SINGAPORE – A lavish row of tatami-tiled rooms with translucent shoji screens at the heart of Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen’s first solo at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) belies the sombre histories of Japanese militarism housed within.

The spaces replicate Kiraku-tei ryokan, the final meeting place of one Japanese kamikaze (suicide attack pilots) squadron before its last mission and where the members’ parents gathered to drink and sing in honour of their dead sons.