To the Memory of
The Heroes of the Alamo
[Poem in Chinese follows]
Japanese Monument
The story of the Alamo reaches far beyond the borders of Texas. More than 2.6 million visitors from around the world came to the Alamo in 1996. The DRT provides written information on the site in several different languages, including Spanish, German, French, Japanese, and Italian. This granite monument attests to the Alamo's fame and popularity.
Shigetaka Shiga, a Japanese geography professor, presented the monument to the Alamo in 1914. Etched on its face is a poem he composed that compares the Alamo and its heroes to a famous incident in Japanese history. The Siege of Nagashino Castle, fought in 1575, involved circumstances similar to those that took place at the Alamo in 1836. One of the defenders of Nagashino Castle, Torii Suneemon, left the castle to find help. Captured upon his return, he chose death rather than betray his friends. Professor Shiga compared Torii Suneemon to James Butler Bonham who also left his friends at the Alamo to find help, only to face death when he returned.
Although Japanese, Professor Shiga wrote the poem in classical Chinese. The granite for the monument was quarried near Nagashino, Japan. The stone on which the monument sits came from the vicinity of Torii Suneemon's grave.
Copies of the poem are available in Alamo Shrine upon request.
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