East Hokkaido · TsuruiNo.929★★Open in map →
Tsurui Crane Feeding Grounds
A dairy valley north of the Kushiro Wetland that turns into crane country every winter. Two public feeding grounds and a bridge above the river roost put the birds within sight from open ground that costs nothing to stand on.
- FromKushiro Station
- ~75 minAkan Bus
- Get off atTsuruimura Yakuba-mae (Akan Bus Tsurui Line)
- On foot
- Tsurui Crane Feeding Grounds
The sweet spot
This is not an undiscovered place. Wildlife photographers come here from all over the world, and the viewing spots fill in peak season. What thins the crowd is the calendar and the clock: the cranes are only here in the cold months, the roost is only visible at first light, and most visitors arrive by car in the middle of the day.
Where it is
102 more notes in Hokkaido · open the map →What to look for
- Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuarythe Wild Bird Society of Japan's feeding ground, with a nature centre open through the season
- Tsurumidaithe village's second feeding ground, right beside the bus road with its own stop
- Otowa Bridgethe one vantage over the night roost that does not push the birds off the water
- Setsuri Riverthe shallow stream below the bridge that stays unfrozen and holds the cranes overnight
How to actually get there
- Kushiro Station → Tsuruimura Yakuba-mae (Akan Bus, Tsurui Line, about 1 hour).
- Tsuruimura Yakuba-mae → Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary (about 1 km on foot, roughly 15 minutes).
- Watch the feeding ground from the nature centre, then ride the Tsurui Line back toward Kushiro and get off at Tsurumidai for the second ground.
- For the river roost, come on a separate morning and be at Otowa Bridge before sunrise.
- Akan Bus Tsurui Line from Kushiro Station
- JR Kushiro Station →(Akan Bus, Tsurui Line, about 1 hour)→ Tsuruimura Yakuba-mae stop, then about 1 km on foot, roughly 15 minutes, to the sanctuary. Departures on this line are limited, so check the timetable with Akan Bus before you set out.
- Back to Kushiro on the same line
- Return from Tsuruimura Yakuba-mae on the Tsurui Line to Kushiro Station. This is a rural route with few runs, so decide which departure you are taking before you walk out to the sanctuary, and confirm the last one of the day with the operator.
About the place
Tsurui lies in the hills above the Kushiro Wetland, in eastern Hokkaido. The valley is dairy country, and in winter its snow-covered pasture becomes wintering ground for the red-crowned crane, a bird protected in Japan as a Special Natural Monument. Two feeding grounds work through the cold season: the Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary, run by the Wild Bird Society of Japan, and Tsurumidai, a roadside ground a short way closer to Kushiro. At the sanctuary alone, as many as 300 cranes gather at the height of the season. Both sit on working farm land, so the birds stand on open snow rather than behind glass.
How to enjoy it
The sanctuary feeds the cranes from November through March, and its nature centre is open 9:00 to 16:00 in that season, with set closing days each week. Tsurumidai holds birds from about December to March and sits directly on the bus road, so the two can be paired in a single day. For the roost at Otowa Bridge, arrive at first light — the cranes leave the river once the sun is up.
Background & history
The red-crowned crane was thought lost from Japan until about a dozen birds were found in the Kushiro marshes in 1924. The species was designated a Special Natural Monument in 1952, and this village, which had taken its name from the cranes living here, became a centre of the recovery effort. In 1966 a local dairy farmer, Yoshitaka Ito, began putting out feed on his own land each winter. The Wild Bird Society of Japan opened its sanctuary on that same land in 1987.
Before you go
- Cash
- Entry to the sanctuary has been free. Carry cash for the bus, and check the current fare with Akan Bus rather than planning around a fixed figure.
- Before you go
- This is a winter subject: outside the cold season there is no feeding and no gathering, and the nature centre is shut from spring to autumn. It also closes on set days each week. The village asks visitors to stay within the marked areas at the feeding grounds and roosts, not to startle the birds, and not to use flash.
- Another way
- By car it is about 50 minutes from JR Kushiro Station to the sanctuary, and Tsurumidai sits on the same road, nearer the city. A car is the only practical way to be at Otowa Bridge before sunrise, since the bus does not run that early.
- After you get off
- From the Tsuruimura Yakuba-mae stop the sanctuary lies east-southeast along the road, past the village centre. It is a cleared rural road with snowbanked verges in winter, so allow more time than the distance suggests and wear boots with grip.