shrine was demolished immediately after the Japanese surrender with the return of the British forces in 1945. Only remnants of a font and foundation remain. In September 2002, the National Heritage Board marked the shrine's location as a historic site.

After the fall of Singapore, General Yamashita in the subsequent months sought to build a memorial for the Japanese troops who had died during the Malayan campaign. British prisoners-of-war interned in the Changi Gaol and troops of the Japanese Army worked together to construct the Shinto Shrine, Syonan Jinja, at MacRitchie Reservoir which stood near the centre of the heat of battle for Singapore. Work on the construction of the shrine had begun as early as April 1942, at the west end of the forest that surrounded MacRitchie Reservoir. The site of the Shrine necessitated the felling of a remarkable patch of original, primeval forest, a great loss to the botanical world.

Halfway through the construction, a Colonel in the Japanese Army suggested a parallel shrine be built for the Allies. With Yamashita's concession, Australian troops were recruited to build the Allied Cross which stood behind the Shinto Shrine. On 10 September, both monuments were unveiled. The Japanese had also built another shrine, the Syonan Chureito off Jalan Sesuai at Bukit Batok.

Immediately after the Japanese Surrender and the return of the British forces in 1945, the Shinto Shrine, the Bukit Batok War Memorial (Syonan Chureito) and the British War Memorial behind it, both located at Upper Bukit Timah Road were demolished by the British forces. The remains of the Japanese were moved to the Japanese cemetery.

Plans to rebuild the memorials to remember both the Japanese and Allied fallen were discussed in the 1990s but were shelved in 1991 because of sensitivities toward those who had suffered under the Japanese. Today, a transmitting tower stands at the site of the original monuments. On 9 July 1995, a plaque was unveiled by MP Ong Chit Chung at the Bukit Batok Nature Park as a memorial instead.

The shrine's design was based on the famed Yasukuni Shrine in Japan. The Yasukuni Shrine dates back to 1869 and has been the resting place for more than 2.466 million Japanese soldiers who died for their country, serving as a national symbol to remember those who died in both World Wars. Reflecting its design, the Shinto shrine was a 12 m (39 ft) tall cylindrical wooden pylon, its peak tipped with a brass cone. At the base of the pylon, in a small shed-like shrine were the remains of the fallen Japanese. In front of the monument was a font which visitors would take a sip from using a long-handled ladle. Shinto meaning "the way of the gods" is the native faith of the Japanese and is primarily pantheistic. It is necessary to cleanse oneself before approaching a Shinto Shrine for prayers, thus the provision of the font. A Japanese bridge was built across an arm of the reservoir to bring visitors to the secluded Shrine hidden behind the trees. The Shinto followers believe that "divine spirits" or kami reside in nature and thus the location of the Syonan Shinto Shrine in the midst of the forest.