Kempeitai East District Branch, Japanese military police headquarters at Stamford Road, Singapore.
The Kempeitai East District Branch was the main base of the Japanese military police in Singapore, situated on Stamford Road at its junction with Orchard Road. The current building on the site, which houses the YMCA, was completed in 1984 and features Art Deco details with white walls and columns at the front.
During the Japanese occupation of Singapore, from 1942 to 1945, this site was used by the military police to detain and question people suspected of opposing Japanese rule. When the occupation ended in 1945, the building's role as a detention center came to a close.
The building is now used as a YMCA, and most people who pass through its doors come for sports or community activities, unaware of what once happened here. A small plaque near the entrance marks the site's wartime past for those who stop to read it.
The building sits at a busy central junction and is easy to reach on foot from Orchard Road or Bras Basah. Those visiting for historical reasons should take a moment at the entrance to look for the commemorative plaque, as it is small and easy to miss.
The Kempeitai operated several branch offices across Singapore during the occupation, each covering a different part of the city, and this one on Stamford Road was specifically assigned to the eastern district. The name 'East District Branch' reflects that administrative division, which is why multiple similar sites exist around Singapore today.
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