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Chichibu-Tama-Kai NP, Saitama / Yamanashi / Nagano
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Water from Kobushi’s slopes can take 3 journeys to the sea: via the Arakawa to Tokyo Bay, the Fuefuki–Fuji to Suruga Bay, or the Chikuma–Shinano to the Sea of Japan—a remarkable three-way divide.
甲武信ヶ岳’s name may combine the old province names Kai, Musashi and Shinano—or refer to a mountain shape resembling a clenched fist, or “kobushi.” Both explanations are recorded in official sources.
At 2,160 m, below the summit, a marker stands beside the thin stream identified as the Chikuma’s source. The river later becomes the 367-km Shinano—the longest river in Japan.
Water from the Chikuma source forest supplies Kawakami homes and farms. The village grows highland vegetables, and the Forestry Agency reports Japan’s highest lettuce production value per household.
Mountaineer Kogure Ritarō recorded that Kawakami locals called this peak Sanpōyama; he also noted older maps placing Kokushi-dake at the three-province border. The mountain’s naming history was anything but simple.
On November 18, 2007, Chichibu City, Yamanashi City and Kawakami Village signed the Kobushi Headwaters Summit Declaration, pledging together to protect the forests that feed the Arakawa, Fuefuki and Chikuma rivers.
Above 2,000 m, Kobushi’s ridges carry Japanese hemlock, spruce and shirabiso fir. Mosses and ferns carpet the forest floor, while rhododendrons bring a burst of color beneath the conifers around June.
