peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
on the east coast of
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, with its northwestern base in
Shibetsu
is a city located in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan.
As of September 2016, the city has an estimated population of 19,794 and the density of 18 persons per km2. The total area is 1119.29 km2.
On September 1, 2005, the town of ...
and southeast tip in
Betsukai
is a town located in Nemuro Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the S ...
. 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 ...
for
jawbone
In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...
, ''notkeu'' (ノッケウ), purportedly due to the landform's visual resemblance to that of a whale. The curved peninsula, the longest sandspit in the country, with a length of some to , extends into the
Nemuro Strait Nemuro Strait, also called Notsuke Strait and Kunashirsky Strait (russian: Кунаширский пролив), is a strait, located at , separating Kunashir Island of the Kuril Islands, Russia ( claimed by Japan) from the Shiretoko Peninsula, Hokk ...
, which lies between
Shiretoko Peninsula
is located on the easternmost portion of the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, protruding into the Sea of Okhotsk. It is separated from Kunashir Island, which is now occupied by Russia, by the Nemuro Strait. The name Shiretoko is derived from the ...
,
Nemuro Peninsula
The Nemuro Peninsula (根室半島 ''Nemuro-hantō'') is a peninsula which extends from the east coast of Hokkaidō, Japan. It is some long and wide, and forms part of Nemuro City. Cape Nosappu at its tip is the easternmost point of Hokkaidō. ...
, and the
disputed
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...
Sea of Okhotsk
The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...
; it was formed by the deposition of sand
sediment
Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...
carried by the currents in the strait, and itself forms and largely encloses
Notsuke Bay
is a shallow bay in eastern Hokkaido, Japan, separated from Nemuro Bay and the Sea of Okhotsk by the curving Notsuke Peninsula. The bay mouth has a width of some and a maximum depth of ; most of the area of the bay has a depth of less than , m ...
. There remain on the peninsula traces of
Satsumon culture
The is a partially agricultural, archeological culture of northern Honshu and southern Hokkaido (700–1200 CE) that has been identified as Emishi, as a Japanese-Emishi mixed culture, as the incipient modern Ainu, or with all three synonymously. ...
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
samurai were stationed at a checkpoint controlling the crossing to Kunashiri. It is said that from the Edo period to the beginning of the
Meiji period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
there was a settlement known as at the tip of the peninsula, with streets lined with samurai residences and even pleasure quarters, but this is not shown on contemporary maps and is poorly attested in the literature. Prominent features today include withered and eroded stretches of
Sakhalin fir
''Abies sachalinensis'', the Sakhalin fir, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is found in Sakhalin island and southern Kurils (Russia), and also in northern Hokkaido ( Japan).
The first discovery by a European was by Carl Fri ...
(''Abies sachalinensis'') at and
Mongolian oak
''Quercus mongolica'', commonly known as Mongolian oak, is a species of oak native to Japan, China, Korea, Mongolia, and Siberia. The species can grow to be tall.
The flavono-ellagitannin The Flavono-ellagitannins or complex tannins are a cla ...
(''Quercus crispula'') at , while to be found in the Notsuke Peninsula Primeval Flower Garden near Notsukezaki Lighthouse towards the eastern tip are the Kamchatka lily,
Japanese iris
The term "Japanese iris" encompasses three species of Irises cultivated in gardens or growing wild in Japan: ''hanashōbu'' (''Iris ensata''), ''kakitsubata'' ('' Iris laevigata'') and ''ayame'' (''Iris sanguinea''). Of these three species, ''I. ...
,
sea pea
''Lathyrus japonicus'', the sea pea, beach pea, circumpolar pea or sea vetchling, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, native to temperate coastal areas of the Northern Hemisphere and Argentina.
It is a herbaceous per ...
, ''
Rosa rugosa
''Rosa rugosa'' (rugosa rose, beach rose, Japanese rose, Ramanas rose, or letchberry) is a species of rose native to eastern Asia, in northeastern China, Japan, Korea and southeastern Siberia, where it grows on beach coasts, often on sand dunes. ...
'', ''
Eriophorum vaginatum
''Eriophorum'' (cottongrass, cotton-grass or cottonsedge) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, the sedge family. They are found throughout the arctic, subarctic, and temperate portions of the Northern Hemisphere in acid bog ha ...
'', and . The c. stretch of from the base of the peninsula to the nature centre is commonly known as the . Together with Notsuke Bay, Notsuke Peninsula has been designated a
Ramsar Site
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O)
*** Permanent 8 ha (P)
*** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts)
**
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
, and forms part of
Notsuke-Fūren Prefectural Natural Park
is a Prefectural Natural Park in eastern Hokkaidō, Japan. Established in 1962, the park spans the municipalities of Betsukai, Nemuro, and Shibetsu. The park comprises two principal areas, the and Lake Furen.
See also
* National Parks of Japan ...
.
See also
*
List of Ramsar sites in Japan
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. Adopted in 1971, it entered into force in 1975 and as of April 2022 had 1 ...
*
Hokkaidō Heritage
is an initiative aimed at the valorization and transmission to the next generation of the tangible and intangible natural, cultural, historical, and industrial heritage of Hokkaidō, Japan. It is advanced by the , an Nonprofit organization#Japan, ...
*
Nemuro Peninsula Chashi Sites
is a grouping of twenty-four Ainu chashi on the Nemuro Peninsula in Nemuro, Hokkaidō, Japan that have been jointly designated a national Historic Site, out of a total of thirty-two chashi sites identified in the city. The grouping is also the f ...