Episode 25

## To Karafuto

**To Karafuto** (樺太へ, *Karafuto e*) is the twenty-fifth episode of the Golden Kamuy anime series and the first episode of Season 3.

## Synopsis

Saichi Sugimoto and his group arrive in Karafuto to search for Asirpa and Kiroranke. They meet a Karafuto Ainu girl and with her help reach a Russian village, where Kiroranke's group has been seen lately. By chance, another tattooed prisoner is found in the same village...

## Plot

On the ship to Karafuto, Sugimoto reminisces of the last time he saw Asirpa during the events of Abashiri Prison break. Hajime Tsukishima notifies him that their ship has reached its destination — Odomari. Genjirou Tanigaki believes that Kiroranke and his group must have stayed in this town at some point, and they should follow this lead. Tsukishima tells Koito that he has taken too much luggage, but Koito insists that it's all necessities. Cikapasi and Ryu emerge from one of the bags, surprising everyone. Tsukishima tells Tanigaki to send Cikapasi back to Hokkaido, but the boy has no intetion to leave. Sugimoto says that Ryu has helped him many times and gives him Asirpa's *menokomakiri* to pick up its scent. Tanigaki advocates that there are Karafuto Ainu who would trust their group more if an Ainu was among them. Tsukishima reluctantly agrees, but tells Tanigaki the two will be his responsibility.

Sugimoto and others walk through the city, asking passersby whether they saw Asirpa or Kiroranke, with Sugimoto accidentally showing Tanigaki's nude photos instead of Asirpa's portrait. After some searching the group reunites, but Koito is missing. They quickly find him in a store called Hurep Wines, drinking lingonberry wine. Sugimoto is irritated with Koito's attitude and reprimands him for it. Upon hearing that the wine is impossible to wash off, Koito spills his drink on Sugimoto's coat. Sugimoto asks the storekeeper lady to pour him some wine, empties his glass and throws it in Koito's face. The two start fighting, but the storekeeper mentions seeing an Ainu child today, distracting Sugimoto from further brawl. Sugimoto shows the woman Asirpa's photo and asks if it's the girl she saw. The woman confirms it, saying that the girl and the man she was with just left for the Ainu village. Excited with possibly finding Asirpa so soon, Sugimoto runs out of the store, the others quickly follow him.

While Looking for the village's location, Tsukishima asks a man for help in Russian, surprising Sugimoto with his unexpected language skills. Tsukishima tells everyone that the girl went into the forest alone and that it's very dangerous, so they hurry to find her before anything bad could happen. They find a child's footprints in the snow and follow them. Sugimoto finds the girl, but when she turns her head he realizes it's not Asirpa. Tsukishima sighs and says that the hurep seller led them on a wild goose chase. Cikapasi approaches the girl and asks why she is alone. The girl replies that *Henke* has a bad hearing and that she fell from *nuso*, so she was going to her *kukotanuhu*. Koito quickly catches up with the girl's speech, translating the Ainu terms to everyone. The girl fell off her sled, and her grandpa left her behind as he didn't notice her falling because of his bad hearing. The girl asks Cikapasi if he's a Hokkaido Ainu, then says that she met a Hokkaido Ainu girl earlier. Before Sugimoto could ask the girl questions, they hear Ryu bark and see a bear nearby.

Sugimoto and Tsukishima ready their weapons to shoot the bear, but realize that something is wrong. The bear then manages to throw something off its back and runs away. The thing turns out to be a living creature — a vicious and fierce wolverine. Tsukishima tells Koito to stay away from it, but Koito disregards his warning, saying the animal can't be more dangerous than the bear. The next moment the wolverine jumps at Koito's back, biting into his flesh and injuring him with its sharp claws. Koito falls to the ground, yelling for help. Tsukishima kicks the wolverine off Koito's back and shoots it but misses. The animal jumps in the direction of the Ainu girl, but Cikapasi shields her with his body. Sugimoto grabs the wolverine and throws it away, and Tsukishima shoots it once more. Sugimoto asks if it's gone, but Tsukishima is uncertain and thinks they need to run. Tanigaki takes the Ainu girl and Cikapasi in his arms and runs while Tsukishima carries Koito on his back. The wolverine appears again, and Sugimoto tries to shoot it but misses. Suddenly, an old man on a dog sled arrives, and the girl is overjoyed to see her *henke* as he calls out her name — Enonoka. The group gets on the sled, but Enonoka's Grandfather says it's too heavy and they will exhaust the dogs. Koito accuses Tanigaki of gaining weight, leading to Sugimoto feeling Tanigaki's chest up and saying he did get fat. Sugimoto throws Tanigaki away off the sled while Koito tells him to run to work off his gained weight.

In Abashiri, Tokishige Usami reports to Tokushirou Tsurumi that there's no sign of Toshizou Hijikata's forces. Tsurumi touches the tattooed skins he collected and smiles, saying that Hijikata must show up again soon. Nearby, Hijikata, Kadokura, Tatsuma Ushiyama, and injured Toni Anji meet up with Shinpachi Nagakura. Hijikata reports that he has information on the prisoners and that they're heading to Kushiro. Kadokura laments that all the prisoners and guards are now dead; he wonders if they really had to do it just to get some gold. Hijikata insists it's not the gold they want, but what's beyond it.

Sugimoto and his group arrive to Enonoka's village. In the village Koito receives care for his wounds while the others get to know each other. Enonoka says that her name means hurep and that she received it because she ate too much lingonberry and then threw it all up. She then mentions the Hokkaido Ainu girl eating hurep at their home too, causing Sugimoto to show him Asirpa's photo. Enonoka confirms it was indeed Asirpa and there were three men with her. Tanigaki shows Enonoka a photo of Kiroranke and the girl says he is one of those men. She also says that Kiroranke mentioned going north. Sugimoto asks if Asirpa looked alright, but Enonoka answers she was very sad and didn't say a word. However, she ate a lot of salted hurep and that cheered her up and made her smile and say *hinna*. Sugimoto is happy to hear it, knowing that Asirpa really was in this village. Enonoka adds that the men who accompanied Asirpa were asking about a Russian village that is nearby.

The next morning the group is planning to head out to the Russian village. Koito negotiates an agreement with Enonoka and her grandfather to give them a ride as he doesn't want to walk. When they arrive to the village, Tsukishima warns them to not let their guard down as most inhabitants here are former Russian prisoners. The group then visits a tavern where Tsukishima asks the bartender if he saw Kiroranke. One of the tavern patrons, already visibly drunk, gets up and angrily asks what these Japanese soldiers are doing here. He demands they leave the village, but Sugimoto interferes. The drunk Russian man hits Sugimoto, but Sugimoto answers in kind, knocking the Russian man out. Sugimoto and others leave, and outside they see Enonoka who says their *isohseta*, the lead dog, was stolen by a Russian man. The Russian thief shows up and tells them to follow him, leading them back to the tavern.

In the tavern, the bartender explains that if they want their dog back then Sugimoto must enter *stenka* — a Russian traditional sport where participants fistfight while people from all over the village bet on the fighters. The man who Sugimoto knocked out was one of the fighters and the owner of the tavern bet a lot of money on him. Sugimoto and Koito threaten the tavern owner in the most violent and elaborate ways, then ask Tsukishima to translate it to him, to which Tsukishima says he can't translate something so difficult. The tavern owner then reveals that the man they're looking for was searching for another man with tattoos from Hokkaido who himself must have come to fight in stenka.

Later that day, the tavern owner takes Sugimoto's group to a house where he says stenka takes place; Sugimoto wonders what stenka actually is. The tavern owner opens the door and Sugimoto is met with a wall of heat and manly odor. Tsukishima translates for the tavern owner, who explains the history behind stenka. Initially, it was a festival competition, but one day, a Japanese man with tattoos came and began betting on fights. Since then, a lot of wealthy Japanese have arrived from Toyohara and Odomari to bet on stenka. When asked where the tattooed man is, the tavern owner says that he only appears to fight the strongest.

Sugimoto realizes he must enter stenka and prove himself in a fight, so that the man will show up and they can confirm he is indeed one of the Abashiri Convicts. He wonders what kind of person can the prisoner be, saying he must be alike to Kazuo Henmi or Tetsuzou Nihei, not interested in the gold. Sugimoto says they agree to enter stenka, but others don't want to join him. However, when they hear the tavern owner insist that the Japanese could never beat the Russians in a fight, they quickly change their mind. Sugimoto, Tsukishima, Koito, and Tanigaki win the stenka match, and Sugimoto sees a Japanese man standing on the other side of the room, observing them. The man smiles and compliments them on their match.

## Adapted Chapters

* Chapter 140
* Chapter 141
* Chapter 142
* Chapter 143

## Character Appearances

* Wilk *(Flashback)*
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Asirpa *(Flashback)*
* Inkarmat *(Flashback)*
* Hajime Tsukishima
* Otonoshin Koito
* Heiji Koito
* Genjirou Tanigaki
* Cikapasi
* Ryu
* Enonoka *(Debut)*
* Enonoka's Grandfather *(Debut)*
* Tokushirou Tsurumi
* Tokishige Usami
* Toshizou Hijikata
* Kadokura
* Tatsuma Ushiyama
* Toni Anji
* Shinpachi Nagakura
* Kiroranke *(Mentioned)*
* Kazuo Henmi *(Mentioned)*
* Tetsuzou Nihei *(Mentioned)*
* Maiharu Gansoku *(Debut)*

## Trivia

* *Stenka* (Стенка) is short for *stenka na stenku* (literally, wall on wall), in which two "walls" of men fight each other. The sport was banned by Nikolay I of Russia in 1832, but stenka matches still continued to happen on holidays and weekends.