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Kushiro Shitsugen NP, Hokkaido
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Researchers studying cranes at Kottaro in 1990 watched adults gather reeds to make a simple bed for their chick soon after it left the nest. The marsh’s everyday plants became a nursery.
A steep sandy cut beside the gravel approach road can reveal shell fossils—a surprising clue that this lowland was once under the sea. Today, reeds and sedges spread across that ancient seabed.
In winter, groups of sika deer numbering in the hundreds gather on the east side of Kottaro Marsh, according to an Environment Ministry management plan. Deer are also seen along the marsh roads year-round.
From the 96 m-high lookout, a 270-degree panorama reveals the Kottaro River’s winding bends and crescent-shaped oxbow ponds—old river loops left behind as the channel shifted across the marsh.
Researchers used the observatory as a fixed point during winter crane surveys. In December–February 2015–16, they repeatedly found cranes within 200 m of a spring or river in Kottaro Marsh.
A Kushiro wetland park ranger explains that “Kottaro” is an Ainu name meaning “place with spring water.” The name suits the view: springs from the surrounding hills help sustain this broad wetland.
After a series of typhoons in 2016, a park ranger photographed water from Kottaro’s tributaries spreading a normally narrow, river-side pond into a much larger pool. Wetland views can change with the water.
