Kenji Iwamura

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Hokkaido Police Asahikawa East Police (STATION)

Missing From:

Mount Asahidake, Hokkaido, Japan

Summary:

Kenji Iwamura was a 25-year-old office worker from Kōnan, Aichi Prefecture who disappeared while hiking in Daisetsuzan National Park on July 10, 1984. On July 25, 1989, a backpack was discovered approximately 4 kilometers south of Mount Asahidake summit, partially buried in a shallow hole beneath a large pine stump. On February 28, 1990, the Asahikawa East police station announced that the skeletal remains found near the SOS sign were believed to be male, likely belonging to Iwamura.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On July 10, 1984, Iwamura departed from his lodging at a local lodge near the trailhead, informing the owner that he intended to complete the hike alone and would return within a few days. He told the receptionist he was thinking of going into the mountains for a hike and some climbing, but the receptionist warned him not to go because the weather was unstable and dangerous. However, Kenji did not heed the warning and went to Mount Asahi. When he did not appear at his workplace approximately one week later, his family reported him missing to the authorities. Police and park officials initiated a search operation, deploying ground teams and helicopters to scour the rugged, bear-inhabited wetland areas south of Mount Asahidake's summit at around 1,320 meters elevation, where the terrain is dense with bamboo grass and prone to disorientation. The authorities did search for Iwamura after he failed to show up for work a week later, but were unable to locate him or his remains in that search.

Additional Details:

On July 24, 1989, a police helicopter searching for two lost hikers from Tokyo spotted a large SOS distress signal made from 19 birch logs, each approximately 5 meters long, on a rocky slope between Kurodake and Asahidake mountains; the signal's visibility from the air enabled the prompt rescue of the hikers after they had been missing for several days. When the police debriefed the two people about the situation after the rescue, they did not know anything about the SOS sign. The backpack associated with the SOS incident was discovered on July 25, 1989, during a ground search by Hokkaido police in the wetland area approximately 4 kilometers south of the Asahidake summit at an elevation of about 1,320 meters, found partially buried in a shallow hole beneath a large pine stump. The hole contained four cassette tapes, a tape recorder, a backpack, some amulets, a human skull, a tripod, a pair of men's basketball shoes, two cameras, a notebook, and the driver's license of Kenji Iwamura. The police discovered fragments of human bones with traces of animal bites, and it appeared that some of the bones had been fractured prior to death. The remains were sent to Asahikawa Medical University where medical examiners initially identified the bones as belonging to a woman 20-40 years of age. The Asahikawa East police station announced on 28 February 1990 that after a reexamination of all the human bones, they now believed the skeleton was actually male, not female. In the 2000s, they re-examined the bones, and it turned out they belonged to a man with blood type A, the same blood type as Kenji. When Iwamura's parents were asked about a voice recording found on one of the tapes calling for help, they could not confirm that the voice on the recording was their son's. The body was described as thin and weak to the point that it would have been impossible for him to make the SOS sign on his own, and no axe that could have been used to cut trees down has been found. Aerial photographs confirmed the SOS sign had been on the mountainside since at least 20 September 1987.

Case Last Updated:

Jul 07, 2026