Shiretoko知床

Cormorants and white-tailed sea eagles glide over this region. Cliffs stretch for many miles in this unexplored area.

The Shiretoko-hanto Peninsula in northeastern Hokkaido juts out into the Sea of Okhotsk. It is said to be the last unexplored region of Japan, and consists of steep mountain peaks covered with virgin forests. Cormorants and white-tailed sea eagles live there, and the whole area has been designated as a national park. The towns of Utoro and Rausu on the eastern side of the peninsula are the starting points for tourists. Visitors can see the whole of the peninsula and its cliffs by boarding a sightseeing boat that departs from Utoro Port.

Shiretoko is known as a "waterfall kingdom," and many waterfalls can be seen from the sightseeing boat: the warm-water Kamuiwakkayu-no-taki Falls, which gives off steam; Furepe-no-taki Falls, which is so beautiful it is called "maiden's tears;" and Oshinkoshin-no-taki Falls, which flows alongside a road and drops magnificently towards the sea. There are also the Shiretoko-Goko (five lakes), which are small, quiet lakes surrounded by a virgin forest, and known as "the five jewels." You can walk round these five lakes in about an hour. In winter, the coasts of Shiretoko are sometimes surrounded by ice floes.

Utoro and Rausu are connected by the Shiretoko-odan Road. They are known for Rausu konbu, a kind of seaweed, and for hot springs that bubble up into the sea. Makkausu is a cave formed by sea erosion that is covered with luminous moss.