Nogi Maresuke - Man of Letters

Man of Letters

Nogi is noted in Japan as a man of letters also. His Kanshi poems (poems using Chinese characters) were especially popular among the Japanese during his time. Three of his Kanshi poems are famous.

Right after the Battle of Nanshan of 1904, in which he lost his eldest son, he wrote:

　金州城外の作　 Written Outside the Walls of Jinzhou
山川草木轉荒涼

十里風腥新戰場
征馬不前人不語
金州城外立斜陽

Mountains and rivers, trees and grass, all turned desolate,
Within ten li, the smell of bloddshed abounds in the new battlefield.
My brave horse would not move, the soldiers do not talk.
And I stand outside Jinzhou Town, in the setting sun.

After the battle of 203 Hill of 1904-05, in which he lost his second son, he lamented:

爾靈山 Your Souls' Mountain
爾靈山嶮豈難攀

男子功名期克艱
鐵血覆山山形改
萬人齊仰爾靈山

Can we say it was easy to climb 203 Hill?
Was it not difficult because men sought their honor?
The mountain has changed its shape, covered by iron and blood.
We all now equally look up in awe at Your Souls' Mountain.

After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, he wrote:

凱旋 A Song of Triumph
皇師百萬征強虜

野戰攻城屍作山
愧我何顔看父老
凱歌今日幾人還

As a leader of the Imperial Army, I took a million soldiers in hostage.
The battle resulted in a mountain of dead bodies.
I am so ashamed of facing their old fathers.
A song of triumph? But how many men can return home?

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