Turning a Garbage Dump into a Park, Sharing History at the Site of Internment

2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the war. The Emperor and Empress of Japan made their first official visit to Mongolia as the Emperor and Empress of Japan. As this was reported by media in both Japan and Mongolia, many of you have likely seen it.
Also, because the news reported them offering flowers at the memorial for those who died in internment, I think there are some who learned for the first time that there was forced internment by the Soviet Union in Mongolia as well.
On October 21, I held a broadcast on my Shirasu channel with a Mongolian guest. I aired a program titled, "Turning a Garbage Dump into a Park, Sharing History at the Site of Internment."

A "Quarry" That Had Become a Garbage Dump

Japanese internees were made to engage in the construction of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of the Mongolian People's Republic, which had only just begun its development. Internees were stationed at construction sites for many buildings, including the Government House, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Opera House, movie theaters, the Central Library, and the National University of Mongolia, centered around Sükhbaatar Square.
There were several quarries where stone was cut for use as construction materials, and once they finished their roles as quarries, they were turned into garbage dumps.
The person who invested his own money to turn that garbage dump into a park is the main subject of this broadcast, Ulziitogtokh.
Ulziitogtokh, who had been thinking about wanting to build a park in a ger settlement, obtained the usage rights for this former quarry site that had become a garbage dump.
He says he liked it in the first place because the top of the depression was a hill, and it was a place where you could see the cityscape of Ulaanbaatar well. However, his heart ached seeing children playing in the depression that had become a garbage dump, so he decided to clean up the trash first.

Boating in the Summer, Skating in the Winter

He thought that since the garbage dump had small puddles in the summer, there might be an underground water vein. When he asked the neighbors, they said that there had indeed been a pond there in the past.
When he cleaned up the trash, it became a pond in the summer and froze completely in the winter.
Ulziitogtokh says he prepared rental skates and the like in the winter so that neighborhood children could play there cheaply.
Unlike the city center where there are apartment complexes, there are almost no playgrounds where children can play safely in ger settlements. The skating rink gained a high reputation from the neighborhood.
At that time, he was asked things like, "What happened to this pond's depression? Did you dig it yourself?"
Not knowing the origin of why there was a depression there, Ulziitogtokh began to research the history.

Learning the History of "Japanese Internment"

As he investigated, he learned that the depression where the pond was had been created by cutting stone for construction materials, that Japanese internees had been engaged in forced labor after World War II, and that after the Japanese internees returned home, Mongolian prisoners had worked there.
Ulziitogtokh, who did not know that Japanese people had been "interned," was shocked and decided to research the history in more detail. Major buildings in the center of Ulaanbaatar were built through the forced labor of Japanese internees, and many of them are still in active use today. He also learned that many Japanese people lost their lives during internment and were laid to rest in places like the "Japanese Cemetery."

The "Sakura Museum" That Shares History

Thinking he wanted to share the history that the children's playground was a site of forced labor for internees, Ulziitogtokh used one ger (a traditional portable dwelling of Mongolian nomads) on the premises to display materials and named it "Sakura."

Opening Ceremony of the Japanese Internee Museum "Sakura" - Embassy of Japan in Mongolia

This museum can be visited for free.
In this way, Ulziitogtokh's story of currently carrying out two major activities simultaneously—maintaining a playground for children and sharing the history of Japanese internment—was very interesting. I hope you will watch the broadcast from the link above. Please note that only the first 30 minutes are available for free viewing.
Ulziitogtokh is still continuing his personal research into the history of Japanese internment.
He says that besides the materials from that time kept in the archives, there are only two books available as Mongolian-side materials. He receives materials from the Japanese side from concerned parties and acquaintances, and since he cannot read Japanese, he uses Google Translate to convert them into Mongolian to read.
Moving forward, since one ger is too small, he is moving forward with plans to build a new building. He says the biggest hurdle for the future is how to secure the funding.
He says he hopes to gain cooperation from many people, including Mongolians living in Japan.