Things to do in Kushiro：Kushiro City Tanchozuru Nature Park

A park where you can get up close to gracefully dancing red-crowned cranes

The red-crowned crane, designated as a special natural monument of the country, is not only known for its beauty, but also as a symbol of lifelong marital bliss.
Kushiro City Tancho Crane Nature Park, which is about 10 minutes by car from Tancho Kushiro Airport, is commonly known as “Tsuru Park.” The park was opened in 1958 with the aim of protecting and breeding red-crowned cranes, which are in danger of extinction, and in 1970, the world’s first successful artificial hatching of red-crowned cranes was achieved. It is also known as a facility with excellent techniques for artificial hatching and rearing, and the first director, Ryoji Takahashi, is also famous as the “man who became a crane” who taught young birds how to fly instead of their parents.

 

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chibisaya(@chibisayaaaa)がシェアした投稿

Here, red-crowned cranes are raised in an environment close to nature, and you can see more than a dozen of them up close throughout the year. From May to June, you may even be able to see chicks covered in brown downy hair. If your timing is right, you might even get a chance to see the charming red-crowned cranes raising their young.

 

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ake_rai(@ake.rai)がシェアした投稿

The exhibition room in the administration building introduces the history of the park and the process of artificial hatching through panels and photos. There is also a lecture room where you can take a break while watching the red-crowned cranes from the window. Also, be sure to stop by the shop selling souvenirs with red-crowned crane motifs.

 

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(@landscapes__of__japan)がシェアした投稿

Aiming for coexistence with the elegantly dancing red-crowned cranes

Until the middle of the 19th century, wetlands were everywhere in Hokkaido, and it seems that red-crowned cranes were not that rare a bird. However, when settlers arrived from Honshu during the Meiji period, the wetlands were turned into farmland, and because there were no hunting regulations, they were overhunted, and the red-crowned cranes disappeared in just 20 to 30 years.

 

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(@mk.nuts)がシェアした投稿

In 1924, the few remaining ten or so red-crowned cranes were discovered in the Kushiro Wetlands, and the following year, the area became a no-hunting area and a national conservation policy began.
In 1935, it was designated as a national natural monument, and in 1952, it was designated as a special natural monument as the “Kushiro crane,” including its breeding site, and in 1967, the species was designated as a special natural monument without a specific area. It was done.

 

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asami(@ahomin0208)がシェアした投稿

In 1935, the Kushiro Country Red-crowned Crane Protection Association was formed by local people and conservation activities began. Its purpose was to prevent poaching and spread conservation ideas. Their activities were suspended during the war, but they resumed their activities as early as 1946, when even their lives were inconvenient after the war.

 

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Kenichi Takahashi(@nonpojapan)がシェアした投稿

In 1957, the conservation group decided on a plan to construct a crane park for the purpose of protecting and propagating the cranes as a concrete project, and formed the “Tancho Crane Natural Park Construction Preparation Association,” which worked on the construction through public and private cooperation. Despite suffering from financial difficulties and having to collect donations from all over the country, Tsuru Park was born here in August 1958.
We pledge to continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the red-crowned cranes, which soar gracefully in the air above the wetlands, are the pride of our hometown and that we can live together with them forever.

Link：Hokkaido official tourism website

Link：Kushiro/Lake Akan tourism official website