Maki Yūkō

Maki Yūkō
File:Yukou Maki.jpg
Born	Maki Aritsune (1894-02-05)5 February 1894 Sendai, Japan
Died	Tokyo, Japan
Alma mater	Keio University Faculty of Law
Occupation	Mountaineer

In this Japanese name, the family name is Maki.

Maki Yūkō (槇 有恒, Yūkō Maki, born 5 February 1894 in Sendai, died 2 May 1989 in Tokyo), also known as Maki Aritsune, was a Japanese mountain climber.

Career

Maki climbed Mount Fuji at the age of ten. He made many climbs in his teens, including Mount Aso. He established a climbing club while studying law at Keio University in Tokyo, from which he graduated in 1919. He continued his studies in the United States and Great Britain.

Besides numerous climbs in Switzerland in the period from 1919 to 1921, on 10 September 1921 he made the first ascent of the Eiger by the Mittellegigrat (northeast ridge) with mountain guides Fritz Amatter, Samuel Brawand and Fritz Steuri. He made a donation of 10,000 Swiss francs toward the construction of the Mittellegi Hut.

In 1922 he made the first winter ascent of Mount Yari (3,180 metres (10,430 ft)) in Japan. In 1925, with five other Japanese mountaineers and three Swiss mountain guides, he made the first ascent of Mount Alberta (3,619 metres (11,873 ft)) in the Canadian Rockies. The expedition was sponsored by Prince Chichibu.

In 1926 he was again in the Alps, making the ascent of the Matterhorn via the Zmuttgrat and climbing with Prince Chichibu.

Maki's climbing career was interrupted by World War II, preventing him from leading a Japanese expedition to the Himalayas. In 1956 Maki led the third Japanese expedition to the Nepalese mountain Manaslu. Expedition members Toshio Imanishi and Sherpa Gyalzen Norbu made the first ascent of Manaslu on 9 May 1956.

References

• American Alpine Journal 1990