Asahidake John Doe was a man whose skeletal remains were found on Mount Asahidake following a search for two missing hikers in Higashikawa, Hokkaido, Japan. The remains were initially considered female, though further analysis in 1990 determined they belonged to a male. Due to the items found alongside the remains, the decedent is popularly believed to be a missing man named Kenji Iwamura, but police have yet to confirm if the remains belong to him.
Case[]
On 24 July 1988, two hikers reported being lost on Mount Asahidake in Hokkaido, Japan, after taking a wrong turn. Hokkaido Police were dispatched with helicopters and discovered a large "SOS" sign made out of 19 cut birch trees measuring about 5 meters long. Believing this sign to have been made by the hikers, police searched the area and found them 2 to 3 kilometers away from the sign. However, when asked about the sign, it was discovered that the two hikers did not make it. Police quickly returned to the mountain to begin another search, believing there was a third missing person.
The following day, police discovered human bone fragments in the area with signs of animal activity and breaks that had occurred while the decedent was alive. In a separate part of the area around the SOS sign, a hole was discovered that was big enough to fit one human that was full of belongings. Amongst the items and clothing in the hole, a human skull was found alongside a driver's license belonging to 25-year-old Kenji Iwamura from Aichi Prefecture, who had gone missing four years before the discovery. The belongings in the hole were determined to belong to Iwamura, alongside a tape recorder recording a man yelling for help. It was initially believed that this voice was Iwamura's, but his parents claim that the person recorded was not Iwamura. The SOS sign is believed to have been made when Iwamura disappeared, as it appeared in photos in a topographical map of the area from 1987. However, the body was described as being thin and weak at autopsy, and no axe was found that would have allowed him to chop the trees down.
When the remains were taken to Asahikawa Medical University, it was determined they belonged to a female between 20 and 40 years old. When investigated, Iwamura was reported to have not been seen with a woman at all, and no missing women were reported on Mount Asahidake at the time. This was revised in 1990 when an analysis determined the remains belonged to a male instead. However, it has not been conclusively determined if the remains belong to Iwamura, and it is not known if DNA testing has been conducted. Iwamura remains a missing person and is believed to be deceased.
Characteristics[]
- Thin build.
Sources[]
- Mount Asahidake SOS Incident on Wikipedia
- TBS News (Japanese) (archived)