Japan: Kushiro

 Sunday, June 25, 2023, Kushiro, Japan

Our ship arrived at 7 am. Our bus tour to the Kushiro City Japanese Crane Reserve left at 8:45 am. It was about a 30 minute bus ride to the nature reserve. 

We had high hopes of seeing tancho (redhead) Japanese cranes in the wild. They are one of the world’s rarest bird species, thought to be extinct until 1926 when 20 birds were discovered. The reserve is for protection and breeding, with large enclosures of chain link fencing with one or two cranes per enclosure, their wings clipped. The enclosures are as close to nature as possible and there is no overhead netting, so occasionally another crane will fly in. You can see them up close here any time of year.

They are tall, striking birds, white with black markings and a large bright red spot on top of their heads. This was the first place in the world to successfully breed tancho cranes. We lucked out and saw a baby with its two parents. The parents were protective of the drab baby, and fed it small fish from a container in the enclosure. 

Mom and dad Tancho Cranes, with baby on the left. We got to see the parents feeding fish to their young.

Very dapper looking red head.

Next on the agenda was the Kushiro Shitsugen National Park, the country’s largest wetland and marsh habitat. Admission was free. It is possible to see wild Tancho cranes here, too, but no luck. Glad we got to see them up close at the reserve.  

We had a time limit to catch the bus back, and there were miles of boardwalk with grassland amidst the marshland. We walked quite a bit of it and saw deer in the distance. We enjoyed the park on a beautiful day.

Back in town, we had time to walk a bit of the small port area, see dog walkers, and watch local performances put on by the port.

Lots of dog walkers in Kushiro

Local performers