I recently visited the Japanese wolf memorial in rural Higashiyoshino, Nara.

A life size bronze statue was built in 1987 to commemorate the location where the last Japanese wolf, a young male, was killed by hunters in 1905. The memorial statue is located on the banks of the Takami River, about a 45-minute bus ride away from the closest subway station.**

The inscription below the statue is ニホンオオカミの像 - “statue of a Japanese wolf.” In Japan this subspecies is known simply as “nihon ookami,” literally ‘Japanese wolf.’ In English we call it the Honshū wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax) to differentiate it from the also extinct, but larger Hokkaidō wolf (Canis lupus hattai). In Japanese the Hokkaidō wolf is called Ezo wolf.

A stone at the site bears the haiku: 狼は亡び 木霊ハ存ふる (reading: オオカミはほろび、こだまはながらふる) - I believe this translates to “The wolf has perished, the spirit trembles.”

I wanted to leave a flower, but there were none for sale at the nearest station. Instead I happened to find some red spider lilies (higanbana) growing by the side of the road. From a symbolic point of view, it couldn’t have been a more perfect flower:

“They are associated with final goodbyes, and legend has it that these flowers grow wherever people part ways for good. In old Buddhist writings, the red spider lily is said to guide the dead through samsara, the cycle of rebirth.” [x]

It was a beautiful and serene place, and truly a moving experience.

**Side note: If you want to visit the statue (which I recommend!), the closest station is Haibara Station (in Uda, Nara on the Kintetsu Osaka Line). From the bus terminal there, you can take a bus to Higashiyoshino village, but please note that the bus doesn’t operate on weekends or holidays.