Address to Japanese Dead

1905

At a Shinto service recently performed in honor of the spirits of the dead who fell in the siege of Port Arthur the task of speaking the invocation (saimon) was performed by Gen. Nogi. He read the following:

"This day, the 14th of the first month of the thirty-eighth year of Meiji, I, Nogi Kiten, commander of the third army, with these my comrades, observing due ceremony, offer reverence to you, spirits of officers and soldiers of the third army who have died, for your country.

"More than 210 days have passed since the army landed on the Kwantung peninsula, and throughout all that time you bravely and stoutly fought. You gave your lives to the points of the enemy's weapons. Many a one of you perished amid raging waves and buffeting storms. But your valiant deeds were not in vain.

"If we have seen the enemy's warships completely destroyed in the harbors of Port Arthur, if we have seen his fortresses fall, it has been in truth through the might you left behind you. We, your comrades, who should have shared your fate, are the recipients of a most gracious message from his majesty the commander-in-chief.

"Here, entering Port Arthur, we stand on places overlooking the hills, the rivers, the fortifications that your loyal blood has dyed. Noble spirits with due rites of purification and offering we invoke your presence. Come among us, we pray you, and receive our reverence."