The 5th Regiment's snow march On the morning of 23 January 1902, 210 men of the 5th Infantry Regiment set out from Aomori for Tashiro hot spring, 20 km away, on a planned two-day march, hauling food and fuel on 14 sleds.
2 Sources 9 Connections Preparing for war with Russia The exercise assumed that a Russian fleet might shell the Aomori coast in winter and cut its roads and railways, and tested whether supplies could be moved by man-hauled sleds instead.
2 Sources 1 Connections The guides they refused Villagers at Tamogino urged them not to go and offered to guide them if they insisted. The unit declined and went into the mountains with only a map and a compass. Many of its men came from regions with little snow.
2 Sources 2 Connections The talk of turning back At the surgeon's urging the officers discussed returning to barracks, given their thin equipment and the worsening weather. But the guides had already been turned away and the non-commissioned officers objected, so the march went on.
1 Sources 1 Connections Blizzard and bivouac The first night they dug into the snow 1.5 km short of Tashiro. As the blizzard grew they set off before dawn, but could not find the way and circled back again and again. By the roll call on the third morning about a third of the men appear to have died.
2 Sources 1 Connections A rescue sent late The regiment did not send a 60-man rescue party until 26 January. The first survivor was found on the 27th, and a search involving tens of thousands of soldiers and villagers went on for months. The last of the missing was recovered on 28 May.
1 Sources 2 Connections The Corporal Gotō memorial The memorial to Corporal Fusanosuke Gotō, the first survivor the rescuers found, standing in the snow. The account of the disaster was built on his testimony. He too lost his limbs to frostbite.
2 Sources 2 Connections 199 of 210 Of the 210, 193 froze to death on the mountain and six more died within two months of rescue. Eight of the eleven survivors had limbs amputated for frostbite. It is the deadliest single disaster in modern mountaineering.
2 Sources 1 Connections The 31st Regiment from Hirosaki Thirty-seven men of the same division's 31st Regiment and one reporter set out on 20 January on a 224 km circuit. They had written ahead to every village for food, lodging and guides, and crossed Hakkōda behind seven local guides. After twelve days everyone had finished the march safely, except one man sent back early with an injury.
1 Sources 3 Connections Captain Taizō Fukushima The captain who led the 31st Regiment's march, planned as the final stage of three years of research into winter marching.
1 Sources 1 Connections The Hakkōda Mountains The mountains of Aomori Prefecture, heavy with snow, crossed by the march route from Aomori city to Tashiro hot spring. The photo shows the southeast slope.
1 Sources 2 Connections Death March on Mount Hakkōda Jirō Nitta's 1971 novel, the basis of the 1977 film Mount Hakkoda. Both fictionalise parts of the story; the novel's idea that army leaders planned a cold-weather human experiment is invention.
2 Sources 1 Connections was the reason for headed into were turned down by did not stop stranded first found searched for ended in testified about crossed at the same time led relied on fictionalised Control map, One finger scrolls the page. Two fingers move or zoom the map.
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Item The 5th Regiment's snow march On the morning of 23 January 1902, 210 men of the 5th Infantry Regiment set out from Aomori for Tashiro hot spring, 20 km away, on a planned two-day march, hauling food and fuel on 14 sleds. User contribution ↑ was the reason for Preparing for war with Russia. Sources 1 Concept Preparing for war with Russia The exercise assumed that a Russian fleet might shell the Aomori coast in winter and cut its roads and railways, and tested whether supplies could be moved by man-hauled sleds instead. User contribution ↓ headed into Bound for Tashiro hot spring. Sources 1 Place The Hakkōda Mountains The mountains of Aomori Prefecture, heavy with snow, crossed by the march route from Aomori city to Tashiro hot spring. The photo shows the southeast slope. User contribution Concept The guides they refused Villagers at Tamogino urged them not to go and offered to guide them if they insisted. The unit declined and went into the mountains with only a map and a compass. Many of its men came from regions with little snow. User contribution ↓ were turned down by They went with a map and a compass. Sources 1 Item The 5th Regiment's snow march On the morning of 23 January 1902, 210 men of the 5th Infantry Regiment set out from Aomori for Tashiro hot spring, 20 km away, on a planned two-day march, hauling food and fuel on 14 sleds. User contribution ↑ relied on Seven guides for the Hakkōda crossing. Sources 1 Organization The 31st Regiment from Hirosaki Thirty-seven men of the same division's 31st Regiment and one reporter set out on 20 January on a 224 km circuit. They had written ahead to every village for food, lodging and guides, and crossed Hakkōda behind seven local guides. After twelve days everyone had finished the march safely, except one man sent back early with an injury. User contribution Item A rescue sent late The regiment did not send a 60-man rescue party until 26 January. The first survivor was found on the 27th, and a search involving tens of thousands of soldiers and villagers went on for months. The last of the missing was recovered on 28 May. User contribution ↓ first found On 27 January, standing in the snow. Sources 2 Item The Corporal Gotō memorial The memorial to Corporal Fusanosuke Gotō, the first survivor the rescuers found, standing in the snow. The account of the disaster was built on his testimony. He too lost his limbs to frostbite. User contribution ↓ searched for Not sent until 26 January. Sources 1 Item The 5th Regiment's snow march On the morning of 23 January 1902, 210 men of the 5th Infantry Regiment set out from Aomori for Tashiro hot spring, 20 km away, on a planned two-day march, hauling food and fuel on 14 sleds. User contribution Item The Corporal Gotō memorial The memorial to Corporal Fusanosuke Gotō, the first survivor the rescuers found, standing in the snow. The account of the disaster was built on his testimony. He too lost his limbs to frostbite. User contribution ↑ first found On 27 January, standing in the snow. Sources 2 Item A rescue sent late The regiment did not send a 60-man rescue party until 26 January. The first survivor was found on the 27th, and a search involving tens of thousands of soldiers and villagers went on for months. The last of the missing was recovered on 28 May. User contribution ↓ testified about His account established what happened. Sources 1 Item The 5th Regiment's snow march On the morning of 23 January 1902, 210 men of the 5th Infantry Regiment set out from Aomori for Tashiro hot spring, 20 km away, on a planned two-day march, hauling food and fuel on 14 sleds. User contribution More shared clues (8) AI research is a draft. Read the sources and check the context.
