The Kushiro Marsh stretches for nearly 27,000 hectares, the largest of its kind in Japan. It contains 60% of Japan's wetlands and is protected by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (an international agreement to protect swamps and marshes). The marsh is about 150 kilometers in circumference.

This July the Kushiro Marsh celebrated its tenth year as a National Park. It is a home to nearly 2,000 animal and botanical species. Among them are 160 species of Japanese birds, including the Tancho, or Japanese Crane.

Photo taken by Seiji Sasaki.