様似 さまに Samani
Samani, Hidaka region, Hokkaidō
Ainu spellings: Esamani, Sama-an-i
The article treats Samani as one of a family of Shamanbe names across Hokkaidō and the Kurils, all read from the same elements.
Location
42.1277, 142.9340 · Coordinates: OpenStreetMap Nominatim, 2026-09-10, on 様似町. Open in OpenStreetMap
Readings in the place-name tables: エサマンイ Esaman-i
Referents
- settlement Samani, once the terminus of the Hidaka main line. Enrum cape, the Oyako rocks and the Shiogama candle rock stand along its shore
- cape Enrum cape beyond the breakwater of Samani harbour, also called Nichinenonkarube, where the culture hero Okikurmi is said to watch for demons. Kannonzan behind the town is the other candidate for the named landform
Analyses
sama-an-i
サマニ ‘the thing that lies there’ proposedProponent: zenibako_trek（小樽銭函地名歴史研究会） (zenibako_trek (Otaru Zenibako Place-Name and History Society))
The received readings are Sanmauni 'place with rotten wood' and Esamanbetsu 'otter river', which the author finds thinly supported. He groups the name with Shamanbe names elsewhere: Shamanbe-yama at Oshamanbe, Shamanbe-yama at Mitsuishi, Shamanbe on Etorofu, Oshamappu in Kushiro, Samami and Samamai in Ikeda, Isamanai in Kuromatsunai, and Esamanbetsu in the upper Samani valley. The landform is Enrum cape, or possibly Kannonzan. Matsuura heard from Ainu that the name means 'there is a high mountain'.
Variants
sama 'beside' and an 'be' are dictionary items in the senses used, and the initial e of the older spelling is accounted for. Which landform the name belongs to is left open by the author, and the meaning Matsuura recorded from Ainu speakers does not agree with the reading.
Attestations
- エシャマニ map 19th century 今井図など
The spelling with the initial e, which the author takes as the key to the name.
zenibako_trek…