Yasukuni Jinja

Guide to Outer GardenMemorial Monument to the Hitachimaru

On June 15, 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War, the army transport vessel Hitachimaru set out through the heavy fog of the Genkai Sea for Manchuria, carrying the First Infantry Reserve Regiment of the Imperial Guard. Suddenly, a Russian fleet from Vladivostok appeared and launched a ferocious concentrated attack on the Hitachimaru. Since it was a transport ship, the Hitachimaru was unable to make a sufficient counterattack. Colonel Suchi burned the regiment’s war flag and took his own life, and over 1,000 men perished with the ship. Every year on June 15, a memorial service is held in front of this monument for the fallen officers and men as well as the three British crew members of the Hitachimaru who also died, including its captain.