Running head: THE MYSTERY OF JUJIRO WADA

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Nobuaki Nakagawa
May 15, 2016
Essay #2
Nost229
Amanda Graham
The Mystery of Jujiro Wada
In 1875, Jujiro Wada (1875 - 1937) was born in Ehime Prefecture, Japan (Figure 1)(Yukon Government, n.d). In 1891, he stowed away in a tea chest on a freighter to San Francisco
from Japan (Yukon Government, n.d). In 1937, he died in San Diego (Yukon Government, n.d).
After stowing away, he rendered great achievements for the North, Yukon and Alaska. Mikio
Ueoka from NPO: Jujiro Wada Memorial Association said thata majority of Yukoner unfortunately believed that Jujiro Wada’s main working place wasAlaska. In fact, his main working place was Yukon. After 1918 (end of the World War Ⅰ(WWⅠ)), he was suspected a spy so, his achievement was deleted and the newspaper
was not reported his great works. Yukoner did not know his great jobs in that time. In ourgeneration, Yukoners still believe that Wada is Alaskan, not Yukoner (personalcommunication, May 10, 2016)
In my paper, I will prove about Jujiro Wada’s great achievements which are the Yukon Quest,the Iditarod, and an espionage.

Figure 1: This photo may have been taken when Wada returned to Japan for a visit(Yukon Government, n.d).

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Yukon Quest trail desistance is approximately 1,000 miles, over 1,600 kilometer (km)between Whitehorse, Yukon and Fairbanks (Figure 2) (Honda, 2009). The Yukon Quest is one of
the toughest dogsleds race even though it is difficult to finish the race. According to the official
Yukon Quest website (2016),“the Yukon Quest Trail follows historical Gold Rush and mail delivery dog sled routes
from the turn of the 20th Century. Once the transportation “highways” of the Northernfrontier, the Yukon Quest Trail now comes alive each February with the frosty breath andhaunting howls of hundreds of sled dogs. Up to 50 dog teams consisting of one human'musher' and 14 canine athletes tread across some of the last pristine wilderness
remaining in North America”.
In 1976, the Yukon Quest was started to design by four mushers who were Roger Williams,
Leroy Shank, Ron Rosser and William "Willy" Lipps (Yukon Quest, 2016). In 1983, theconversation was held by four mushers, and then they talked about “what-ifs” (Yukon Quest,2016),•

What if the race followed a historical trail?

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What if it were an international sled dog race?

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What if the race went a little longer?

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What if it even went up the Yukon River?

In 1984, the first Yukon Quest was held. 26 teams took part in the Yukon Quest and 20 teams
arrived in the goal where is Whitehorse and 6 teams dropped out along the way (Yukon Quest,2016). The first Yukon Quest champion is Sonny Lindner, he completed the race in just over 12days (Yukon Quest, 2016). The Yukon Quest has been run every year since 1984. The Yukon

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3Quest Trail follows historical Gold Rush and mail delivery dog sled routes from the turn of the20th Century (Yukon Quest, 2016).
In the fall of 1902, Jujiro Wada discovered a gold mine in Tanana, Fairbanks, and hewent straight ahead to Dawson City to apply for the registration for mining a gold (Torigai, 2006,p. 4). A newspaper which was Yukon Sun reported on Wada’s great incident, and Tanana
Stampede was outbreak (Figure 3) (NPO: Jujiro Wada Memorial Association, 2015, p. 1).
Therefore, Tanana Stampede Gold Rush was occurred by Jujiro Wada (NPO: Jujiro Wada
Memorial Association, 2015, p.1). Today, the Yukon Quest uses the trail which is that Wada
went to Dawson City from Fairbanks (NPO: Jujiro Wada Memorial Association, 2015, p.1). On
the eve of the Yukon Quest meet, 2007, the exhibition which was Jujiro Wada’s accomplish agreat achievement was held by the Human-rights Association (NPO: Jujiro Wada MemorialAssociation, 2015, P. 10).

Figure 2: The map of Yukon Quest (Honda, 2009)

THE MYSTERY OF JUJIRO WADA4Figure 3: Wada talking about the discovery of the gold mine in Tanana(NPO: Jujiro Wada Memorial Association, 2015, p. 1).

“Iditarod is a city, a river, and a race” (McPherson, 2014). Iditarod in the Athabaskanmeans “distant” or “distant place” (McPherson, 2014). Diane Johnson who was Iditarod’s
director of education said the last great race about Iditarod Dogsled Race (McPherson, 2014).
Iditarod trail desistance is approximately 1,150 miles, over 1,800 km between Anchorage andNome (Bowers, 2012). In addition, the Iditarod has a northern and southern routes (The IditarodDog Race, n.d). Basically, even-numbered years are the northern route, odd-numbered years are
the southern route (The Iditarod Dog Race, n.d). The Iditarod Trail follows historical incident, alarge diphtheria epidemic threatened, and mail delivery dog sled routes from the turn of the 20thCentury (NPO: Jujiro Wada Memorial Association, 2015, p. 2). In 1973, the first Iditarod
Dogsled Race officially was held by Joe and Vi Redington (Bowers, 2012).

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5In December 1909, Seward Chamber of Commerce invited Jujiro Wada, because Seward
Chamber of Commerce would like to blaze a trail from to the newly discovered gold mine atIditarod (Torigai, 2006). Other members were Albert Lowell, Dick Butler and Frank Cotter(Alaska Jujiro Wada Memorial committee, 2011). The second Tanana Stampede was occurred bythis team of blazing a trail including Wada (Torigai, 2006). More than that, in Februry1924 inNome, a large epidemic threatened by diphtheria (The Iditarod Dog Sled Race, n.d).
Unfortunately, an aircraft could not fly by the hardship weather but, expert pilot was not there(Wanwans, 2012). In Nome, there were a lot of native Inuit children who did not have immunity
for diphtheria epidemic (The Iditarod Dog Sled Race, n.d). Therefore, people in Nome needed amedicine as soon as possible. The Iditarod trail was used to carry the medicine by dogsled teams(The Iditarod Dog Sled Race, n.d). The Iditarod trail was saved thousands of people in Nome.

Figure 4: The Iditarod trail route map of a southern and a northern(The Iditarod Dog Sled Race, n.d)THE MYSTERY OF JUJIRO WADA

6In 1914 or 1915, the Cordova Daily Times post an article which was accusing Jujiro
Wada of being a Japanese spy (Alaska Jujiro Wada Memorial committee, 2011). After WWⅠ,
anti-Japanese movements were starting all over the North America (Alaska Jujiro Wada
Memorial committee, 2011). Therefore, it was just misunderstanding that Wada was spy (AlaskaJujiro Wada Memorial committee, 2011). Based on the article, “Wada’s backpack was foundwhich apparently contained a very detailed and accurate map of Alaska with all the gold deposit
sites and the routes” (Alaska Jujiro Wada Memorial committee, 2011). However, Wada was aprospector and a surveyor so he needed a detailed map by natural (Alaska Jujiro Wada Memorialcommittee, 2011). During Wada was suspected the Japanese spy by people, he concealed and his
great achievements was deleted (Alaska Jujiro Wada Memorial committee, 2011). Mikio Ueoka
from NPO: Jujiro Wada Memorial Association said that“during the suspected spy incident, Wada could not enter to the America. Therefore, he
had to move the working place in Canada such as becoming a researcher of oil mine forthe government of Canada, explored the Arctic area along with the whole watershed areaof the river Mackenzie. Unfortunately, almost his works were not posted by a newspaper
because people suspected Wada Japanese-spy” (NPO: Jujiro Wada Memorial
Association, 2015, p. 2 & personal communication, May 10, 2016). On September
5,1914, his daughter, Himeko (Helen), appeared the article for finding Wada by Dawson
Daily News
(Figure 5) (Yukon Government, n.d).

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Figure 5: The article for finding Wada by his daughter (Yukon Government, n.d)Two of the biggest dogsled races in the world, Yukon Quest and Iditarod, were based on
the trail cultivated by Jujiro Wada. If he was not in Alaska and Yukon, these dogsled races andTanana stampede might not exist today. Lately his life, he ran around Yukon with dogsleds for asurvey even though he was suspected spy. In addition, the grand total of his mileage withdogsleds in Alaska and Yukon was estimated approximately 44,000 km (26,000 miles) fromwhen he started to mush (Yukon Government, n.d). he had some other name nicknames. In 1906,
he became a king to control three villages of Eskimo as he was dedicated to the improvement of
their indigenous life. People called him “The King Wada” (NPO: Jujiro Wada MemorialAssociation, 2015, p. 2). In 1907, he won the in-house marathon of 50 miles (80 km) in Normconsecutively and admired as “The Great Wada” (NPO: Jujiro Wada Memorial Association,

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2015, p. 2). On May 23 and 24, 2015, the musical which was Chasing the Aurora, the Samurai
Musher the Tale of Jujiro Wada from Japan (Figure 6) (NPO: Jujiro Wada MemorialAssociation, 2015, back cover). According to the latest Yukon Quest result, Japanese female
musher, Yuka Honda, finished 9th place (Yukon Quest, 2016). It was first time female Japanesemusher to stand a podium. Likewise, in 1997, Keizo Funatsu finished 5th place as acquiring
Rookie if the Year Award (Yukon Quest, 2016). It was first time Japanese musher to stand apodium. In our generation, Jujiro Wada is one of the icon for bridging Japan and the NorthAmerica.

Figure 6: The poster of musical which was Jujiro Wada’s story(NPO: Jujiro Wada Memorial Association, 2015, back cover)

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9References
Alaska Jujiro Wada Memorial committee. (2011). Prospector Jujiro Wada blazed the Iditarod
Trail, The Seward Phoenix Log. Retrieved fromhttp://www.thesewardphoenixlog.com/story/2011/09/01/features/prospector-jujiro-wadablazed-the-iditarod-trail/010220121720760331252.html
Bowers, D. (2012). History, Iditarod The Last Great Race. Retrieved fromhttp://iditarod.com/about/history/
Honda, Y. (2009). About dogsleds race?, [犬ゾリレースとは?], Yuka Honda. Retrieved fromhttp://more.justhpbs.jp/YukaHonda/inuzori/inuzori.htm
McPherson, A. (2014, March). 5 Surprising Facts About the Iditarod Dog Sled Race, National
Geographic. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140308iditarod-dogs-sled-race-alaska-willow-science/
NPO: Jujiro Wada Memorial Association, [和田重次郎 顕彰会]. (2015). The Samurai who
Chased The Aurora Jujiro Wada Guide book, [オーロラに駆けるサムライ 和田重次郎 ガイドブック].
The Iditarod Dog Sled Race. (n.d). Enchanted Learning.com. Retrieved fromhttp://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/alaska/iditarod/
Torigai, E & Torigai, T. (2006, August). The life of Jujiro WadaWanwans. (2012, August). What is the Iditarod Dog Sled Race, [アイディタロッド犬ぞりレース]. Retrieved from http://wanwans.com/new/what-is-iditarod-dog-sled-race
Yukon Government. (n.d). Jujiro Wada, Hidden history – Asian history of the Yukon. Retrieved
from http://tc.gov.yk.ca/archives/hiddenhistoryasian/en/wada.html

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Yukon Quest. (2016). 1997 race result. Retrieved from http://www.yukonquest.com/racecentral/yukon-quest-1000-mile/past-results/pre-2001-final-standings?year=1997
Yukon Quest. (2016). Current standings. Retrieved fromhttp://www.yukonquest.com/results/1072
Yukon Quest. (2016). Yukon Quest Race history. Retrieved fromhttp://www.yukonquest.com/about/yukon-quest-race-history

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