Nie Er Memorial (聶耳記念碑) in Shonan Beach Park (湘南海岸公園)

Nie Er Cenotaph

Nie Er Memorial

Nie Er (traditional Chinese: 聶耳, simplified Chinese: 聂耳) (1912 ~ 1935) was a Chinese composer born in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province in China.  In April 1935, he escaped China for Japan, where his elder brother lived, as the Chinese Nationalist authorities were planning his arrest.  Shortly after he arrived in Japan, he completed composing his best-known work, later known as the 

Monument written by
Guo Moruo

"March of the Volunteers," for the movie "Children of Troubled Times," released in May.  However, in July, he drowned while swimming at Kugenuma Beach in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture.  In 1937, his remains were returned to Kunming where he was buried.

When the piece was adopted as the national anthem of the People's Republic of China in 1949, some citizens of Fujisawa launched a campaign to mourn his death and erected a cenotaph in 1954.  However, it was washed away during the Kanogawa Typhoon in 1958.  When it was rebuilt in 1965, a monument written by Guo Moruo, a Chinese writer, poet, historian, archaeologist, and also a government official, was added.

In 1986, as a part of a project celebrating the 50th anniversary of Nie Er's death, a relief was added and the area was organized as the Nie Er Memorial Square (聶耳記念広場).

Stone plaque with Nie Er's personal history & Nie Er
Memorial Preservation Society's activities in 
simplified Chinese

Stone plaque from Kunming

In 2010, a plaque, using stone materials from Yunnan Province, engraved with his personal history and the activities of the Nie Er Memorial Preservation Society in simplified Chinese was placed.

In 2011, the city of Kunming sent a stone plaque upon celebrating the 30th anniversary of the sister-city relationship with Fujisawa.

Nie Er Memorial Square