A fact from 8th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 9 January 2007. The text of the entry was as follows:
Did you know... that 199 of the 210 soldiers of the 5th Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army's 8th Infantry Division froze to death as a result of a winter training accident in January 1902?
This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles
This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Japan, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Japan-related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project, participate in relevant discussions, and see lists of open tasks. Current time in Japan: 13:34, August 23, 2024 (JST, Reiwa 6) (Refresh)JapanWikipedia:WikiProject JapanTemplate:WikiProject JapanJapan-related articles
Because it was a hundred year ago, would be the shortest answer. Coincidentally, on this year (1902), several records were set in Northern Japan for the coldest recorded temperature (still unbroken in several places) and severe blizzards would have been predicted had today's weather forecasting technology were available back then. Also, while troops were recruited from local areas, very few, actually only surviving soldiers, were from mountain regions and had the knowledge of trekking in snow. These soldiers improvised their clothings and carried extra supplies, as well as taking necessary precautions (never eating snow, for example). Lessons learned from this were used in Russo-Japanese War and beyond significantly reducing weather-related casualties. --Revth02:25, 9 January 2007 (UTC)Reply