[9] The first European explorers to the area, George William Evans and Wilbur Fruntbom, entered the Lachlan Valley in 1815.

[13] Cowra hosts an annual Festival of International Understanding, featuring a parade, a fireworks display, balloons for the kids and events showcasing a particular foreign culture.

The actions of the POWs in storming machine gun posts, armed only with improvised weapons, showed what Prime Minister John Curtin described as a "suicidal disregard of life".

[citation needed] During the breakout and subsequent recapture of POWs, four Australian guards and 231 Japanese died, and 108 prisoners were wounded.

[19] Cowra sits on the border zone between the cool, wet highlands of the Great Dividing Range and the hot, dry plains of Western New South Wales.

Other towns that experience this 'border' climate are Inverell and Mudgee further north, Yass and Gundagai further south, Wangaratta in Victoria and Dalby in Queensland.

Rainfall is mild and distributed fairly evenly all year round, however it slightly peaks in summer with thunderstorms and again in winter with cold fronts.

[22] The site is next to the Australian War Cemetery, which houses local servicemen, personnel who died in the area, and four of the guards of the Cowra breakout.

[23] Eventually, 524 bodies were interred there, including civilian internees and all other Japanese combatants who were buried in other parts of Australia (since their graves were later moved there).

[24] The cemetery is on Crown land owned by the New South Wales government under trusteeship of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

[27][28] In 1971, the Cowra Tourism Development decided to celebrate this link to Japan, and proposed a Japanese garden for the town.

Located 3 kilometres south of the war cemetery is the Cowra Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre.

The rocky hillside, manicured hedges, waterfalls and streams, and the two lakes provide a serene environment for a myriad of birdlife.

Locals, Australian and international visitors alike have the opportunity to experience traditional elements of Japanese culture.

The local team, the Cowra Magpies, compete in the Peter McDonald Premiership, of which they are a part of the Group 10 Division.