I took a private tour to Japan in summer - it was a birding tour but my clients also wanted to visit a number of cultural attractions including Kyoto, Nagasaki (including the Saga pottery works), Hiroshima, and Kanazawa. It was my first visit to the memorial at Hiroshima, even though I have been to Hiroshima before. If you are not a rampant pacifist by the time you walk out of here, you would have to be made of stone. It is incredibly moving, very hard work and should be seen once in one's lifetime. The town of Saga is nice enough but the pottery is outstanding and I bought a couple of gorgeous pieces. Other cultural sites are pleasant and any trip to Japan should include a small detour or two to take them in, but I am a birder not a culture vulture! So here is some information, opinions and guidance on birding in my second home, 日本.

SITES
Details of how to get to these sites and where to bird can be found in A Birdwatcher's Guide to Japan by Mark Brazil. If you read Japanese there are many very good sites guides - my favourites are 日本の探鳥地 (Nihon no Tancho-chi) in two volumes for west and east Japan. They have some really useful little maps. I have included some kanji in this report where it may assist navigation.

Miike in the Ebino-Kogen National Park
A beautiful area with wonderful evergreen, subtropical forest and lots of fascinating volcanic activity. Be warned though, if you stay at Ebino-Kogen village, the drive to Miike is a long one of at least an hour. The popular Ebino-Kogen Sou minshuku has a very pleasant onsen (hot spring). The Fairy Pitta had arrived just two days earlier according to some local birders I got chatting with but we missed it due to the untimely arrival of a very late typhoon! Ruddy Kingfisher is heard frequently here but seems to be much easier to see on Okinawa.

Amami Oshima
Amami is great! It is like a small, laid-back version of a bigger Japan with all its best aspects and fewer of its less appealing ones! The people are more relaxed and pleasant. Although the usual conservation concerns apply, the forest along the Kinsakubaru Road is sensational.

Okinawa - Yanbaru Nature Reserve
It's well worth spending a little bit of time around Naha looking at the castle and some of the historic sites such as the Nakamura house. The culture and traditions of Okinawa are quite distinct from those of the rest of Japan and these sites well illustrate those differences. To say Okinawa is like a mixture of Japanese and Taiwanese culture is to lessen it somewhat, there is no doubt it has a value all its own. Those with an interest in World War II history will find plenty to do here - Okinawa was the site of some decisive battles of the Pacific war. The Himeyuri no To memorial to a group of schoolgirls and teachers who worked as nurses during the war is very moving. On the happier side, the Okinawa Aquarium near Nago is very, very impressive and highly recommended.

The main attraction for the birder is without doubt the beautiful Yanbaru forest in the north of the island. The drive is quite comfortable and quick on the expressway to from Naha to Nago and then on Route 58 to Hentona. Takes about 2 hours. From Hentona to the forest is just a short drive of 10-15 minutes along the coast road and through winding forest roads. Many people stay at Hotel Miyashiro, a very insalubrious place but convenient. There is a nearby Yakiniku-ya (Korean bbq) restaurant that should not be missed! Birding along any of the rindo (林道 meaning forest road) between okuni rindo and Fungawa dam will pay off. I found the okuni rindo (大国林道) to be the most productive and easily found Okinawa Rail foraging on the road at dawn. One other thing - the place is alive with herptiles, we saw four species and the spectacular Ryukyu Fire-bellied Newt was very common.

Kamikochi
Although this site is not regularly visited by foreign birders it is not only one of the most scenically beautiful places in the world but the birding is excellent. The impressive mountains of the Japan Alps surround a valley of temperate forest and wetlands. There are some delightful walks here along the Asukagawa river to Taishoike (pond) and to Myoujinike (pond), mountain climbing is a popular past-time here but the majority of people enjoy noisy walks in the forest - avoid weekends! At 1500 metres it can be very cold even in summer. Recently, the road has been closed to private vehicles so now it is necessary to park below the pass and catch a bus or taxi up the one way road to the resort. Brown Dipper, Japanese Robin and Lesser Cuckoo were common at the time of our visit. At least four Long-billed Plovers were seen on sand bars in the crystal-clear Asukagawa. With more time, I would love to climb higher to look for Rock Ptarmigan. 

Oarai - Tomakomai ferry to Hokkaido
The ferry leaves at midnight so be ready to go to sleep as soon as you hit your room because you will need to be up at 0430 in order to make the most of this terrific opportunity to do some comfortable and exciting pelagic birding. The ferry follows the coast up through the Tsugaru Straits to Tomakomai in south Hokkaido. There is never a dull moment and the ship is so stable that it is possible to use a scope on deck. Almost all of the other passengers are truck drivers so you will get odd looks most of the day (they only venture outside to smoke and break the boredom - they should try birding!) but most are pretty friendly. The highlights of the day were the albatrosses and all those fabulous Alcids! See the bird list.

Utonaiko
An excellent and very popular destination for local and visiting birders alike. Reed Bunting appears to be quite common. Many of the waterbirds stick around for summer here as there is a feeding station on the lake shore so winter visitors such as Whooper and Mute swans and Bean Goose can be seen here. Waterfowl are quite scarce in summer but the forest is good for thrushes and the like. Utonaiko is easily reached from Tomakomai or Chitose (if you fly into Hokkaido - this is the airport that services Sapporo), it is about a 15 minute drive from either.

Shikotsu-Toya National Park
This is a fantastically picturesque volcanic lake surrounded by lovely, birdy forest and steaming volcanoes. The Shikotsu-ko Onsen is a great place to base a stay as it's surrounded by the forest, has a very nice onsen and a couple of active feeders, at which I saw Japanese Grosbeak and Red Squirrel amongst others. The food is also good - especially the crab zosui. Hokkaido is famous for its seafood - there is nowhere better! Apart from the excellent birding, it is well worth walking up to the crater rim of Tarumaezan, an active volcano. It is often very windy and later I found that my ears had totally filled with sand but it was well worth it for the view.

Daisetsu-zan National Park
This is a great place for a number of high altitude species including Eurasian Nutcracker, Japanese Accentor and Pine Grosbeak. We stayed at Sounkyu, a ski resort town at the base of Kurodake Mountain. From here you take the ropeway and the chairlift almost to the summit. Even at this time of the year there is plenty of snow on the summit and quite a few diehard skiers. To get to the vegetation it is necessary to walk across the melting snow - not always as easy as it sounds. Lower down, the Ishikarigawa river is a good place to look for Harlequin Duck and a few other nice things in the bordering forest. The whole area is delightfully picturesque with dramatic gorges, clear fast running streams and rivers, pretty forests and impressive mountains.

Rishiri Island
This small island off the north west coast of Hokkaido is often referred to as Rishiri Fuji for its resemblance to the much better known Mount Fuji. And it certainly is impressive! It's a short ferry trip over from Wakkanai with not a great deal of interest en route. There is some excellent forest on the island at Oshidomari and Himenuma, where we found Grey's Grasshopper Warbler to be common and very skulking , but there are a lot of very noisy tourists and nothing exceptional. I would not include this on a birding tour in future. Wakkanai is interesting for being a multilingual town with all signposts in Japanese, Russian and English - in that order. Around Wakkanai there are some excellent reserves protecting some important marshlands - Sarobetsu National Park, Mokeuni-numa, Pon-numa, Kucharo-ko - where some interesting waterfowl and grassland birds can be seen. The drive from Wakkanai along the coast to Abashiri is simply superb and it was worth the trip to this remote part of Japan for this alone.

Notsuke Hanto (Peninsula)
A truly remarkable geographical feature, this peninsula is a low-lying sand spit, seemingly only just above sea level, covered with salt marshes and sparse forest. In some spots volcanic steam rises from the marshes creating a very eerie spectacle. We spent a day here en route to Furen-ko from Kawayu. Birding from the car was quite productive and this seems to be one of the best places to find the elegant Japanese Crane in summer. A trail at Todowara, about two thirds of the way along the peninsula, has an excellent boardwalk from which to view waders and other open country birds. Yellow-breasted Bunting used to be common here and at many other sites but you would be lucky to find it nowadays. See this page here for more info.

Furen-ko Lake
This is undoubtedly the most important and exciting birding site in Hokkaido, and arguably in Japan. If you can, stay with Matsuo-san (a tip - never refer to yourself as such-and-such san - this is considered to be so conceited as to be beyond the pale!) at Minshuku Furen. It is basically a home stay and the Mrs. Matsuo's home cooking could end up being the highlight of your entire trip - and I am including the birds. Be prepared to share the table and possibly your room with other friendly Japanese birders. I love this place! Don't worry about language barriers, just enjoy.

There is plenty of scope for birding in this area but do spend as much time as you can afford in the forests around Shunkunitai, a low-lying island at the lake's north-east opening to the sea. There is an excellent boardwalk trail that leads you through the saline marshes and marshy conifer forest with its many old trees and snags. I found a stunning Water Rail just by the boardwalk and watched it for five minutes. The Eurasian Wrynecks also put on a great show while I was there. The back roads past Minshuku Furo-so are well worth some time especially for the displaying Latham's Snipe, which are quite remarkable. A place called Hattaushi (Eight cows) Bridge is good for Blakiston's Fish Owl. Some interesting waterfowl can be found anywhere along the coast between Furen and Notsuke. Cape Ochiishi and Kiritappu are very atmospheric places if you can see through all the mist! An aside to one of the stallholders at Kiritappu that it was very foggy, elicited the response that "Well, that's why it's called Kiritappu!" (meaning "full of fog").

Tsurui
The Kushiro Marshes National Park near Tsurui is probably more interesting during the winter but is nevertheless scenically fascinating with some excellent birding. Arguably, the main reason to visit the area is that Onnenai in the park's central west is one of the few reliable sites to see Yellow-breasted Bunting. This site is an extensive area of seasonally inundated reed swamp interspersed with beech forest. A boardwalk leads through the forest to an open marshy area where the bird can be seen with patience.

Nikko-Yumoto National Park
The birding around Senjogahara at Yu-no-moto in the national park is excellent. This area is a wonderful mixture of marshland and forest. There are many good hiking trails, especially the Kirikomiko loop trail which takes a full day to walk. Great forest, brilliant scenery and some very nice birds. The only downside is large numbers of noisy schoolkids even on weekdays. Chestnut-eared Bunting is common in the open marshlands, which it appears to favour.

FIELD GUIDES

Field guides remain problematic for English speakers as the only dedicated one for Japan has been out of print for many years now, besides which it is outdated. A Field Guide for the Birds of Korea is a reasonable substitute but beware not only are none of the Japanese endemics included (not surprisingly) but if you already have the Japan field guide they are very similar and the former will be totally redundant. There are rumours of a new book but they have been around for a while now. Not a field guide but essential reading is The Birds of Japan by Mark Brazil (Helm: London, 1991) - a summary of all species recorded in Japan.