2007-12-04 - 4:05 p.m.
The Hakkoda Death March: A Folk Version of the Real Tragedy, as Translated by ELOFTING@HOTMAIL.COM
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Since long, long ago residents of the villages around Hakkoda Mountain have recognized December 12th (on or near January 20th by modern calendars) as Yama-no Kami-no Hi, or, A Day for the God of the Mountain. This day falls right in the middle of a period about a month long during which weather is at its worst on Hakkoda Mountain and terrible blizzards occur. This period of terrible weather is called Yama-no Kami-no Kisetsu, or, the Season of the God of the Mountain by locals.
Nobody attempts to climb Hakkoda Mountain during the mountain god's season. It is believed that this would anger the mountain god, and likely provoke it to seek revenge.
This is not to say, however, that the mountain god is necessarily a vengeful one. During the rest of the year, locals believe that the mountain god protects hunters, charcoal-makers, and everyone else who works on the mountain from harm. It is said that the mountain god only seeks revenge on those who attempt to enter this area during the mountain god's season and, for this reason, people who work on Hakkoda Mountain have traditionally taken the mountain god's season as a time of rest, and respecfully given up on their work during this time.
In the 35th year of the Meiji Era (1902 by modern calendars) a training session, a long march over Hakkoda Mountain, was planned for the fifth division of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces from Aomori. Their route would take them through Kobata Village, past Tamogino Village (now the Kobata and Tamogino areas of Aomori City) and over Hakkoda Mountain. The trip would require them to set up camp for one night before returning to Aomori the following day.
The route planned was an intentionally difficult one. At that time, war between Japan and Russia seemed likely to break out at any day. There had been incidents with Russian warships in the Tsugaru Straight between Russia and Japan, and the military felt that they had no time to loose in building up the physical and mental strength of its soldiers.
The training session was scheduled to start on January 23rd, 1902, just two days after the mountain god's day (which had fallen on January 21st that year). When the grandpas and grandmas of Kobata Village learned of the fifth division's plan they warned them not to go through with it.
"Now is the mountain god's season," they warned. "If you march through Hakkoda Mountain now the mountain god will be angry, and there's no telling what could happen. It would be much better if you cancelled this march."
"The military is not concerned with silly superstitions, and they are certainly not an acceptable reason to cancel our training," was the reply, and the fifth division wouldn't listen to anything more that the villagers had to say.
By and by, the division arrived at Tamogino Village. Comprised of 210 men, all carrying guns and heavy packs, and 14 sleighs loaded with supplies, the march was a sight that was difficult to ignore. When the grandpas and grandmas of Tamogino Village learned that they intended to march through Hakkoda Mountain they tried to convince them otherwise.
"Now is the mountain god's time," they warned. "And now is the time when weather is worst on Hakkoda Mountain and terrible blizzards occur. It would be much better if you postponed this march."
"The military is not concerned about a little snow, and it is certainly not an acceptable reason to postpone our training," was the reply, and the fifth division wouldn't listen to anything more that the villagers had to say.
The truth is that circumstances wouldn't allow the fifth division to cancel or postpone their march, for similar exercises had already been completed by the 31st division from Hirosaki, and the division from Akita and Yamagata. Had the fifth division called off their march on the mountain god's account they would have become the laughing stock of the military.
Soon after the soldiers left Tamogino Village a blizzard began. It snowed so furiously that the men could scarcely see half a meter in front of themselves. Ice stuck to their compasses, rendering them useless. The fifth division became hopelessly lost and, one after another, they collasped.
A day passed after the division had left, and then another, and then another. They were now long overdue to return and the military and the families of the men participating in the march were extremely worried. Three days after the fifth division had set off, on January 26th, a search party comprised of 62 people went to look for them.
The search party made it barely three kilometers away from Tamogino Village when snow up to their shoulders made it impossible for them to go on. Their warm winter clothing froze as stiff as boards and, though it was daytime, in the blizzard they were walking through it was as dark as night. The search party recognized that they were in danger of becoming lost themselves and had no choice but to turn back.
The next day, the search party again set out from Tamogino Village early in the morning. At an area of Hakkoda Mountain called Otakidai they discovered, buried up to his chest in snow, a man named Goto Gocho who had been with the fifth division.
Goto Gocho told his rescuers that the other soldiers were lost and dying and desperately in need of help. The military formed a rescue party, this time of one thousand people, with the intention of searching all over Hakkoda Mountain for the lost division but, again, weather on the mountain became so bad as to make their search impossible to carry out.
Ainu from Hokkaido, who were believed to be better able to deal with the blizzard, were brought in. And, finally, more members of the fifth division began to be found. However, of the 210 men who had set out, only seventeen were found alive. The survivors were immediately admitted to hospital but six more men died after hospitalization. In the end, 199 men were dead.
The last of the bodies were finally found on May 28th, just in time for the locals, who had been forced by the military to aid in the search, to prepare and plant their rice fields.
The military determined the cause of this tragedy to have been inappropriate and insuffient equipment. But local grandpas and grandmas could not remember having ever before seen a blizzard as bad as the one that year and were convinced that it happened as a result of having raised the mountain god's ire.
A memorial for the fifth division in Kobata Village, and a bronze statue of Goto Gocho now serve as reminders of this incident. In the summertime, incense constantly burns on Hakkoda Mountain in honor of the soldiers who died there. And, even now, many locals believe that this incident serves as a warning of the importance of staying away from Hakkoda Mountain during the mountain god's season.
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Translator's Note: According to Michael, bronze will outlast everything else people have and will make before we extinctify ourselves. It is therefore not entirely impossible that future alien probes will discover the statue of Goto Gocho and be able to piece together why it is there. Thus, by having read this story, your intelligence may have just become that much closer to equal that of aliens of the future!
