The history of ACCK

                                                                           Toshiaki Sakai
                                                                Former Vice-President

      The Academic Alpine Club of Kyoto  was founded in 1931

by several members of Kyoto Teidai Ryoko-bu ( Kyoto Imperial

University Travel Club ).　　Among them were Kinji Imanishi, Eizaburo

Nishibori, Tsunahiko Shidei, Takeo Kuwabara, and others.　 All of them

were energetic climbers in the Japanese Alps,　 and succeeded to climb

precipitous rock walls and ridges? left untrodden until then.　 Naturally

they came to plan an attempt of climbing Himalayan　 mountains, and

diligently read reports of Himalayan expeditions sent mostly from

European countries. 　Books and journal articles were thoroughly

studied. 　One result of such investigation is a publication of Japanese

translation of Paul Bauer's Im? Kampf um den Himalaja, and Gen Itou

endeavored to complete the task.　 Paul Bauer's book taught them that

a Himalayan expedition was not necessarily an extremely costly venture.

     Kyoto Gakushi Sangakukai ( Die Academischer Alpen Club Kioto )

was founded on 24th of May 1931 at the opening ceremony held at

Rakuyuu Kaikan near Kyoto University. Prof. Kin Kihara chaired the

President. The purpose of the Club was declared to promote

mountaineering activities of 　club members, and club members should

support club projects. To send an expedition party to the Himalaya to

scale untrodden peaks was regarded an urgent task at ｔｈｅ ｔｉｍｅ

of the foundation． Kabru, 7338m peak in the Sikkim Himalaya,was

selected as the first object for the year of 1932, and in the preceding

winter season a polar method climbing was first practiced in Japan at

the Osawa route of Mt. Fuji as　 preparation for the Himalayan climbing.

The Kabru project, however, was wrecked as a result ofthe beginning of

Japanese Army's invasion to Manchuria.

      The AACK planned for the second time to dispatch an expedition for

the year of 1937.　 The objective was K2, the second highest peak of the

world. In summer of 1936 Gen Ito went to India to negotiate the permit

of climbing K 2.　 But this project was also broken as the Japanese army

began attacking Chinese at Rokokyo Bridge near Peking.　 Meanwhile,

the first Himalayan expedition from Japan was sent by Rikkyou

University, Tokyo, and they succeeded to climb　 Nanda Kot ( 6816m ) in

the Garhwal Himalaya.

      During the years before the outbreak of the Second World War,

AACK could not put the Himalayan projects into execution.　 Many

members turned their direction of energy to mountainsin other areas

than the Himalayas, many small expeditions were sent to Sakhalin, the

Kurile Islands, Taiwan and China.  In 1934 the first expedition organized

and sent by AACK aimed the first winter ascent of  Hakutousan

( Baitoushan, 2744m ) in the northernmost Korea, and eighteen members

of the party succeeded in mountaineering and scientific works. Smaller

parties were sent almost every year to inner Mongolian steppes and

Manchuria ( Northeast districts of China ). In May  July season of 1942

Dr. Kinji Imanishi led a party of  21  scientists-climbers to Da-xinganling

Range, and made the first South   North traverse of the unsurveyed

forest-clad areas, and brought back various data concerning

geographical, biological, and ethnographical interests.

      As the Second World War raged, most members were

enlisted to the military service, so activities went down nearly to zero.

After the end of the War, some members were discharged from the

service and others returned from abroad. Around in 1947 and 1948

university personnel’s returned to their former posts, students came

back to the university campus, and AACK was rebuilt in 1951.　 Shortly

before that, Nepal opened her long-closed boundaries to foreign

climbers in 1947, British veteran Himalayanists did not lose time to

reconnoiter in the Everest regions and in 1950　 Maurice Herzog and

the French team succeeded to climb the　 summit of Annapurna, the

first eight thousander.

      After the War, Kyoto University Alpine Club ( KUAC ) was

organized by students, and young, newly-trained climbers joined the

club.　 Most of KUAC members, after graduation, joined the AACK, so

AACK was reinforced enough to try a challenge of　 Himalayan peaks.

Dr. E. Nishibori entered Nepal in January of 1952 and applied a permit of

Manaslu. When the permit came, the committee of AACK decided to　

give it to the Japanese Alpine Club ( JAC ), because they　 thought that

to tackle this unknown giant peak should be a proper project of the JAC

expedition which was to be organized upon all-Japan basis.

　　　In 1952 JAC’s Manaslu reconnaissance party was led by Dr. K.

Imanishi, and two AACK members, Prof. S. Nakao and Dr. K. Hayashi

also joined the party.　 In the pre-monsoon season of 1953 Mr. Y. Kato

was selected a member of the first Manaslu expedition, and S. Nakao

and J. Kawakita made up a separate scientific party. In the

post-monsoon  season of 1953 AACK sent the first Himalayan expedition

to the Nepal Himalaya. The main objectives were Annapurna �U ( 7937m )

and �W ( 7525m ),　 Mr. Toshio Imanishi and six others composed the party

After the trial of Annapurna �U they assaulted Annapurna �W from the

north.　 Unfortunately, the strong wind broke the tent at Camp 5,　and

forced the occupants down to lower camps.

      The first Himalayan project failed thus. When the Annapurna

expedition came home, the Himalayan　 committee was busy to study

the cause of failure and look　 for the ways to improve tactics and

strategy, equipments　 and so on. In 1958 Prof. T. Kuwabara and eleven

members entered the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakorum, and M. Fujihira

and K. Hirai stood on the summit of Chogolisa （7654m）.

In 1960 Prof. Y. Sakato and five members entered the esternmost section

of the Wakhan Valley in the Afghan Hindukush, and T. Sakai and G.

Iwatsubo climbed Noshaq ( 7492m ),the second highest mountain in the

Hindukush. In 1962 Prof. T. Shidei and nine members crossed the

Bilafond La and entered the Siachen Glacier in the eastern Karakorum,

and A. Saitou, Y. Takamura and R. Bashir, Pakistani  member, reached the

summit of Saltoro Kangri （7742m）

　　　After the three successive expeditions in five years, AACK

continued to try untrodden peaks in the Himalaya and arakorum.

Yalung Kang, a （8505m） meter peak in the Kangchenjunga Massif,　was

climbed in 1973.　 This is the highest peak that has been first scaled

by　 Japanese mountaineers.　 In some cases a joint expedition was

organized as in the　 case of Naimou Nanyi and Meili Xueshan.

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