Winter Bird Photography
What you'll see
The journey, one day at a time
Arrive Kushiro
Arrive in Kushiro, met and transferred to your accommodation. The red-crowned crane, symbol of longevity in Japan, performs its courtship dance in the Kushiro snow — a photographer's dream.
Kushiro
Crane feeding stations and the winter wetland. Photograph the dancing red-crowned cranes in the snow.
Kushiro
A full day of cranes, eagles and swans.
To Rausu
Transfer to Rausu. A dawn cruise among sea eagles on the drift ice. Drift ice and eagles by boat, with coastal wildlife.
Rausu
Drift ice and eagles by boat, with coastal wildlife. A full day of sea-eagle and drift-ice photography. Off Rausu, hundreds of Steller's sea eagles gather on the winter drift ice — one of the planet's great raptor spectacles.
To Shiretoko National Park
Transfer to Shiretoko National Park. A wilderness cruise for coastal brown bears. The UNESCO coast by boat, with bears and eagles.
Shiretoko National Park
The UNESCO coast by boat, with bears and eagles. A full day of Shiretoko's wild coast and wildlife. Shiretoko's roadless, UNESCO-listed coast is the wildest in Japan — brown bears on the shore, eagles overhead, whales offshore.
Departure
A final morning in Shiretoko National Park — a last outing or a slow start as time allows — before the transfer onward and the journey home.
The season changes what you see.
Peak season
Peak crane season — the dancing and snowy backdrops.
Good season
Cranes are resident; winter is the spectacle.
Hand-picked camps & lodges
Akan Tsuruga Besso Hinanoza
A refined hot-spring ryokan at Lake Akan, the area's most luxurious stay.
Kitakobushi Shiretoko Hotel & Resort
A seafront hot-spring resort at Utoro, the gateway to Shiretoko's cruises.
Shiretoko Daiichi Hotel
A comfortable hot-spring hotel well placed for the Rausu sea-eagle cruises.
Kushiro Prince Hotel
A reliable city hotel in Kushiro, convenient for the crane sites.
Rausu Daiichi Hotel
A simple, welcoming hotel in the Rausu fishing port.
KIKI Shiretoko Natural Resort
A relaxed mountain-style resort near the Shiretoko trailheads.
Make it yours.
Add nights, swap a park, extend to the coast — this route is a starting point, not a fixed menu. Tell us how you travel and we'll route the rest.