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Hidakasanmyaku Erimo Tokachi NP, Hokkaido
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At Mount Tsurugi, the name becomes wonderfully literal: a sword is planted in the summit rock. A shrine stands by the trailhead, marking this 1,205-metre peak as a place of worship as well as a climb.
In the Tsurugi foothills, fire-walking has been part of local worship since around 1963. After a pandemic pause, the rite returned in 2025 at nearby Shōmyōji temple grounds, where about 50 people walked over cooled ash.
Spring brings flowers with remarkably small ranges: the Hidaka rock primrose grows naturally at only a few sites, and Tokachi violet is a Hidaka Mountains endemic. A Ministry of the Environment ranger recorded finding the primrose here.
In 1921, 33 Kannon images were placed along the trail, and the mountain was also known as Kannon-yama. Those small roadside figures turn the climb into a pilgrimage as well as an ascent.
A little off the trail, an old iron chain on the rocks bears a Taishō 14 (1925) stamp. It’s a tangible remnant of Mount Tsurugi’s early climbing history—more than a century old.
Before “Tsurugiyama” was adopted in 1917, an 1893 Hokkaido survey map recorded an Ainu-derived name here as “Eenneennupuri.” Historical spellings vary, and its precise reading is not settled.
About 90% of the route winds through forest, according to an Environment Ministry ranger. Near the summit, the view opens over the Tokachi Plain and the main Hidaka ridge—a striking meeting of plain and mountains.
