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Hidakasanmyaku Erimo Tokachi NP, Hokkaido
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In July 1930, 2 Hokkaido University climbers and Ainu guide Buntaro Mizumoto reached Kamui after a 9-day expedition—the first documented summer ascent. Hokkaido University climbers made the first winter ascent in 1938.
Mount Kamui’s Japanese name, 神威岳, is traced to the Ainu phrase kamuy-nupuri, translated by local forestry sources as “mountain of the gods.” The peak’s name preserves an Indigenous-language connection to this landscape.
Of the “Southern Hidaka Three”—Kamui, Soematsu and Pirika-nupuri—only Kamui has a summer trail. Its route crosses the Nishuomanai River repeatedly, then climbs a steep ridge almost straight to the summit.
Kamui’s crest divides watersheds: its Hidaka-facing slopes feed the Motoura River system, while the opposite side drains toward the Rekifune River in Tokachi. The peak sits on the boundary of Urakawa and Taiki.
At about 1,600m, Kamui’s summit has a bowl-shaped landform compared in reference works to a glacial cirque. The wording is careful: it resembles a cirque, but that alone does not prove a glacier carved it.
A 2024 study of the upper Motoura basin uses “Kamui-dake unit” for one group of high-grade metamorphic rocks near the peak. It found that faults repeat these rock units at least 3 times.
One historical-geography reference suggests “Kamui-dake” may once have named a nearby cluster, including Soematsu-dake and Pirika-nupuri, before the name came to identify today’s single summit.
