Chapter 283

## God Tattoo

**God Tattoo** (神の刺青, *Kami no irezumi*) is the 283rd chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

Hijikata explains the reason for Fort Goryokaku's star-shaped structure, saying that having soldiers at bastions placed at each tip allows them to attack in all directions with no blind spots, calling it a fort that has been specialized for battle. However, Sugimoto says that it would still not be enough and that they would have to dig trenches, which Hijikata agrees with. He states that it will be six hours before Sofia and the Russian revolutionaries arrive so Sugimoto's Group and Hijikata's Group would have to simultaneously search for the gold and prepare for battle.

14 hours prior at the Sapporo Station, Hijikata and Nagakura speaks with Sofia, asking how many comrades she has waiting in Otaru, and she replies that there are 120, all armed with weapons ready to fight against the Japanese Army. Hijikata asks Sofia to gather up her comrades in Otaru and come to Hakodate on the afternoon train, and Sofia looks solemnly back at Asirpa. At Fort Goryokaku, Sugimoto expresses surprise that Sofia agreed to work together with Hijikata, wondering if it really is that so easy to change her goals like that.

Shiraishi voices agreement with Sugimoto, citing the fact that Kiroranke gave up his life and that Sofia and her men might steal the gold away from them. Hijikata says that they shall deal with Sofia later if she were to ever turn against them but for now, they should work together, for if they fought alone, then their chances of victory is extremely slim and that they would be left with nothing if Tsurumi takes all the gold. Asirpa speaks up, saying that she believes that they can trust in Sofia.

On the Hakodate train, Sofia gives a speech to her men, that they will emigrate to Japan to create a multi-ethnic nation of Hokkaido that their comrade Wilk had desired. In time, they will also extend from Hokkaido into the Russian far-east to create the Far Eastern Federation that their comrade Kiroranke had desired as well. Sofia declares that she will not let Wilk and Kiroranke's sacrifices be in vain and that her men can choose whether to follow her or not. Meanwhile, some of the other passengers are confused about where the revolutionaries came from, while Ogata has a dream of his mother singing a lullaby to him.

At the Sapporo station, Tsurumi salutes and thanks the concerned train operators for cooperation with him, and as the train prepares to leave, Vasily hitches a ride on one of the boxcars and bides his time atop a horse. Inside one of the buildings within Fort Goryokaku, Shiraishi digs into the ground and hits something only to find a rock. Sugimoto says that he believes the Ainu men must've really hidden the treasure in the moat instead of one of the fort's buildings, but Shiraishi points out that Hijikata had told them to dig instead. Turning to Hijikata, Sugimoto asks him what makes him so certain that the treasure is buried and accuses him of hiding something from them.

Out in the fields, Ushiyama is digging as well while Kadokura gives him a bag that he has found in one of the storage buildings. Both of them notice Sofia, Kantarou, and the Russian revolutionaries on the other side of the bank, armed and ready for conflict. Back in the storehouse, Hijikata takes his shirt off to reveal a tattoo of a character that means the word "god". Hijikata explains that when they solved the code, the character was located exactly on the spot where the food storehouse is currently standing. Hijikata exclaims that without a doubt, there is something buried under the storehouse.

## Character Appearances

* Toshizou Hijikata
* Tatsuma Ushiyama
* Anji Toni
* Asirpa
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Yoshitake Shiraishi
* Shinpachi Nagakura
* Sofia Golden Hand
* Kiroranke *(Cameo)*
* Wilk *(Cameo)*
* Hyakunosuke Ogata
* Tome Ogata *(Flashback)*
* Tokushirou Tsurumi
* Vasily
* Toshiyuki Kadokura
* Kantarou Okuyama

## Trivia

* The lullaby Tome is singing to Ogata is called Tōryanse, a traditional Japanese children's tune that originates in a children's game of the same name. There are many theories to the origin of the song, but all agree that it is a portrayal of an exchange between a civilian and a guard. In the old days when infant mortality was high, people celebrated when a child survived to reach the age of 7, and ordinary people were only allowed to visit the shrine within the castle compound for special occasions.
* When talking about Hijikata, Shiraishi references a Japanese folk tale called Hanasaka Jiisan, "The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees to Blossom". In the story, the dog that belongs to an old couple helps them find gold buried in the garden.