This cenotaph was erected in 1971 to commemorate the more than 700 precious lives lost when the former Soviet Union cargo ship Indigirka ran aground and capsized in a raging blizzard off Hamakishibetsu in December 1939.
The cenotaph, which commemorates the act of rescuing approximately 400 people by the entire village community upon learning of the occurrence of a catastrophe that would go down in the history of maritime accidents in the world, and the prayers for the souls of the victims to be at peace, is a proof of human love that transcends borders, and still speaks to the hearts of visitors today about what is important.