It is important to clarify which factors control the distribution of secondary minerals because secondary minerals affect soil physicochemical properties. This study investigated the effects of parent materials and climate at different elevations on secondary mineral distributions in soils under a humid tropical climate with a hilly landscape and without recent volcanic activity. Soil material from B horizons was sampled at 60 sites on gentle slopes at different elevations (20-1700 m altitude). Each major parent material (sedimentary, felsic, and intermediate to mafic) was represented at different elevations. The soil samples were classified based on their total elemental compositions using cluster analysis. Secondary minerals were measured by X-ray diffraction and selective extractions. The samples were divided into ferric (high Fe contents), K& Mg (high K, Mg, and Si), and silicic (high Si) groups. The ferric soils were derived from mafic parent materials and characterized by high Fe oxides and gibbsite contents. The K& Mg and silicic soils were derived from felsic or sedimentary parent materials and had similar secondary mineral (kaolinite and vermiculite) contents, although more mica was found in the former group. Climate affected secondary mineral distributions only in the silicic group soils; higher temperatures at lower elevations may enhance weathering and increase kaolinite and crystalline Al and Fe contents. The hilly landscape of this study is different from those of shields in tropical humid regions in Africa or South America. Here, secondary mineral distributions were primarily determined by parent material (mafic vs. felsic or sedimentary) and secondarily by climate, which varied with elevation.