insights from frontier Japan

Red-crowned cranes are a nationally protected species, and two of them were confirmed visiting a rice paddy in the Northern Hokkaido town of Haboro on July 9. According to the Hokkaido Seabird Center (Haboro), this is the third time red-crowned cranes have been spotted in Haboro, and the first time in two years, since June 2019.

Pale violet petals sway in the summer breeze as flax plants reach full bloom in farm fields in the village of Sarabetsu in the Tokachi region.

Potato plants are in full bloom at the foot of Mt. Yotei in the town of Kutchan in the Shiribeshi prefecture, which is known as one of Hokkaido’s leading potato producing regions. The sight of fields full of flowers swaying in the breeze is a sign that summer has arrived.

Visitors to the rugged cliffs of the Otamoi coast in the city of Otaru are often overwhelmed by the beauty of the clear sea below, before summer begins in earnest.

Orange Siberian lilies (Lilium pensylvanicum) and other colorful wild flowers have begun to bloom at the Koshimizu Genseikaen Wild Flower Park, a popular tourist spot in the Okhotsk region of eastern Hokkaido. According to the Information Center Hana, the peak of the viewing season for Siberian lilies is from the end of June to early July.

Pretty, white spherical flowers sway in the breeze as the peak of the rhododendron season approaches in the Tsutsujigahara meadow that stretches from Atosanupri (Mt. Io) to Kawayu Onsen in the town of Teshikaga in eastern Hokkaido.

At the Ayamegahara Primeval Flower Garden in Eastern Hokkaido's town of Akkeshi, Ayame Irises are in their viewing season. Horses have been set out to graze on the grassy field from June 1 onward. They eat the weeds around the Ayame Irises, protecting them from weed growth.

Part of the closed Shiretoko Park Prefectural Highway that leads to the Kamuiwakka Hot-spring Falls, a famous sightseeing spot on the Shiretoko Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido was opened on June 1. In no time, tourists who came to visit the falls were enjoying climbing it, as steam rose from the water that cascaded down amid the fresh greenery.

On Northern Hokkaido's Rebun Island, known as "the Floating Island of Flowers", this year the charming cream colored Rebun lady's slipper orchids bloomed in a quiet atmosphere. The viewing season ended around June 10.