insights from frontier Japan

Notsuke Peninsula was cloudless and clear; the wind was light; even my heart was bright. The surface of the accumulated snow melted in the sunlight, before being frozen by the cold of the mornings and evenings, and becoming hard again. Even without snowshoes, our feet did not sink. With only a light jacket and warm shoes, we decided to hike to Todowara.

the Nemuro region. On March 10, two netted deer were sighted near the middle of the 28-kilometer long sandspit. The nonprofit "Notsuke Eco Network", which engages in activities including cleaning projects, is considering tranquilizing the deer with blow-dart-delivered anesthesia to remove the tangled netting.

The ‘kampuboshi’ (drying in the cold sea breeze) of ‘Kenjo Nishibetsu salmon,’ which was originally offered to the Edo Shogunate, has begun in the town of Betsukai in the Nemuro region of eastern Hokkaido. The salted, matured salmon – which hang like drapes in front of the Betsukai Fisheries Cooperative building – have become part of the town’s early winter scenery as they sway in the wind. The drying will continue until early December.

Autumn Hokkai shrimp fishing began on October 25 in Notsuke Bay in the town of Betsukai in the Nemuro region, with 23 ‘Utasebune’ boats belonging to the Notsuke Fisheries Cooperative leaving the port to fish for the first time. The traditional method of fishing that has been carried out since the Meiji era (approximately 150 years ago), in which the nets are pulled by manipulating the triangular sails of the boats according to the wind, will continue until November 6.

It’s mid-winter, and Notsuke Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido is covered with snow and ice. There is no sense of color; just a world of monochrome. No food can be found; just branches covered in thorns. A Hokkaido sika deer starts to nibble on the branch of a hamanasu Japanese rose.

A winter bird, the short-eared owl often rests in dried grass during the day and comes alive in the evening hours. It flies low above snowfields, searching for Japanese red-backed voles to feed on.

To make it through the winter, Steller's sea eagles fly from the Russian Far East to the Notsuke Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido's Betsukai Town. The Sea of Okhotsk is covered in drift ice, making it impossible to catch fish to eat. This drives them to places along the southern limit of drift ice, like the Nemuro Strait.

As the sun rises lazily from the horizon, the silhouette of white-tailed eagles and a sea wind-blown pine tree strike a sharp contrast against the sky.

Brent geese, a ‘natural monument of Japan’ are gathering in Notsuke Bay in the town of Betsukai in Eastern Hokkaido, which is known as a stopover point for migrating birds. At an observation meetup jointly held by Notsuke Peninsula Nature Club and Betsukai Town Folk Museum on the evening of November 29, families gathered to watch the actions of Brent geese as they entered their places of sleep.