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Akan-Mashū NP, Hokkaido
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A 2009–2012 satellite study tracked Kussharo swans on a roughly 3,000-km, 40-day spring journey via Sakhalin and the Amur to Russia’s Indigirka and lower Kolyma rivers.
Even when winter ice closes most of Kussharo, geothermal springs keep lakeshore patches open. Swans from Siberia gather in these warm refuges to feed and rest through the coldest months.
Ainu records from Kussharo include retatcir, literally “white bird” (retar, white + cir, bird)—a wonderfully direct name for the whoopers that brighten the lake each winter.
At Kussharo Kotan, swan-watching can come with a soak: the lakeside open-air onsen lets bathers watch whooper swans on the water in winter, according to Japan’s official tourism database.
At a 2016 National Park Junior Ranger day, 14 participants counted swans at Sunayu and checked the temperature of its bubbling springs—fieldwork linking winter wildlife to the lake’s geothermal warmth.
The Wild Bird Society of Japan says feeding supports about 300 wintering whoopers here—more than natural food alone can sustain. In 2025, rangers urged visitors not to feed them, as crowding may spread avian flu.
