Wildlife Tourism Japan with Conservationist Eli Sooker

Episode 15 of the Snow Country Stories Japan podcast takes us to the north of Honshu and the prefecture of Akita. Known for its natural beauty and wild landscapes, Akita is a place that my guest Eli Sooker spends much of his time. Eli is a conservationist, writer, wildlife photographer and eco tour guide based in Japan whose current research focuses on bear conservation and specifically, bear attacks. His research is the launching point for our conversation about wildlife conservation and potential of wildlife tourism in Japan.

*All images on this page are the property of Eli Sooker and cannot be used without his permission.

Chances are that when you think of the many reasons to visit Japan, wildlife isn’t the first thing to spring to mind. Yet Japan is home to 34 national parks and many more quasi-national parks, nature reserves and UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks. Most of these are home to abundant wildlife including large mammals such as black and brown bears, serow, deer, monkeys and more. Japan also boasts a huge number of bird species and even more wildlife in its waters. With this in mind, Eli and I discuss the potential of wildlife tourism in Japan. After all, Japan’s hot spring-loving monkeys and its dancing red-crowned cranes are known throughout the world, begging the question why wildlife experiences are not promoted more often especially as a means of attracting visitors to regional areas - after all that’s where you’ll find the national parks.

Eli has a lot of experience working in wildlife conservation and tourism in Japan and with that in mind, I asked him to provide recommendations for wildlife experiences in Japan and specifically, in the snow country that are easy to acess - the first of those recommendations is Picchio Wildlife Research Center. Picchio operates at two locations in Japan’s snow country – Karuizawa in Nagano and Shiretoko in Hokkaido – along with the distant island of Iriomote, one of the Yaeyama Islands of the Okinawan archipelago. As Eli mentions in the interview, he used to work at Picchio Karuizawa and recommends their range of tours including their bear and other wildlife experiences. Located in the mountain resort town of Karuizawa and on the edge of Joshinestu Kogen National Park, Picchio Wildlife Research Center is very easy to get to from Tokyo. To do so, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Karuizawa Station – a journey of 60 to 80 minutes depending on which service you choose – from where local buses or taxis will take you onto Picchio in around 10 to 15 minutes.

Jigokudani Yaen Koen, otherwise known as the Snow Monkey Park, is Eli’s second recommendation. Located in Yamanouchi, Nagano - in the foothills of Joshinetsu Kogen National Park - the monkey park is known for the curious troop of monkeys that visit it. These monkeys are the only troop in the world known to naturally engage in the behaviour of soaking in hot springs. Japanese macaques are also the most northern living monkeys in the world, comfortable in the deep snow of winter. They are however at the park all year round and in many ways spring, summer and autumn are even better times of year to visit. To get there, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagano Station – a journey of 80 to 110 minutes depending on which service you choose – and once there, take the express bus or train followed by local bus to the monkey park. Both options take around 55 minutes.

Eli’s third recommendation is wildlife and nature cruises operating in the waters off Shiretoko National Park in Hokkaido. Awarded World Heritage status in 2005, Shiretoko is renowned for its wildlife including Japan’s largest brown bear population – and boasting one of the highest population densities in the world – along with another known 35 species of land mammals and 22 marine mammals such as orca, sperm whales, dolphins and spotted seals. The national park and World Heritage area accounted for most of the Shiretoko Peninsula, much of which is off limits to most people other than approved researchers and people who have traditionally fished its waters. Wildlife and nature cruises are therefore the only way to experience the wildlife within the national park, and operate from both sides of the peninsula and include Eli’s recommendation of Fox Boat Tours – a company he used to work for - operating out of Uturo. Getting to Shiretoko takes a little more effort given its remoteness. Please refer to the national park website for access details.

We also discuss where you can see the famous red-crowned cranes in Hokkaido. While Eli has not worked with them, he provides details of their conservation story and explains they you can observe them all year round in Kushiro, Hokkaido where Eli suggests visiting Akan International Crane Center. You can follow Eli at website – The Traveling Conservationist – or on Instagram and Facebook. I’d like to say a very big thank you to him for speaking with me. Wildlife tourism has huge potential in Japan therefore it’s a topic I’m certain we’ll visit again in future. I hope you enjoy!

 
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Episode 16 / Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park, Nagano: A Snow Country Stories Japan Travel Guide
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