Chapter 108

## Great Wetlands

* Color
* Volume

**Great Wetlands**, or **The Great Wetlands**  (大湿原, *Daishitsugen*) is the 108th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

Looking at the deer's corpse, Asirpa notes that it has been several hours since the deer was killed. Sugimoto asks if a hunter was responsible for its death, but Asirpa says that a hunter wouldn't have cut up a deer's pelt so horribly or left the corpse behind without cutting up the meat. Sugimoto then ask if they should bring the deer back for Shiraishi and Ogata, but Asirpa declines saying that she has a bad feeling and that after she's finished praying for it, they should check their other traps.

Asirpa introduces the kasinta, a trap for waterbirds which they had laid around the wetlands. Upon entering the plains, they see that they had caught one, a red-crowned crane. Sugimoto is impressed by the big catch but Asirpa feels otherwise since they do not taste good. Despite this, Sugimoto says that they may as well eat it since they were able to catch it and believes that Shiraishi and Ogata must be hungry by now.

Elsewhere, Shiraishi and Ogata are waiting for Sugimoto and Asirpa to come back with the prey as Shiraishi notes how hungry he is, but is met with a silent response from Ogata. Once Sugimoto and Asirpa had returned, they sit around a pot to eat the crane. However, they find the crane meat to be very unsatisfying with Shiraishi scolding Sugimoto. Asirpa tells that Sugimoto once told her that he wanted to try every single exotic dishes they have in Hokkaido but Sugimoto denies it. She then asks him why he wants the gold, and he reveals that his best friend had died in the war and that he wanted to take his wife to America to get treatment for her eyes.

Ogata recalls his earlier conversation with Sugimoto and teases him about the lady but he remained silent. Suddenly, Asirpa gets up and performs a wild dance with her coat. Sugimoto is startled by this and asks what she is doing, to which she reveals that it is a crane dance. He then asks her why she started dancing but Asirpa lies and says it was only because they had eaten a crane. Ogata is amused by Asirpa's behaviour then notices two Ainu people approaching them. The group sees that they are Cikapasi and Inkarmat, who had been looking for them all this time.

Once Cikapasi had met up with Asirpa, he reveals that he could see Asirpa dancing from miles away and that they had been looking for her. He also revealed that Tanigaki had came with them as well, much to Ogata's displeasure, and that Tanigaki is in trouble now. Inkarmat tells that Tanigaki had separated from them since people have been pursuing him and that he did not want to get the two Ainu involved. She also told of how someone in the area has been cutting up animals and mistreating their remains and the local Ainu now believes that Tanigaki is responsible for the desecration. Upon hearing this, Sugimoto and Asirpa recalls the dead buck that they had seen earlier.

Elsewhere in a field, a bespectacled man is marveling in the wonders of nature, listing off every animals and plants that he came across before setting his eyes upon a young buck. With tears in his eyes, he proclaimed just how much he loves the sight of nature all around him. The man then took his clothes off, revealing his tattoo and status as one of the Abashiri Convicts, and began to copulate with the deer that he saw before. Disgusted by his act, the man then takes out his weapon and stabs the deer to death. Back with Sugimoto and his group, he believes that the true culprit is one of the Abashiri Convicts that Suzukawa had told him about. Taking his rifle, he tells Asirpa that they should quickly catch him and save Tanigaki from the angry Ainu.

## Character Appearances

* Saichi Sugimoto
* Asirpa
* Hyakunosuke Ogata
* Yoshitake Shiraishi
* Umeko *(Flashback)*
* Inkarmat
* Cikapasi
* Genjirou Tanigaki
* Shiton Anehata *(Debut)*