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The Bandô
POW camp on Shikoku Island is now located within Naruto near Tokushima City. It used to be a
prisoner-of-war camp of some 1,000 German prisoners during World
War I. In Naruto´s Bandô camp the enjoyed an almost idyllic
lifestyle, while many fellow captives were crowded into tiny huts and
subjected to violence. The prisoners were able to create a little
corner of Germany - with own bakery, bowling alley, sports club,
printing press for own newspaper and European style café. The
Bandô camp orchestra has become famous for having been the first
performance of Beethoven´s Ninth Symphony on Japanese soil.
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