Mount Asahi

On July 24, 1989, two hikers from Tokyo had gone missing while climbing to the summit of Asahi-dake, the highest point of Hokkaido. As the sun was setting, a helicopter search crew made a startling discovery: a crude but massive SOS sign, constructed of fallen trees. The search parties converged on the vicinity of the sign, and found the two men in a cave about two or three kilometers north of the sign, frightened and dehydrated, but otherwise unharmed. The rescuers commended the hikers for building the SOS sign, as they wouldn’t have been able to find the hikers without it. However, the hikers were confused - they had no idea the sign existed, and were too exhausted to build such a sign as it was.

Realizing that there were probably other missing people on the mountain, the Japanese police sent more people to search the site of the distress sign. Upon further examination, the SOS sign was not built of random deadfall, but instead cleanly chopped logs. There was also a hole containing a backpack, a tape recorder, and a drivers license belonging to one Kenji Iwamura, a man who had been missing since 1984. Disturbingly, there were also fragments of human bone, including a skull.

Aerial photographs proved the SOS had existed since at least September of 1987. One of the tape recordings was a man’s voice. He was shouting “SOS; help me! I can't move on the cliff! SOS; help me! The place is where I first met the helicopter! The sasa is deep, and I can't get up! Lift me up from here!”

It is worth noting that there are two similar-looking landmarks on the Asahi-dake summit trail: Kinko Iwa, or Safe Rock, and Nise Kinko Iwa, or Fake Safe Rock. Safe Rock is a useful indicator that one is close to the summit of Asahi. However, if one were to fall off the ledge near Fake Safe Rock, they would find themselves in a dense forest of sasa, a type of bamboo. 

At first glance, it may seem obvious that Kenji Iwamura fell off the cliff into sasa, built an SOS sign to try to call for help, and died waiting for the return of a helicopter that he thought had spotted him. However, Kenji’s family could not confirm the voice on the tape belonged to him, nor have the bones found at the scene been decisively identified. Moreover, no axe or saw capable of cleanly chopping trees has ever been found at the SOS site. Even if it were, it would be very difficult for someone who had recently fallen off a cliff and broken bones to build such a monument.

Whoever built the sign, whether it was Kenji Iwamura, the person in the hole, or someone else, they did end up saving lives that day. The two hikers who happened to take shelter near the SOS owe their rescue to the mystery SOS builder. While the sign did end up serving its purpose, it is unfortunate that it did not save the person who built it.