u/Magical_Astronomy

[removed]

Lyrics are from Sabaton's Shiroyama and Battotai (抜刀隊).

Quote from wikipedia:

>The Satsuma Rebellion...was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government of the Empire of Japan, nine years into the Meiji era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and became home to unemployed samurai after military reforms rendered their status obsolete. The rebellion lasted from 29 January until 24 September 1877, when it was decisively crushed, and its leader, Saigō Takamori, was shot and mortally wounded.

Sabaton's song Shiroyama and the Hollywood movie The Last Samurai both featured this war. However, the real situation wasn't that of samurai launching suicidal charges against the firearms of the modernized Imperial Japanese Army, as depicted in these two pieces.

The rebellious domain first purchased Snider rifles, then established production plants even earlier than the Meiji government did. After war broke out the tide swayed towards the rebellious side even more: the rebellious samurai knew their land well and are very motivated to defend their home and way of life. Meanwhile, the IJA is made up of conscripted peasants, had insufficient training, and their spirit to fight wasn't strong either. During the battle of Tabaruzaka this became more evident, as IJA suffered heavy casualties in close quarter combats.

Eventually a solution came: some samurai loyal to the government were working in the rear-support police units, and they proposed to form a special unit to use their fighting skills against the rebels. Army General Yamagata Aritomo approved this proposal and named this special unit Battotai (The Sword Forces). This unit achieved much success against the rebels in battle of Tabaruzaka, which eventually led to the victory of government forces.

Context见图2

I couldn’t find the registry number or the NSC through some basic google search. Anyone knows what are they for and/or why are they here?

Wish they are the latest addition to Translink’s fleet.

Fairly deep holes carved in a tree. No animal marks or tracks nearby.

This region has woodpeckers, beavers and bears in this season, but I don’t think any of them might have caused this. These holes look too large and too deep for woodpeckers, and it’s on a mountain trail far from any waterbody so beavers are unlikely (plus they can’t climb). Bears might be capable of doing so but why? I’ve never heard any stories of bear making holes in a tree.

Original art: https://x.com/salasarayuki/status/2054663495321608562?s=46&t=ejG0oX3g3YdRtc30PhZwRQ

The Teikoku (Imperial) Bank incident was a bank robbery and murder case that occurred on January 26 1948 in Tokyo. The criminal pretended as a medical officer and deceived bank staff to poison them with cyanide. 12 staff were killed and the criminal also stole cash and cheque from the bank.

The investigation was hindered by the chaos following the end of WW2. The police later identified a painter, Sadamichi Hirasawa, as the criminal, and he was sentenced death. However, there're a lot of voices arguing he was innocent. Hirasawa suffered from mental illnesses, and he was interrogated by the police. Survivors from the poisoning also said his appearance did not match the criminal they saw. Nonetheless he remained in prison due to lack of evidence proving him not guilty until his death in 1987.

Many believe the real criminal is affiliated with, or even being the ex-personnel of Noborito Research Institute (a IJA research lab) Section 2 and/or Unit 731. The poison used in this case is believed to be acetone cyanohydrin, an extremely toxic substance that these institutions studied and tested during the war. As investigation went on, a former lieutenant colonel from Unit 731 was flagged as a person of interest. However, the GHQ ordered a cessation of the investigation on said person and Unit 731.

To this day the whole case still largely remains as a mystery.