Death March on Mount Hakkoda

The fictionalized account of a military training mission gone tragically wrong as a result of poor planning, bureaucratic interference, and bad luck. In the winter of 1902, 210 soldiers are ordered to cross the snowbound slopes of Mount Hakkoda to test their military strength in anticipation of a Russian invasion. The author's precise descriptions of the terror of the snow and the cold epitomize the detached lyricism so highly admired in Japan.