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Recently, I watched a TV program, "NHK Special" featured 'Nomonhan Incident'.
While watching the program, I remembered that once I read a book by Haruki Murakami, which was written about his travel to Nomonhan. The title of the book is "Henkyo, Kinkyo" (Outland, Nearby land), which contains "Graveyard of irons in Nomonhan".

Murakami saw a photo of ”Nomonhan Incident” in a history book when he was an elementary school student. Since then, he couldn't get the image out of his mind for some reason.

Later, he read books about 'Nomonhan Incident' when he found ones but the number
of them wasn't so many. Then, he lived in America for several years. At that time, surprisingly, he found old Japanese books about 'Nomonhan Incident' in the library at Princeton University, where he belonged to. So he continued to read the books there, too.

Murakami says that he has an extreme interest in the incident, perhaps because the war was very Japanese in a sense.

In the "Graveyard of irons in Nomonhan", the brutal way to Nomonhan, the vast plains in Mongolia, where trenches and tanks remain, his terrifying experience due to things that he took back, are described in detail, which are like watching a documentary.

Murakami's belief about the war, of course, was worth reading, but also the depiction of a small female wolf's eyes prepared to die, which was shot by their guide, a Mongolian military man, was so realistic and sad that it made me cry.
*It is said that, without fail, Mongolians kill wolves when they find one.
(H.S)

“Keihatsuroku” is a guideline for Sanai’s own life consisting of five clauses below.
It still has been read by people as a teaching which can be adapted even today.

1.Stop being childish and dependent
2.Feel motivated
3.Set a goal
4.Learn from excellent persons
5.Value good friends

I referred to the book by Yoh Ishikawa for this blog

Sanai Hashimoto, who was born in Fukui City, went to Osaka when he was 15 years old, studied Western medical science under Koan Ogata at Tekijuku. At the Tekijuku, although it is not known since when, a rumor that Sanai goes somewhere in the middle of the night had spread. Some even said that he might have seduced by somebody. But, in fact, he was examining poor sick people who lived under Tenma Bridge.

Sanai wrote with a strong determination from his soul in the “Keihatsuroku” when he was 15 years old. He read the “Keihatsuroku” again just before he was executed at the age of 25, he added “No need to correct even a single word” in it. And, 18 years after that, when Takamori Saigo died in war at Shiroyama, he had a letter from Sanai.

[Sanai’s death poem]
I greatly regret because I was unable to prove my lord’s innocence.
When I lie down in prison, I am sad and my heart aches.
When I raise my head, I get lost in thought.
Last night, we had the first frost of the season in Edo.
Who knows my heart would never fade?

Just as Sanai was about to be executed, he sobbed. It was not because he was sad or scared, but he regretted as he could not see how Fukui and Japan would be and could not help any more.

Such 25 year-old knowledgeable and brightest young person had to make a death poem should not be allowed to happen again. If Sanai had saved from execution and acted as a young leader, the history of Fukui and Japan might have been different. I should not forget that an outstanding figure Sanai Hashimoto lived in Fukui and his way of living. (H.S)

Here is our new video about Sanai Hashimoto “Visiting the places associated with Sanai Hashimoto, a brilliant person at the end of Edo Period”.