How to tell apart

Telling the cranes apart

Three cranes are Special Natural Monuments. Look at the body colour and the pattern on the head and neck.

Special Natural Monument

Red-crowned Crane

Birds

Grus japonensis

White body with a black neck and a red crown. Lives in eastern Hokkaido all year round.

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Special Natural Monument

White-naped Crane

Birds

Antigone vipio

Grey body with white running from the back of the head down the neck, and red around the eye. A winter visitor.

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Special Natural Monument

Hooded Crane

Birds

Grus monacha

Dark grey body with a white head and neck; the smallest of the three. A winter visitor.

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More features

By seasonLate autumn to early spring

Birds that come for the winter

From late autumn to early spring, cranes, swans, geese and sea eagles arrive from their northern breeding grounds. Some of their wintering sites are themselves designated Natural Monuments.

9 animals

By seasonSpring to summer

Birds that come to raise their young

These birds fly in from their southern wintering grounds in spring and raise their young in Japan over the summer. It is the season to hear and see them in forests and mountains.

6 animals

By seasonEarly summer nights

Fireflies of summer nights

Places where Genji, Heike and Hime fireflies emerge are designated in many parts of Japan. When watching them, keep lights to a minimum and leave the fireflies and their surroundings undisturbed.

3 animals