Chapter 1

## Sugimoto The Immortal

* Color
* Volume
* Magazine

**Sugimoto The Immortal**, or **Immortal Sugimoto** (不死身の杉元, *Fujimi no Sugimoto*), is the 1st chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

In the year Meiji 37 (1904), at 203 Hill, the Japanese army is engaging in combat against the Russian forces. A soldier and his platoon are preparing to charge against the enemy troops. In the midst of the rush, many soldiers are killed, and the Japanese soldier is shot in the neck. However, he doesn’t let that stop him and continues charging, fighting courageously against several of the Russian soldiers and killing them brutally.

The scene then shifts to a river somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Hokkaido few years later. The Japanese soldier, who is revealed to be named Saichi Sugimoto, is prospecting for gold. Upon hearing his own name, he turns around and notices a middle-aged man with a bottle of alcohol approaching him and asking him how his luck is. Sugimoto comments that the man is drunk again, but nonetheless replies that he has been out of luck. He is frustrated since he came to Hokkaido all the way from Tokyo and needs money. The man suggests Sugimoto tries hunting, but he brushes it off, empathizing he isn't skilled as a hunter and that he needs money fast. The man inquiries Sugimoto about his time during the Russo-Japanese War and his reputation of “Sugimoto the Immortal”. Sugimoto confirms that the stories that are passed around are true and he just doesn't seem to die. The drunken man wonders why Sugimoto has to pan for gold instead of being rewarded for his service. Sugimoto explains that if it wasn't for an officer he nearly killed for pissing him off, he would have an Order of the Golden Kite and would be enjoying a "cozy retirement" now.

The drunken man laughs at Sugimoto's story and then asks if he wants to hear an interesting tale about a big pile of gold, which the man is ready to share because he took a liking to Sugimoto.

In the olden days, there was a lot of gold in the rivers of Hokkaido—it was a gold rush. At that time, a group of Ainu was secretly gathering gold to fight back against the Japanese that had stolen their lands and forbidden fishing and hunting. The group gathered a lot of gold, which amounted to 20 kan (75 kg), but it all was stolen by one man who killed them all. The man hid the gold somewhere in Hokkaido, but then was caught by the police, sentenced to death, and sent to live the rest of his days in Abashiri Prison. The man was trying to communicate the location of the hidden gold to his friends from the outside, but the prison guards would steal the letters he wrote. He couldn't tell a soul about it, as everyone wanted the gold and some guards would go as far as cut the tendon on the man's leg to ensure he never escapes the prison without telling them where he hid the gold.

The drunken man reveals that the Ainu killer tattooed a coded location into the bodies of several prisoners that had spent so much time suffering together. The man promised the prisoners that he will split half the gold with anyone who manages to escape the prison. Sugimoto is skeptical at the story and asks why didn't the man just make one person carry a coded letter since it's much easier than tattooing. The drunken man explains that the tattoos only had meaning when they were combined together.

The police and the military were also interested in gold. After some soldiers heard the rumors of the the tattoos, they forced the prison to give out the prisoners under the pretext of transporting them to another place. However, the prisoners managed to kill the guards and escaped into the woods. The drunken man then falls asleep, claiming not to know what happened to the prisoners or the gold, or even where he heard it from. Sugimoto dismisses the story and says it must be another of the man's tall tales, just like the one about seeing extinct Hokkaido wolves.

Sugimoto decides to take a break from gold panning and sits by the fire, where he gets lost in thoughts. He reminisces about the time during the war, when he and his best friend Toraji were sitting in a trench, talking about the future. Toraji invites Sugimoto to come to Hokkaido with him to look for gold. He explains that he has a family and he wants his child to go to college so he won't end up like his father and manages to escape the life of poverty. Toraji is concerned about his wife Umeko, whose eyesight is getting worse every day. He says that his American friend told him that America has the best eye doctors in the world. Toraji shows Sugimoto a paper with calculations he made, with the boat fare roughly being 200 yen, which would also double if he accompanies his wife. He says he needs to hurry and find the gold since the relationship with America will worsen once the war is over. Suddenly, Toraji starts crying and asks Sugimoto to take care of Umeko. Sugimoto looks at Toraji and sees the dismembered body of his friend. As Toraji sinks into a pool of blood and dead bodies, he tells Sugimoto he can't go back to Japan. Sugimoto reaches out to Toraji, tearfully asking him to not go.

Sugimoto wakes up from the nightmare only to see the drunken man pointing his own gun at him. The drunken man realizes that he has revealed something that he should not have said. Sugimoto grabs the rifle and asks if the man wants to find out if he is really immortal. He then hits him with a rock and gets his gun back. The drunken man flees, and Sugimoto decides to chase after him, thinking his story might be true.

After walking further in the forest, Sugimoto witnesses a strange thing—he finds the drunken man dead, buried in the snow. Sugimoto pulls his body out and sees that the man's guts are gone. He then notices a bear's track in the snow and realizes that the man was eaten by a brown bear, which buried him as leftovers. Sugimoto examines the corpse and, upon seeing the tattoos on the man's torso, he realizes that the drunken man is one of the prisoners from the story.

As Sugimoto puts the man's body on his back in order to carry it to a safe location, he spots a baby bear in a tree. He is then startled by a roar from the mother bear, who charges at him to protect her cub. Sugimoto slips and falls down the hill, but the bear is still going after him. Just then an arrow pierces the bear through its chest, and Sugimoto turns around and sees a young Ainu girl armed with a bow. The girl commands him to stay back and says that the arrows are poisoned.

When the bear is finally dead, the Ainu girl cuts out the the meat around the spot the arrow hit. She then asks Sugimoto about the dead man, and Sugimoto explains that the sow killed him. The girl thinks it's strange that a bear that came out of hibernation would eat a human since its stomach is still shriveled. She cuts the bear open and examines its stomach, discovering that it's empty. They conclude that another bear killed the man, and the girl says it's a bad thing for Sugimoto. She reveals that the only bears that eat meat during this time of year are *matakarip*, "those that move in winter". The girl tells Sugimoto to give up on the man's body because the bear will come back for its prey. Sugimoto refuses to leave the corpse behind, and the girl tells him that in that case he should kill the bear or, if he is not prepared to fight, hurry up and get out. She looks Sugimoto in the eyes and says a harsh phrase,

Sugimoto announces he has an interesting story to tell the girl and lifts up the corpse's shirt, revealing the tattoos. In the meantime, a brown bear is seen eating a baby cub somewhere else in the forest.

Having told the girl the story about the Ainu gold, Sugimoto begs her for help since he really needs money. He takes the girl's silence for doubt, but she says that she believes him, as her father was one of the Ainu that was killed that night. She then tasks Sugimoto with gathering firewood so they can have enough light to see in the dark. When Sugimoto moves the corpse closer to the fire, the girl realizes something about the tattoos. Terrified, she reveals that the man had no intention of sharing the gold, as the tattoo is wrapped around the chest and arms of the prisoner and it meant that they had to be killed and skinned to get the full map. Sugimoto suggests they skin the man before the bear comes, but the Ainu girl says they have no time.

The two continue to gather firewood while getting ready for the bear's attack.

## Character Appearances

* Saichi Sugimoto *(Debut)*
* Drunken Man *(Debut)*
* Ainu Killer *(Debut)*
* Toraji *(Debut)*
* Umeko *(Debut)*
* Ainu Girl *(Debut)*
* Ainu Girl's Father *(Debut)* *(Mentioned)*

## Trivia

* Chapter 1 is the longest chapter in the Golden Kamuy manga, counting 60 pages.
* The Order of the Golden Kite was a military award given to those who showed "bravery, leadership or command in battle". The award came with an annual monetary stipend, which was given for the lifetime of the recipient, and following his death, it would be passed to the recipient's family for one year after.
* 20 kan (75 kg) of gold was worth about 80,000 yen in 1907, which is approximately 800 million yen in 2014.
* In the VIZ Media translation, it says that Sugimoto killed the officer instead of nearly killing him, which is a mistranslation.