Surely you remember having seen it in movies or read in books that the American Indians they cut the hair of their victims . This custom was not native to the native peoples, but imported by the French into the territory. They paid to his mercenaries for each Indian hair they delivered. At Japan 400 years ago there was a similar practice, but what they cut their enemies was the nose. Mimizuka, the Japanese monument that contains 38,000 severed noses.
Mimizuka, the monument that contains 38,000 noses
Mimizuka in Japanese it means "mound of the ear" and is an alteration of the original name of the monument that Hanazuka "Mound of the nose". At some point the name was changed as it was considered that Mimizuka was less shocking than Hanazuka, which denoted greater cruelty. The Mimizuka is a monument that can be seen in Kyoto and that contains the cut noses of approximately 38,000 Koreans , both civilian and military. These were wrested from the dead during the invasions that Korea suffered through Japan to late sixteenth century .
The samurai or Japanese warriors were in the habit of cut off the heads of your enemies to get your salary since they charged according to their effectiveness and this was measured by dead enemies. The heads were sent to some centers in Japan where they were accounted and paid the amount to the samurai. During the Korean invasions, there was not enough space on the ships to transport the heads and it was decided that with the nose of the enemy there was enough to prove his death. The nasal appendages were embalmed in a kind of brine and transported to Japan for counting.
It is estimated that in total they were more than 200,000 noses that were cut . As it was practically impossible to distinguish whether the nose was from a soldier or from a civilian - man or woman - the military cut off the nasal appendix to almost all the victims of the fight.
He Mimizuka is located in a sanctuary , on the grounds of the Hokoji temple, near Kyoto . Why this monument was made in a Shinto monastery is not clear, although historians assume that it was to honor the victims and get their souls to rest in peace. The s Buddhist believers prayed for them and this was considered by Japanese society at the time as an act of great mercy.
The current population of Japan is generally unaware of the existence of this monument and of similar ones throughout its geography, but the Koreans have not forgotten it and it is one of the pillars of the I hate Korean-Japanese . In 1983 one of those tombs was found near Osaka that contained about 20,000 noses. These remains were returned to Korea in 1992 which proceeded to his cremation. The remains of the Mimizuka , on the contrary, they have not been never returned despite the fact that several organizations have tried. In Korea, the population is divided about this, as some believe they have to remain in Japan as a perpetual reminder of their barbarism and others that have passed more than 400 years and it is time for them to return home.
What do you think? Do you know the existence of Mimizuka ? If you want to know more about Japanese warriors, we invite you to read: Byakkotai, the samurai teenagers killed by honor.