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Kushiro Wetlands

HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > Kushiro Wetlands

Spot Japan’s iconic cranes and paddle down Kushiro River

Kushiro Tourism & Convention Association

The Kushiro Wetlands (Kushiro-shitsugen) National Park in Eastern Hokkaido is Japan’s largest marshland, also encompassing the Kushiro River and its tributaries. It is a valuable habitat for water birds and a wide variety of other wildlife. Once thought to be extinct, a colony of the birds was miraculously discovered in the Kushiro area in 1924. It was designated as a Special Natural Monument in 1952, and preservation activities continue to this day.

Canoe down the Kushiro River, which gently meanders through the wetlands. Listen to the sounds of nature: you will hear the murmuring of the river and birds singing. Floating on the river enables you to experience the wetlands from the perspective of waterfowl and feel a part of nature. Not only an activity for the warm summer months, you can also take a short paddle on the river in winter to experience it at its most serene – and coldest – time of year.

How to get there

It takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes from Haneda Airport to Kushiro Airport, about 50 minutes from Kushiro Airport to Kushiro Station by airport shuttle bus, and about 50 minutes from Kushiro Station to Toro Station.

Toro, Shibecha-cho, Kawakami-gun, Hokkaido