Coexistence with Rare Wildlife - East Hokkaido
Winter Observation Tour

We will meet the rest of the group around 1:00 pm at Kushiro Airport (KUH). Once everyone has joined the group, we will spend some time getting to know each other and having a briefing for our upcoming adventure program before heading to the center of Kushiro city, only 20 min away from the airport by private van.

We will visit the Kushiro City Museum to get an idea of the uniqueness of east Hokkaido. Kushiro Marshland, which is located only few km north of the city of Kushiro, is Japan’s largest marshland with a width bigger than the size of the center of Tokyo. We will learn about the wildlife and vegetation of Kushiro area and acknowledge the rarity of encounters with wildlife that we will experience from tomorrow. The Japan’s largest submarine canyon is also located in this area and for our first Hokkaido meal, we will savor Kushiro’s unique “seafood robata-yaki”, a traditional way to enjoy fresh local seafood, similar to a barbecue.

Accommodation

Kushiro| Private room with ensuite

Included meals

Dinner at a Local Restaurant

Today, we will visit the homeland of Tanchou, ”the Red-crowned crane” with a local photographer.

An hour’s drive north from the town of Kushiro brings us to the small village of Tsurui, which means “the village where Tanchou live”. It is where you can encounter the wildlife that has been essential to Hokkaido since ancient times, called Sarurun Kamui (God of the Marsh) in the Ainu language. Tanchou were thought to be temporarily extinct in the 19th century due to human overhunting. In Tsurui Village, more than a dozen Tanchou were discovered around 1920, and since then, residents have protected them. The town was named Tsurui Village because it became a habitat and breeding ground for the specially protected Tanchou. Today, the population has been revived to over 1,500 birds, but they are now facing a new stage of coexistence with humans due to their dependence on feeding and destruction of farmland.

The Ito Sanctuary was established on the land owned by Mr. Ito, who started feeding Tanchou in 1966 while working as a dairy farmer in Tsurui Village. Mr. Ito supported the conservation of Tanchou by serving as a feeder and monitor of them on commission in Hokkaido. After a lecture by an expert on coexistence with Tanchou, we will experience the ecology of them and human coexistence through photographing and observing them.

We will visit the studio of Mr. Wada, a famous local photographer in Hokkaido, and have lunch while exchanging opinions on wildlife conservation.

In the afternoon, we will visit a place only known by the local photographer that is the home of birds such as Ural owls. *Wild animals cannot be guaranteed to be seen

Accommodation

Kushiro| Private room with ensuite

Included meals

Breakfast, Lunch

* Dinner can be eaten anywhere around the hotel or at the hotel on your own. Your guide will assist you with your requests.

Enjoy a 2 hours train ride on the 135 km railway Hanasaki Line that connects JR Kushiro station and JR Nemuro station. On this scenic route that passes through a wetland registered in the Ramsar Convention and has the highest wildlife encounter rate in Japan, observe Ezo deer, fox and birds from the train window. We will also see forests, farms and the Pacific. Our journey will end at JR Ochiishi Station, 16 km before Nemuro Station.

After arriving at the local station, we will drive to Ochiishi fish port and will enjoy a lunch box cooked by local women with ingredients caught in Ochiishi to contribute to local production for local consumption.

We will take a fishing boat accompanied by a professional local fisherman with 40 years of fishing experience to a local hole-in-the-wall spectacular spot. For 2.5 hours overall, we will observe up close wild birds and endangered sea otters.

At a café along the frozen lake where we will be shooting tomorrow morning, Mr. Kawamura, the owner of Lake Sunset, will give us a lecture on the history of his eagle photography and the seasonal changes of Lake Furen over a coffee break, which will make tomorrow’s shooting even more meaningful.

In the town of Nemuro, home to Japan’s easternmost sake brewery, we will enjoy a night out, savoring dishes that go well with sake.

Accommodation

Nemuro| Private room with ensuite | Spa

Included meals

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner at local restaurant

In the morning, we will head to Lake Sunset where there is a café that also serves as an accommodation facility located at the entrance to Nemuro City, right in front Lake Furen. Lake Furen is one of the world’s greatest bird sanctuaries and one of the largest swan migration sites in Japan. As the swans leave the lake for warmer waters before the lake freezes over, it becomes an excellent spot to see white-tailed eagles and Steller’s sea eagles up close.

After having taken plenty photos of eagles, we will move to the small fish port where we will take part in the traditional smelt fishing. This traditional method of fishing takes place during the winter season from mid-January to mid-March when the lake is frozen. Snowmobiles are used to travel over the iced lake to the point where the fish are caught. As fishes other than Japanese smelt are dumped on the snow, white-tailed eagles, Steller’s sea eagles and crows fly in for the sake of it. Some of the white-tailed eagles are currently nesting around this area. We will taste fresh Japanese smelt at the port and warm up with hot Japanese Sake while watching wild animals.

Enjoy creative cuisine such as Ezo deer meat from Nemuro for our dinner.  In Hokkaido, the ever-increasing number of Ezo deer is causing serious damage to agriculture and deforestation. In an effort to solve this problem, Ezo deer meat is being actively used as a precious blessing from the forest, and activities are being carried out to maintain an appropriate number of animals.

Today’s whole tour will make us to be more conscious about the coexistence of humans and wildlife.

Accommodation

Nemuro| Private room with ensuite | Spa

Included meals

Breakfast, Light Lunch, Dinner at local restaurant

After having a relaxing breakfast, we will check out the hotel and drive back to Kushiro city for over 2 hours with a refreshment stop. The scenery from the van will differ from what we saw two days ago on the train.

Dr. Saito and other experts will give us a backyard tour and have a discussion session at the Institute for Raptor Biomedicine Japan, where wild animals are protected in a sustainable way. For those animals that cannot return to the wild and have to be kept in captivity for their entire lives, the Institute respects their natural way of living and seeks out their potential. In order to deal with each life, the Institute implements breeding methods that involve them in environmental treatment, accident prevention, rescue of injured animals and environmental education activities. By grasping this fact and sharing with people around us after enjoying this wildlife tour, and by donating the entire amount of the lecture fee, we believe that we too, in no small way, can make a difference by being a responsible visitor coexisting peacefully with the local wildlife.

Then we’ll head to Kushiro Airport and have a last toast at the airport restaurant before

we fly back to Tokyo.

Included meals

Breakfast, Lunch