[Nemuro City] Popular bird watching destination

120km east of Kushiro, jutting out into the Pacific Ocean, the Nemuro Peninsula is about 30km long and 8km wide. With the Pacific Ocean to the south and Sea of Okhotsk to the north, it is embraced by the water. What's more, at the root of the peninsula are several areas registered in the Ramsar Convention, including Lake Fuuren, Onneto, and other brackish wetlands.

The Nemuro area overall is now known as a wild bird sanctuary, with roughly 360 varieties to be found! With over half the wild bird species of Japan represented here, bird watchers from not only Japan but all over the world come to see.

Among the best spots are Shunkunitai, or the seven scattered bird watching hides. What's more, with the Falling Rocks Nature Cruise, you can get up close to these wild birds, and every winter Nemuro City hosts the wild-bird friendly Nemuro Bird Land Festival.

A Paradise for Wild Birds! Shunkunitai is a bird watching mecca.

When in Nemuro, this place is considered an absolute necessity for your bird watching pilgrimage. The great holy land of birds, Shunkunitai, is located in the southeast corner of Lake Fuuren. Shunkunitai is a thin sandbar between Lake Fuuren and Nemuro Bay, and is called A Paradise for Wild Birds. That's because this narrow sandbar holds coastal land, grassland, wetland, broadleaf and conifer forests, marshland, tideland, salt marshes...a world of environments in one place. This is why so many birds gather here.

Thus far, about 260 species of bird have been catalogued in this area. Here, seaside gulls dance in a sky filled with mountain-living blue tail song. The protected Red-crowned crane walks the wetlands, and raptors like white-tailed eagles spread their wings while migratory birds like whooping swans and ducks come through in spring and fall. It truly is a paradise... Why not come observe nature and follow the birds in this wondrous landscape?

There are also rangers from the Japanese Wild Bird Society at the Nemuro City Shunkunitai Wild Bird Sanctuary Nature Center, a place to observe and learn about nature.


◆How to get from Kushiro to Nemuro
By Train: Take JR Nemuro Honsen (Hanasakisen) toward Nemuro from Kushiro Station to Nemuro Station (about 2 hours 40 minutes ride).
Rental Car: Take National Highway 44 east for about 124km. There is also a route along the Pacific Ocean following highway 142.

◆Nemuro City Shunkunitai Wild Bird Sanctuary Nature Center 　103 Tobai, Nemuro Tel: +81-153-25-3047 http://www.marimo.or.jp/~nemu_nc/workn/english/index-e.htm

Bus: Take the Nemuro Kotsu bus toward Atoko from Nemuro Station to the Tobai bus stop. It's a 2 minute walk.
Rental Car: Take National Highway 44 west from Nemuro City for about 12km.

◆For information about Nemuro Sightseeing:
Nemuro City Tourist Association Tel: +81-153-24-3104

The 7 bird watching hides are musts when visiting Nemuro

As of 2017, there are 7 different spots with camouflaged bird-watching enclosures (hides or blinds) scattered all over the Nemuro area. The types of birds you can see from each one differ, so they're a real treat for true bird fans.
The Tobai Hide is very near to Shunkunitai, and you can see cranes, whooping swans, Steller's sea eagles, white tailed eagles, stonechats and various ducks.
The tourist spot Meiji Park hosts the Meiji Park Hide, where you can find eastern turtle doves, long-tailed rose finches, cuckoos, Japanese nightingales, and more.
There are also the Shimin no Mori Hide, the Nosappu Cape Hide and Onne Hide where you can watch Pacific seabirds, and the Bettoga Springs Hide along the Bettoga Footpath. Why not come see how astonishingly close you can see these wild birds from our hides?

◆How to get from Kushiro to Nemuro
By Train: Take JR Nemuro Honsen (Hanasakisen) toward Nemuro from Kushiro Station to Nemuro Station (about 2 hours 40 minutes ride).
Rental Car: Take National Highway 44 east for about 124km. There is also a route along the Pacific Ocean following highway 142.

Tobai Hide - Always open: 218 Tobai, Nemuro City.　Alongside National Highway 44, about 20 minutes from JR Nemuro Station by car.
Meiji Park Hide - Opening Hours March-Oct. 6:00 am - 5:00 pm; Nov-Feb 7:00 am - 4:00 pm. Makinouchi, Nemuro City. About 5 minutes from JR Nemuro Station by car.
Shimin no Mori Hide - Always open:　Honioi, Nemuro City. About 10 minutes from JR Nemuro Station by car.
Nosappu Cape Hide - Opening Hours: March-Oct. 6:00 am - 5:00 pm; Nov-Feb 7:00 am - 4:00 pm. Nosappumisaki, Nemuro City. About 35 minutes from JR Nemuro Station by car.
Onne Hide - Always open Onnemoto, Nemuro City. About 45 minutes from JR Nemuro Station by car.
Bettoga Springs Hide - When walking along Bettoga path, please contact Akesato☆Ito Dairy Farm at Tel: +81-153-26-2181. Gate key and route map are ¥200. Bettoga, Nemuro City. About 40 minutes by car from JR Nemuro Station to Bettoga Station, then about 2 hours by foot one way.

◆For information about Nemuro Sightseeing:
Nemuro City Tourist Association Tel: +81-153-24-3104

The incredible feeling of watching the sunrise from Nosappu Cape, Hokkaido's easternmost point!

If you come to Nemuro, then you must go out to the very tip of the Nemuro Peninsula, Nosappu Cape. At 145°49"1' east latitude, this is mainland Japan's Easternmost point. There is a monument there reading "Nosappu Cape - Mainland Japan's Easternmost Point," and a lighthouse erected in 1872, making it Hokkaido's oldest.

The Sea of Okhotsk lies to the north, and on clear days you can see Kunashiri Island and the Shiretoko Peninsula. The Pacific Ocean is to the south. To the east, you can see Kaigara and Susho Islands in the Habomai Archipelago. Looking out at these tiny islands surrounded by indigo sea creates a sense of being at the eastern edge of the world.

And since Nosappu Cape is the first place in the islands to see the sunrise, it's very popular with tourists to come see the first sunrise of the new year. Watching the sun pain the sea gold from this spot, you can say "I was among the first to see this day's sun." That truly would be a day to remember.


◆How to get from Kushiro to Nemuro
By Train: Take JR Nemuro Honsen (Hanasakisen) toward Nemuro from Kushiro Station to Nemuro Station (about 2 hours 40 minutes ride).
Rental Car: Take National Highway 44 east for about 124km. There is also a route along the Pacific Ocean following highway 142.

◆How to get from Nemuro City to Nosappu Cape
Bus: Take the Nemuro Kotsu Bus (Nosappu Line) toward Nosappu from the Nemuro Station Bus Terminal to the last stop, Nosappumisaki. (About 44 minutes ride).
Rental Car: About 35 minutes from JR Nemuro Station by car.

◆For information about Nemuro Sightseeing:
Nemuro City Tourist Association Tel: +81-153-24-3104