[2] Uemura was born in Hidaka, now part of Toyooka, Hyōgo, Japan, to a family involved in agriculture.

[3] In 1964, 23-year-old Uemura left Japan with $110 USD (approximately $1000 in 2023 money) and boarded a ship to Los Angeles on a tourist visa.

Then, he worked on a farm near Fresno, California, but was soon discovered by the immigration officials; even though he avoided deportation, he was told to stop illegal employment and leave the country.

[3] On November 10, he attempted to climb Europe's highest peak, Mont Blanc (4,807 m above sea level), solo.

[3] After 2 months of working there, in 1965, he temporarily left the job to join the Meiji University mountaineering club to hike in the Himalayas and traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal.

After coming back to Avorias that November, he set the 1967 goals to visit Greenland, hike Aconcagua solo, and continue improving his French and English.

Unconvinced that he was capable, the local officials told him to obtain military permission, a guarantor, and an agreement from the Japanese embassy in Argentina; members of the hiking association in Mendoza offered to be the guarantor, and while he was waiting for the military permission, he went to hike Cerro El Plata (altitude 5,968 meters) to demonstrate his abilities.

[3] After successfully summiting Aconcagua, in April 1968, he came to Iquitos, Peru and rafted 6,000 km solo along Amazon River for 60 days, to Macapá, Brazil.

[3] After flying from Brazil to the United States, he came to California again to work at a fruit factory and visited Alaska, attempting to climb Denali.

On the fourth day of his trek, a polar bear invaded his camp, ate his supplies, and poked his nose against the sleeping bag where Uemura lay tense and motionless.

Describing his 57-day push, he wrote, "What drove me to continue then was the thought of countless people who had helped and supported me and the knowledge that I could never face them if I gave up."

After the North Pole trip Uemura became the first person to complete a dogsled journey down the entire length of the Greenlandic ice sheet.

[4] In August 1970, Uemura climbed Denali (then known as Mount McKinley) solo, becoming the first person to reach the top alone.

[7] On February 13, 1984, one day after his 43rd birthday, Uemura spoke by radio with Japanese photographers who were flying over Denali, saying that he had made the top and descended back to 18,000 feet (5,500 m).

It was likely that Uemura was running out of fuel at this point, but because of his reputation, nobody wanted to send a rescue party for fear it would offend him.

A diary found in the cave revealed that Uemura had left gear there to lighten his load on the summit push.

The diary entries showed him to be in good spirits and documented the songs he sang to stay focused on his task.

[11] An award named for him, Naomi Uemura Prize, was created in Japan after his death, to honour outstanding adventurers.

In the words of author Jonathan Waterman, "[Just as remarkable] as his solo achievements were his sincere modesty and unassuming nature.