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Japanese prostitutes' forgotten graves
They came to Singapore looking for a better future and to make money, but ended up losing their dignity and their lives.
More than 400 Japanese prostitutes, otherwise known as "karayuki-san", came to our shores in the late 1800s. These girls were as young as thirteen years old and tricked by pimps into selling their bodies to coolies and colonial settlers.
Grave-hunting enthusiast Raymond Goh introduced us to the tombs of these karayuki-sans who are buried at the Japanese Cemetery Park.
The inscriptions on their tombs reveal their age, status and the brothels they belonged to. In addition, one row of tombs belonged to the children of these prostitutes.
Source: AsiaOne
