History
Early Beginnings
The Hash House Harriers received its humble beginnings in 1938 from a British named Albert Stephen Ignatius Gispert, in Malaysia. Having a fondness for the game, “Hare and Hounds”, he gathered together a group of friends to form a running club in Kuala Lumpur that would later become a world-wide legacy. The fraternity received its name from the Selangor Club Chambers, which due to the lackluster food served there was commonly referred to as the “Hash House”.
From the 1938 charter of the Kuala Lumpur Hash House Harriers
- To promote physical fitness among our members
- To get rid of weekend hangovers
- To acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer
- To persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel
This peaceful endeavor was eventually cut short with the advent of the Japanese invasion of Malaysia, of which several hashers distinguished themselves. Captain Gispert died in the Battle of Singapore, but a fellow Hasher, “Torch” Bennett, re-established the hash after the war. He also successfully sought war reparations for 24 enamel mugs, a galvanized tin bath and two old bags.
In 1947 a few surviving members of the original Hash House Harriers started operations across the border in Bordighera, Italy, but ceased for several years. It wasn’t until 1962 that the next group was formed in Singapore. The Singapore H3 was slowly followed by others until by the Mother Hash’s 1500th postwar run in 1973, there were thirty-five known hashes around the world. This figure climbed into the hundreds by the eighties and there are now probably well over five thousand active Hashes.
Iwakuni White Snake Hash House Harriers
May – July 1999: Stephen “Penis Machinist” Stroud, Paul “Saintly Suds” Regan, and Nancy “Easy Lipps” Regan talk and plan the basics of the hash that they wanted to start, as opportunities to hash in the Chugoku region of Japan were limited to the Sunday Hash in Hiroshima that ran on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month. Since they all had come from active hash areas (Penis Machinist from Okinawa H3 (Okinawa SUCKS!): Saintly Suds and Easy Lipps had recently come from Carolina Trash H3 but they had originally began their hashing careers in Heidelberg H3 in Germany. They decided that another hash was needed to satisfy their desire to hash closer to Iwakuni and more often than twice a month.
July 30, 1999: Penis Machinist, Saintly Suds, Easy Lips and Stella “Suckage “ Durdin met at the Staff Non-Commissioned Officers Club on Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni Japan to work out the details of the proposed Hash. After a couple of beers and a lengthy conversation a name was chosen “Whitesnake Hash House Harriers”. “Whitesnake“ refers to a species of albino snake found in the area around Iwakuni. Many of the snakes reside in a local Iwakuni temple dedicated to them. After several of the members first attendance to Japan Nash Hash hosted by Kobe H3 the name Iwakuni was informally tacked on to indicate where actually we were located to outside hashers, it wasn’t formally adopted until one of the Penis Machinist had moved away as he was adamant that his choice in the name of White Snakes H3 was the omly name we would be recognized by.
Not wanting to interfere with the other hash kennel in the area (Hiroshima Totally Bombed Hash House Harriers), the second and fourth Saturdays of the month were chosen as the official run days. Although there were to be two scheduled runs a month other non-scheduled runs were also planned. Run time was set at 1500 JST during the summer and 1400 JST during the winter. Run fee was set at $5.00 or ￥600 (This fee has pretty much stayed the same with some altering based on current exchange rate). It was decided that the hash was to be a more traditional hash with singing and down-downs. The first run was set for August 28, 1999 (the Year of the Rabbit). Voting for Mismanagement was conducted: GM – Penis Machinist, RA – Easy Lipps, Beer Miester – Saintly Suds, On-Sec – Suckage.
August 1-August 27, 1999: With all of the preliminary details set the Founders started the task of getting things ready for the first run. Preparations included acquiring those things needed to have a hash: beer, coolers, beer, chalk, beer, soda, snacks, and beer. Email, word of mouth, and announcements at other hashes were used to get word out that a new hash was starting. The founders scouted a trail and would be the hares on the first run which would start the traditions of the Whitesnake H3.
The inaugural run was held 28 August 1999, 15:00 HST. Hares: Penis Machinist, Saintly Suds laid a trail and Easy Lipps and Suckage organized the food. Start was at the park behind the Iwakuni Train Station and the end was at the Elephant Park. During the run, a tradition was born as a video cover of a Japanese movie was found called “Tuesdays Hair Dressers” photos on the cover were used to nominate and select the Hash Porn Queen our loose version of a “Hash Shit”. First Hash PQ was Mouthful from the HTBH3. The tradition subsequently died in 2001 after the 2nd GM departed Japan. Pack size including the hares was 27 hashers. On On On was at Saintly Suds and Easy Lipps house.
