Part 1: Marquis Tokugawa – A Forgotten Figure in the Fall of Singapore
VJ Day
Victory over Japan Day, the day that World War II (WWII) ended in Asia, is commemorated around the world on both August 15th, when Japan surrendered in 1945, and on September 2 when the surrender documents were formally signed, also in 1945.
As the anniversary of VJ Day draws near, ceremonies and reflections will unfold around the world. In Malaysia and Singapore, however, the date passes with relatively little official recognition. The Japanese invasion of Malaya and Singapore, including the Fall of Singapore on February 15, 1942, and ending with Japan’s surrender three and a half years later, remains a defining but selectively remembered chapter in Southeast Asian history.
Historical Memory: What We Remember ... Or Forget
Certain events, and associated images, have become iconic. Some contemporaneous remarks, such as that of Winston Churchill's "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history", are firmly lodged in our memory.
Such images and remarks continue to shape today's perspective. For example, just recently in May 2025, the hosts of the wildly popular podcast "The Rest is History" Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook described the Fall of Singapore as one of the top three most "humiliating and shameful defeats Britain ever suffered", the "single worst moment", and the "death blow to the British Empire".
However, these two eminent historians also provided a critical insight by adding that "most people don't know about it". One might surmise, by way of explanation, that selective memory blots out painful defeats: but that is not true. Consider, for example, Dunkirk, The Charge of the Light Brigade, or even The Battle of Hastings. All humiliating defeats for the British, but all readily remembered by most British people.
What is remembered, what is forgotten? How do we decide, or who decides, what stories from history we talk about? Which stories stay in our memories, form ideas about lessons learned, or support a contemporary narrative?
In Southeast Asia, while the trauma of WWII occupation and the relief at liberation are deeply etched into the region’s collective memory, the events of that era are often framed within a narrow lens. In Singapore, the war years are frequently presented as the dramatic pivot away from British colonialism and toward independence. VJ Day, then, is more a symbolic milestone than a national day of remembrance—part of a broader historical narrative that focuses on resilience, recovery, and the triumph of pragmatic governance that we see today.
This official narrative is well researched and regularly refreshed—through academic work, museum exhibitions, and national commemorations. It’s not a false narrative, nor is it necessarily cynical. But it does, over time, edge out other perspectives—stories that might offer a richer, more layered understanding of the war and its aftermath.
Forgotten Stories
For instance, most accounts mention General Yamashita’s rapid advance through Malaya, the brutal Sook Ching massacre, and the suffering of POWs in Changi. But far fewer people have heard of the Japanese military’s use of brothel-based espionage networks, or the devastating firebombing of a Tanglin hospital that incinerated hundreds of patients and staff. And fewer still know of Marquis Yoshichika Tokugawa—a Japanese aristocrat, tiger-hunting companion of the Sultan of Johor, and a curious, shadowy figure who played a little-known but fascinating role in the lead-up to the Japanese invasion.
Over the coming weeks, in the lead-up to VJ Day, I’ll be sharing a five-part blog series that shines a light on Tokugawa’s unlikely friendship with Sultan Ibrahim of Johor—and how this relationship, forged in the 1920s and 1930s, became a subtle thread in the tapestry of Southeast Asia’s wartime history.
Here's the twist: Tokugawa played not only a forgotten role in the Fall of Singapore. At the same time he became a key figure in drama of the untold story of the Tyersall estate and Istana Woodneuk, one that remains hidden from history to this day.
These posts are based on material I explore in greater depth in my book Palace of Ghosts, and they raise questions about loyalty, power, and how easily personal ties can be woven into—or erased from—the historical record.
Sometimes, history lies not in what we remember, but in what we forget.
Don't believe in hidden history? See for yourself as I reveal the untold story of Marquis Yohsichika Tokugawa and the Fall of Singapore – and the tragic events at the Tyersall estate .
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