is an uninhabited island in Hamanaka,

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, Japan. It forms part of

Akkeshi Prefectural Natural Park is a Quasi-National Park in eastern Hokkaidō, Japan. Established in 2021, the park spans the municipalities of Akkeshi, Hamanaka, Kushiro, and Shibecha. It subsumes and replaces the former Akkeshi Prefectural Natural Park, established in 195 ...

. The name is derived from the

Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...

''kene-pok'' or "beneath the alder" (''Alnus japonica''). During studies in 1999, four species of mammal ( long-clawed shrew, grey-sided vole, harbour seal, and visiting sika deer) and forty-one species of birds were recorded on the island; there were no amphibians or reptiles. Of the birds,

Leach's storm petrel Leach's storm petrel or Leach's petrel (''Hydrobates leucorhous'') is a small seabird of the tubenose order. It is named after the British zoologist William Elford Leach. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek. ''Hydrobates'' is from ...

(some twenty thousand pairs), Japanese cormorant,

Japanese snipe Latham's snipe (''Gallinago hardwickii''), also known as the Japanese snipe, is a medium-sized, long-billed, migratory snipe of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. Description The snipe is 29–33 cm long, with a wingspan of 50–54 ...

slaty-backed gull The slaty-backed gull (''Larus schistisagus'') is a large, white-headed gull that breeds on the north-eastern coast of the Palearctic, but travels widely during nonbreeding seasons. It is similar in appearance to the western gull and the glaucou ...

, and

common reed bunting The common reed bunting (''Emberiza schoeniclus'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old German ''Embritz'', a ...

were identified as breeding on Kenbokki. Flora include ,

Hemerocallis esculenta ''Hemerocallis middendorffii'' var. ''esculenta'' (synonym ''Hemerocallis esculenta'') known as nikkōkisuge or zenteika (in Japanese: 日光黄菅 or 禅庭花) is a perennial plant belonging to the family Asphodelaceae. It is native to Japan. ...

, and

lily-of-the-valley Lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis'' (), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate No ...

. Masanori Hata founded after his stay on the island.

References

See also