Chapter 273

## The Tsurumi Theater

**The Tsurumi Theater**, or **Tsurumi Theater** (鶴見劇場, *Tsurumi gekijō*) is the 273rd chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

From atop a tower, Vasily performs recon on a group of 7th Division soldiers in disguise as firefighters and aims his rifle at them. Just then, one of the soldiers breaks away from the group and runs towards a house, managing to avoid Vasily’s shots. As he pulls his hood off, Ogata wonders if Vasily has second guessed about him and casually strolls through the house past a terrified family as he notes that he just copied what Hijikata did in Barato. He slips under a fence and pops out on the other side to see Kirawus telling Kadokura to get some rest.

Elsewhere, Sugimoto's Group is driving around in the beer car, and Asirpa is still in shock over Ariko being shot. She notices Boutarou’s corpse besides her and begins to fall into despair as Sugimoto reaches out to comfort her in his arms. When Shiraishi spots Ushiyama, Asirpa quickly regains composure and pokes her head out to tell Ushiyama to get Hijikata, as she has figured out how to tell the fake skins apart from the real ones. Meanwhile, Kikuta brings Ariko to a clinic, telling him not to die on him. He begins to resusicate Ariko, saying that he has not made his own *makiri* knife yet, and Ariko wakes up with a loud gasp.

Kikuta looks at Ariko’s chest and comments that his father has saved his life. A scene to the present day occurs in which there is a small local museum somewhere in Hokkaido which preserved a *makiri* knife created by an Ariko Ipopte who had managed to duplicate his father’s knife with the addition of his own unique design. Back in the story, Ariko states to Kikuta that he will never forget the debt he owes him for saving his life, however, when his wounds are healed, he will join Sugimoto’s Group instead of Central. Kikuta exclaims that he won’t be up and walking for a while with injuries so sever and he should take his time to focus on healing so that they can go to a hot spring again sometime.

In the church, Tsurumi continues to browse over the tattooed skin while Koito speaks to him in his Satsuma dialect before calling for Nikaidou. Koito whispers something to Nikaidou and the latter reveals that Tsukishima is in pursuit of Asirpa and wonders if they should call several men to support him. Tsurumi declines, telling them to bring Tsukishima back, as he believes that the key to solving the code is correct and that Asirpa is no longer necessary.

Koito is impressed by Tsurumi’s performance but, as he steps outside, he overhears a couple of soldiers complaining to Nikaidou about his strong beer scent. Koito thinks back to when he and Tsukishima hid from Tsurumi, realizing Tsurumi must have known they were eavesdropping. Koito wants to call out for Tsukishima but stops. He then starts wondering about the veracity of Tsurumi's words and his true goals and whether it's okay to choose to believe in it. Koito notes that for Tsukishima it was important to hear those words, as he dedicated everything to their cause. Koito then looks back at the church and slowly closes the door as Tsurumi looks back at him.

## Character Appearances

* Vasily
* Hyakunosuke Ogata
* Toshizou Hijikata *(Mentioned)*
* Toshiyuki Kadokura
* Kirawus
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Yoshitake Shiraishi
* Asirpa
* Fusatarou Oosawa
* Tatsuma Ushiyama
* Mokutarou Kikuta
* Rikimatsu Ariko
* Siromakur Ariko *(Mentioned)*
* Tokushirou Tsurumi
* Otonoshin Koito
* Kouhei Nikaidou
* Hajime Tsukishima

## Trivia

* The phrase "From Russia, With Spirit" is a reference to the film From Russia with Love from James Bond series.
* The final page is a homage to a scene from the film The Godfather, in which Kay, the wife of a crime boss, is lied to and "shut out" from his life by having a door closed on her. However, here it's Koito who closes the door on Tsurumi.