On Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. local time, millions of people around the world will pause for two minutes of silence to remember the 16 million soldiers and civilians who perished in the First World War, along with millions more killed in conflicts around the world since.
While memorial services in London and other European cities most directly affected by the "war to end all wars" that started 100 years ago will be the focus of global attention, here in Japan several hundred retired and serving soldiers, sailors and airmen, as well as civilians from around the world, will also gather in Yokohama on Sunday, Nov. 9, to honor all the fallen of past conflicts.
This year's Remembrance Day service on the 9th follows the British tradition of holding ceremonies at graveyards, cenotaphs and other memorials on the Sunday closest to Nov. 11 — the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the time hostilities officially ended on the Western Front in 1918 — rather than on the 11th itself. Many other Commonwealth and other countries commemorate the fallen on the 11th regardless of what day of the week it falls on.