Shiretoko, Abashiri & Kushiro

Shiretoko, Abashiri & Kushiro

You can thoroughly enjoy Mother Nature at Kamuiwakka Falls and the five lakes of Shiretoko. Abashiri lies on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, which is famous for its drift ice. You can view the magnificent ice from the shore riding the Ryuhyo Norokko train that makes a one-hour run between Abashiri and Shiretoko Shari, or on the sea from an icebreaker that penetrates the floe. At the Abashiri Prison Museum--which is a reconstruction of the original prison that used to be at a different location--there are life-size mannequins placed all around that help provide a realistic look at what the prison's conditions were like and the history of land reclamation in Hokkaido. In Kushiro, where the largest swamp in Japan is, you can see red-crowned cranes, a protected species in Red-Crowned Crane Nature Park. Natural charm abounds around here, with the marimo (moss balls) of Lake Akan, the fog of Lake Masshu, the open-air baths that dot the area around Lake Kussharo and more.

WorldHeritage "Shiretoko"：
http://www.japan-i.jp/heritage/shiretoko/index.html


　　　　　　　　Photo by (c)Tomo.Yun (http://www.yunphoto.net)