insights from frontier Japan

n March 31, two men who were conducting ecological research on brown bears were attacked by a bear that emerged from its hibernation den on Mt. Sankaku in Sapporo's Nishi-ku. One man received a serious head injury while the other received serious injuries to his arm. Subsequent investigation by the City of Sapporo revealed that the brown bear that attacked them was raising two cubs. The den was only about 500 meters away from a residential area, in a place where hikers and other members of the public could easily have stumbled across it. The increasing bear population has highlighted the fact that the bears' habitat is getting closer to human settlements, and experts warn that, “we need to fundamentally change the perception that bears hibernate deep in the mountains.”

The Hidaka mountain range, which has been unofficially nominated as national park, is dotted with ‘knife ridges,’ that are cut off at both sides. Since the opening of the Nozuka Tunnel on National Highway Route 236 (from the town of Hiroo in the Tokachi region to the town of Urakawa in the Hidaka region), the number of climbers on Mt. Toyoni-dake (1,493 m) has rapidly increased, and this knife ridge is the most difficult traverse.

With the establishment of the Revised Natural Parks Act in April, purposefully hiding near and approaching brown bears is now banned at Shiretoko National Park. A maximum fine of 300,000 yen has been placed on approaching and feeding wild animals. Locally, the Act is expected to deter the acclimating of brown bears to people and prevent accidents involving people and brown bears. Related organizations are gearing up to spread awareness of the new rules.

Seals have been seen on the breakwater in Kushiro Port in eastern Hokkaido and near the mouth of the Kushiro River, which flows into the port. They swim and feed leisurely as fishing boats come and go.

Japanese larch windbreak trees and their shadows stretching across the pure white snow in perfectly straight rows paint a beautiful picture that looks like a tapestry pattern. The scenery was discovered in the air above the town of Shari in the Okhotsk region during an aerial shooting session photographing drift ice.

Amidst the recent succession of pleasantly warm weather, the springtime herald flower fukujuso (Amur adonis) is entering its prime viewing season around the base of Mt. Hakodate.

Mt. Soranuma-dake (1,251 m), a popular mountain with summer hiking courses that take in Bankei-numa Swamp and Mamisu-numa Swamp, boasts a winter-only course that takes in another swamp. On the Kara-numa Swamp Course, hikers walk on the frozen surface of the water.

On March 6, a ‘kuki’ or large shoal of spawning herring was observed near the coast of Asari in the city of Otaru in central Hokkaido, turning approximately 3 km of the surface of the sea a milky white color.

It’s 3:15 p.m. ‘The glow of the firefly’ is played through the speakers to signal closing time at Asahiyama Zoo, and the wolves begin to howl in deep, sharp tones, as the breath they exhale turns white in the cold. The howls and barks come from the timber wolves.

Mt. Horohoro (1,322 m), located in the city of Date in the Iburi region of central Hokkaido, is a place where snow monsters (rime-covered trees) appear during this season, to the delight of climbers.