Hosooka Observatory

From Hosooka Observatory, the view covers Japan's largest wetland, Kushiro Shitsugen, a 29,000-hectare expanse of reeds and sedges crossed by the meandering Kushiro River. The wetland is natural habitat for the red-crowned crane, thought to be extinct until rediscovered here in 1924. The cranes are occasionally visible from this lookout. The entire area was once beneath the sea; as waters retreated around 4,000 years ago, the peat wetland gradually emerged. Three lakes, Toro, Shirarutoro, and Takkobu, formed at the same time. On the horizon, the Akan volcanic range rises, with active Mt. Meakan to the left and dormant Mt. Oakan to the right. Kushiro Shitsugen became Japan's first Ramsar Convention site in 1980.