A monument several meters tall stands beside the approach to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo where Japan’s war dead are honored.

A panel tells the story of the Hitachi Maru, a Japanese transport vessel sunk by Russian warships in the Tsushima Strait in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War.

Although more than 1,000 Japanese were killed in the attack, very few passers-by at the shrine on Oct. 15 stopped to join their hands in prayer for the victims.

But at a different area of the shrine that same day, a briefing was held about a project that could revive interest in the Hitachi Maru.

Thirteen family members of those who died on the Hitachi Maru met at Yasukuni Shrine’s Sanshuden (Assembly Hall) to listen to people who were involved in an underwater search of the ship in summer. The speakers included Junji Terasawa, a 48-year-old diver.

They explained that their search came about after a TV program discovered the Hitachi Maru on the seabed off Fukuoka Prefecture at a depth of 80 meters.

The divers found the hull was torn apart. They also said no remains of the victims were discovered.

“The important thing is to keep records,” one of the speakers said. “We hope to continue with our search into the future.”

Keiko Takeuchi said she is the great-granddaughter of Col. Genjiro Suchi (1860-1904), who commanded the transport operation and died when the Hitachi Maru went down.

“I am so grateful for the search,” Takeuchi, 73, said. “I hope belongings and remains will be salvaged when they are found.”

The casualties included Imperial Japanese Army soldiers heading for the front.

The explanatory panel at the monument outside Yasukuni Shrine uses “tragedy of the Hitachi Maru” and its “ill-fated demise” to describe the assault.

“A trio of enemy ships suddenly turned up and opened fierce artillery attacks on the vessel,” the panel says. “The ship had no means for fighting back, and the scenes aboard it turned into a shambles in the wink of an eye.”

Successive generations of relatives of Col. Suchi led an association of families of those killed on the Hitachi Maru. The group, however, disbanded at the centenary of the sinking.

Although memorial services continue to be held every June, attendance is shrinking, Takeuchi said.

“Nobody in my surroundings probably knows about the incident,” said Yukie Yanagisawa, Takeuchi’s 43-year-old second daughter. “I am going to tell my own child about this episode of our family’s history, but I am afraid those of our generation will be the last to attend the memorial services.”

NO SURRENDER

The sinking of the Hitachi Maru was obviously big news at the time, and it may have also affected the way Japanese soldiers fought in later years, one expert said.

The Asahi Shimbun carried stories day after day about how Hitachi Maru officers refused to be taken captive and instead killed themselves by disembowelment, handgun or jumping into the sea.

Members of the public attacked the residence of a senior Imperial Japanese Navy officer who was criticized for failing to defend the Hitachi Maru.

The refusal to surrender may have influenced “Senjinkun” (instructions for the battlefield), a military code issued in 1941.

“You shall not undergo the shame of being taken alive,” the Senjinkun says, instructing soldiers to continue fighting until they died.

Hiroshi Nagai, a Yokkaichi University professor of modern Japanese literature who studies discourse on captivity, mentioned Tetsujiro Inoue (1856-1944), an ideologue of nationalism who helped work out the Senjinkun.

Nagai said Inoue, a Tokyo Imperial University professor of philosophy, referred to the Hitachi Maru sinking incident when he first discussed Bushido (samurai code), which he saw as the Japanese spirit, in connection with the issue of captivity.

“The Hitachi Maru incident triggered debate among servicemen and scholars on the wisdom of being taken captive,” Nagai said. “They concluded that captivity is unforgivable and gave a nod to committing suicide before being taken alive.”

However, he noted: “The Hitachi Maru incident and the Senjinkun are 37 years apart, so I don’t believe there is any direct link between them, but the incident certainly affected the view of captivity in Japan.”

Yoshiaki Fukuma, a Kyoto University professor of sociology, said contemporary Japan tends to focus mainly on the Pacific War (1941-1945), meaning that fewer opportunities are available for discussions about earlier wars.

“Likewise, there would probably be fewer opportunities to talk about wars in the Showa Era (1926-1989) if Japan were to be involved in a war in the years to come,” Fukuma said.

He added: “It is important to continue contemplating, steadily and closely, on what mistakes we made in the past instead of just looking at what befits our own thought and at grand stories.”