Golden Kamuy
Thinking back, those were his last words to me.
I'm praying for Asirpa's happiness.
I don't want her to be someone who stays in a safe place while others fight,
but to be someone who chooses the path of thorns to find her own happiness.
Like Sofia.
That's who Aca is.
That's right. If he just wanted to protect his family,
he could've chosen to live in hiding instead of fighting.
And then everyone would forget the words of the Ainu and the kamuy.
Everything that helps in life is believed to be a kamuy,
and the stories of the kamuy that are passed from
parent to child teach us how to live in this land!
If we forget the kamuy, the Ainu will disappear!
And now I'll tell you the horrible fate that Wilk and his friends met,
battling to protect the kamuy!
Episode Fifty-Five: The Cause of Everything
Just as Wilk
and his friends were going to find the old man who knew where the gold was,
we'd found out where information about him had come from.
A man named Siromakur. Ariko Rikimatsu's father.
He was the first to find the old man named Kimuspu.
A beautiful carving.
This pattern has been passed down in my family.
I'm making it for my son in the army. So that he won't forget the Ainu.
Ariko-san, we in the 7th Division are like a family.
When the battle begins, we risk our lives for one another.
Of course, that goes for Rikimatsu-kun as well.
If you truly trust Rikimatsu-kun like family...
We captured the old man over a month ago.
We've probably found the gold by now.
Why didn't you go to find it with the others?
Because I couldn't agree with how they do things.
When Kimuspu refused to tell us where the gold was,
the more short-tempered ones began to threaten him.
They even said that if he didn't tell us where the gold was,
they'd find his family and harm them.
I couldn't allow that!
It was smart to part ways with those who would try to
divide the Japanese and Ainu.
Now that we know of this plan for rebellion,
the 7th Division must take action.
Tell us everything, Ariko-san.
For the sake of those young Ainu who live as Japanese, as well.
I understand how they feel.
I worked with them, thinking there was a way to use the gold without violence.
But those six, especially,
are all difficult men with little relationship to one another.
Only their extremist beliefs about the Japanese bring them together.
And one very clever man is all that keeps them working together.
So it's true that the Ainu near the Saru River eat dirt, huh?
We call it cietoy, "the dirt that we eat". We've eaten it for generations!
The Japanese will call you cows and dogs!
That's right.
I've got less respect for you for giving a shit what the Japanese think.
What the hell did you say?
What, you want to fight?
Cietoi is called diatomaceous earth.
It's a fossil made from a type of algae.
It's eaten around the world by tribes like those native to America.
In Karafuto, there's a dish called chikaripe that uses diatomaceous earth.
It was the best food we had.
It mellows out the seal fat.
You really do know everything.
You really are amazing.
This is pretty good. I'll take seconds.
Aw, you...
Discrimination is born of ignorance.
If nothing else, the Ainu must understand each other,
and come together as one...
Where does this Ainu live?
He lives in Bihoro or Nemuro.
He's from Karafuto, I know that much.
Can you tell me his name? What he looks like?
Father...
Everyone calls him "Wilk".
He has blue eyes and a scar on his face.
So he's come back into my life once more?
I fired a single poison arrow at Wilk!
Did Wilk tell you of his past as a guerrilla?
He came to Hokkaido seeking the Ainu gold,
so that he could give it to revolutionaries in Russia.
Ask him yourself.
I waited outside for a while, and saw Ariko Siromakur leave in a hurry.
We lost him.
It's too dark here in the mountains.
That Ainu moves too damn fast.
Gunfire!
At dawn, I found Ariko-san near death.
Did Wilk do this to you?
No, he did nothing.
We all killed each other...
Those who defended Wilk and those who did not killed each other.
The balance that was only barely kept by trust in Wilk
was torn apart by the poison arrow I fired.
And now that Wilk knew someone was after him who knew of his past...
Lt. Tsurumi!
He ripped the skin off his own face and put it over another's skull
to fake his own death.
Any other survivors?
Hey, don't die yet!
Damn it.
There are supposed to be seven Ainu, right?
So who tore apart the bodies?
Oh dear.
All the heads have been flayed of their skin, and their eyes were removed!
Why?
Look!
I assume the skulls and skins were swapped.
And one of them is Kimuspu.
There were eight Ainu present.
He used the old man, Kimuspu, whose existence was barely known,
to hide his own death.
He ripped out the eyes because his own eyes were easily recognizable.
He could've just burned them until there was nothing but bones.
He wanted us to think that he was definitely dead.
Usami, bring more soldiers.
Kikuta, secure the scene.
I'll go after Wilk.
Is something wrong?
What should we tell Private Ariko about our involvement in his father's death?
There's no need to tell him.
They killed each other without our help.
But our plan was that they would.
That's Ariko Ipopte!
What resolve it must've taken to rip off his own face!
Given what happened, there was no doubt Wilk would be suspected.
And how, then, would you be treated in Ainu society?
And Kiroranke might give up if he knew that Wilk,
the clue to the gold, was dead.
Even knowing all that,
a normal person could think about it for three days and nights
and still not decide to rip off his own face.
But he decided and took action in no time at all!
His one mistake was that I was his pursuer.
Hasegawa-san...
Near Lake Shikotsu
there was a prison where prisoners were forced to work illegally.
Who is your leader?
Inudou Shirosuke.
Tell Warden Inudou that 20 kilometers to the south he'll find seven murdered Ainu.
And the man who knows where their gold is hidden is here.
We had never gotten along with the prison authorities.
At Warden Inudou's orders,
Wilk was secretly moved to a prison.
And that's how Wilk became Nopperabo, the man in Abashiri prison.
What was Kiroranke Nispa doing then?
When I was following Wilk and trying to track down the old man,
there was an uproar about seven murdered Ainu near Tomakomai.
Wilk... Wilk...
Would I be able to understand Wilk if I had a family?
After coming back from the Russo-Japanese war, I heard a rumor...
One of the seven corpses was Kimuspu.
There weren't seven Ainu. Kimuspu was there as well.
It hadn't been some other person who'd killed the Ainu.
And Hijikata Toshizou came in search of Asirpa.
The rumors of Nopperabo in Abashiri Prison.
The code in the tattooed skins.
Could Nopperabo be Wilk?
I had a family I loved, but I failed to reach the same answer Wilk did.
Wouldn't using the gold for the Russian far east help the Ainu, too?
Isolating ourselves in Hokkaido wouldn't help us win
against Imperial Russia or the Meiji government!
He really had changed.
Wilk was a wolf who'd gotten weak among the pack.
So I killed him with the way of the wolf he'd admired so much.
Golden Kamuy
Where's Old Man Hijikata and the others?
Searching for Asirpa.
It'll be hard to do this with just two people.
He Doesn't Count
Damn it!
Even as we speak, Asirpa-san...
Do you know where she is?
Looks like Lt. Tsurumi has her locked up in a church.
I'll go see.
If I can grab her, I will.
You sure? They don't trust you.
Neither do we, to be honest.
Asirpa is still so young, but she cares about the Ainu much more than I did.
And it shamed me.
So I want to help you.
Okay, I'm betting on Ipopte.
Get ready to run as fast as you can!
So what do you think the cause of everything is?
If Wilk had shared his past, the seven Ainu wouldn't have killed each other.
And if he hadn't come to Japan in search of the gold...
Kiroranke...
And Fina and Olga, too...
I think Fina knew that I wasn't just an ordinary Japanese man.
She stayed with me because my love was the one thing she believed in.
When she was dying, I wanted her to know my real name.
It was no confession of betrayal.
I believe my wife was smart enough to realize that.
I couldn't get rid of their bones...
I'm a failure as a soldier.
If that makes me weaker for loving my family...
Then in a way, I understand Wilk, but...
Thank you for telling me, Sofia.
As a reward, I'll release you from your years of guilt.
This is the bullet recovered from my daughter, Olga's, skull.
Yes.
It wasn't a bullet from your Berdan.
Or Yulbars' machine gun.
It was a bullet from a pistol.
The secret police's Smith & Wesson "Russian" guns were .44 caliber.
A little bigger than this.
Wilk's weapon was a Schmidt M1822. A 7.5mm round.
Which means the one who shot my wife and daughter...
...was Wilk.
It was your father that killed Olga and Fina, Asirpa.
Asirpa...
My beloved daughter, Asirpa...
My daughter...
Hasegawa-san...
So that's it...
My Aca was the one who made Lt. Tsurumi into such a sad person...
Was it all hatred?
To destroy Asirpa... Wilk's hope, our future...
If that's your real goal, I'll kill you.
If I wanted revenge, I had any number of chances,
in Karafuto or at Abashiri Prison.
My one goal is the prosperity of Japan.
I need money to protect it from the Russian threat to the north,
and other nations as well.
It's just a tiny, tiny memorial on the roadside of the path we must follow.
My comrades in Manchuria.
Fina and Olga in Vladivostok.
A prayer that the land their bodies rest on becomes Japanese soil...
But I will never stray from my path for the sake of my personal past.
During the Russo-Japanese war, many Ainu soldiers fought bravely, and died.
Is it right for only the wishes of a few extremist Ainu
who chose to separate themselves
from the Japanese to be respected,
while the souls of those who chose to
live in Japanese society and risk their lives
to raise their standing are ignored?
As a soldier, I cannot allow Japan to be divided.
Asirpa was entrusted with the gold by her father.
She can choose a future for both Ainu and Japanese.
You're the only one who can atone for your father's sins.
Private Ariko Rikimatsu!
What are you doing here?
Lieutenant Tsurumi is inside?
I was told to let no one in.
Knock it off.
Who told you about this place?
Warrant Officer Kikuta.
Oh, that's right!
Sugimoto the Immortal was over there, trying to find Asirpa!
Huh?
Sugimoto!
The concerns of Kiroranke and Wilk are ones
that we, the people of Yamato, share.
In this world, only the strong survive.
And the weak are devoured.
The Far Eastern Federation that Kiroranke, Sofia,
and her revolutionaries are planning
will likely be able to make a federal government on the continent.
But if it falls to Imperial Russia,
Hokkaido will be taken by Russia.
So what of Wilk and Hijikata Toshizou's Ezo Republic?
If they want to be a powerful nation,
they'll have to bring in immigrants from outside.
And it's very likely many of those migrants will be enemies of Japan.
I'm not speaking of discrimination, simply probabilities.
Hokkaido should be ruled by those who would have it join with Japan.
Someone whose ancestors have lived in that country,
who treasures their homeland and loves its people.
The Japanese must come together to survive.
The Far East Federation and Ezo Republic are simply not possible!
Asirpa, have you ever seen one of these gold coins?
They belonged to the Ainu who killed each other.
I assume they dreamed of an independent country,
and tried to make a currency that would help to bind the Ainu together.
But look at this.
Look at the different shades of gold!
The gold dust was taken from different areas
and contains different purities of gold,
so it didn't mix properly.
Ironically,
doesn't it feel like it represents their attempt and failure to come together?
As I see it, Wilk alone wasn't the cause of everything, Asirpa.
The Ainu have treasures made of brass and iron,
but not a single one made of gold, yes?
Gold was something the Ainu simply did not need to live. It was useless to them.
If anything,
the search for gold dust polluted their rivers and made them starve.
You said that the kamuy dwell in all things, yes?
Clothes. Knives. Tobacco holders. Dishes. Homes. All contain a kamuy.
And there are kamuy such as disasters and smallpox that threaten humanity too,
are there not?
If there is a kamuy of gold,
then isn't it an evil god that brings disaster to the Ainu?
One that brings terrible death to all who touch it.
One more ugly and violent than any other.
A kamuy that's dazzlingly bright, and shines with golden light.
You could call it a...
golden kamuy.
Next Time Ipopte
Next Time: Ipopte!