The Hakkōda Mountains incident occurred on January 23, 1902, when a large group of Japanese soldiers on a training exercise became trapped on a mountain range, causing many of them to die.

Several soldiers in the 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment became trapped in a blizzard

Blizzard

A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong winds. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have winds in excess of with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to 400 meters or ¼ mile or...

 while crossing the Hakkōda Mountains from Aomori City

Aomori, Aomori

is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the northern Tōhoku region of Japan. As of 2009, the city had an estimated population of 302,068 and a density of 366 persons per km². Its total area was 824.52 km².- History :...

 in a military training exercise. The exercise was meant to gather experience in dealing with winter weather. Japan was preparing for a possible conflict with the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 in Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

 and Manchuria

Manchuria

Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...

, which eventually was realized as the Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...

. One hundred ninety-nine of the 210 members died. Corporal Fusanosuke Gotō

Fusanosuke Goto

was a soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army memorialized by the Memorial Statue of the Hakkoda Death March in Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan.In January 1902 several soldiers in the 5th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion became trapped on the Hakkōda Mountains; this was the start of the Hakkōda...

 managed to get help for the beleaguered unit. Search parties discovered Gotō. The discovery led to the rescue of the other soldiers.

Jirō Nitta

Jiro Nitta

is the pen name of popular Japanese historical novelist . He was born in an area that is now part of the city of Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.-Career:...

 wrote Death March on Mount Hakkōda: A Documentary Novel, a semi-fictional account of the disaster. James Westerhoven translated the book into English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

.