was a soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

 memorialized by the Memorial Statue of the Hakkoda Death March in Aomori

Aomori, Aomori

is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the northern Tōhoku region of Japan. As of 2009, the city had an estimated population of 302,068 and a density of 366 persons per km². Its total area was 824.52 km².- History :...

, Aomori Prefecture

Aomori Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region. The capital is the city of Aomori.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Aomori prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

In January 1902 several soldiers in the 5th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion became trapped on the Hakkōda Mountains; this was the start of the Hakkōda Mountains incident

Hakkoda Mountains incident

The Hakkōda Mountains incident occurred on January 23, 1902, when a large group of Japanese soldiers on a training exercise became trapped on a mountain range, causing many of them to die....

. Search parties discovered Gotō. The discovery led to the rescue of the other soldiers. His arms and legs were amputated by frostbite

Frostbite

Frostbite is the medical condition where localized damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. Frostbite is most likely to happen in body parts farthest from the heart and those with large exposed areas...

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After the incident, he retired from the army, returned to his hometown, became a member of the village assembly, and later died from cerebral hemorrhage.

In Jirō Nitta

Jiro Nitta

is the pen name of popular Japanese historical novelist . He was born in an area that is now part of the city of Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.-Career:...

's Death March on Mount Hakkōda: A Documentary Novel, a semi-fictional account of the disaster, the character portraying Gotō is Corporal Etō.