The wildlife of Japan includes its

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

, and natural

habitats In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

. The islands of

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 Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

stretch a long distance from north to south and cover a wide range of

climatic zone Climate classifications are systems that categorize the world's climates. A climate classification may correlate closely with a biome classification, as climate is a major influence on life in a region. One of the most used is the Köppen climate ...

s. This results in a high diversity of

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

despite Japan's isolation from the mainland of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. In the north of the country, north of

Blakiston's Line The Blakiston Line or Blakiston's Line is a wikt:faunal, faunal boundary line drawn between two of the four largest islands of Japan: Hokkaidō in the north and Honshū, south of it. It can be compared with faunal boundary lines like the Wallace L ...

, there are many

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of humid continental regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and the Cairngorms. Generally, ...

species which have colonized Japan from the north. In the south there are

south-east Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

n species, typical of tropical regions. Between these areas lies the

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

zone which shares many species with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. Japan also has many

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

species that are found nowhere else in the world, making it home to many endangered/rare species.

Fauna

Mammals

About 130 species of land

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

occur in Japan. The largest of these are the two

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

s. The

Ussuri brown bear The Ussuri brown bear (''Ursus arctos lasiotus''), also known as the Ezo brown bear, Russian bear, or the black grizzly bear, is a subspecies of the brown bear or a population of the Eurasian brown bear (''U. a. arctos''). One of the largest br ...

(''Ursus arctos'') is found in

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 ...

, where it plays an important role in the culture of the

Ainu people The Ainu are the indigenous people of the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, including Hokkaido Island, Northeast Honshu Island, Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula and Khabarovsk Krai, before the arrival of the Y ...

. The

Asian black bear The Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia that is largely adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. It lives in the Himalayas, sout ...

(''Ursus thibetanus'') inhabits mountainous areas in

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

and

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

. Smaller

carnivores A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

include the

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

(''Vulpes vulpes''),

raccoon dog The common raccoon dog (''Nyctereutes procyonoides''), also called the Chinese or Asian raccoon dog, is a small, heavy-set, fox-like canid native to East Asia. Named for its raccoon-like face markings, it is most closely related to foxes. Common ...

(''Nyctereutes procyonoides'') and

Japanese marten The Japanese marten (''Martes melampus'') is a marten species endemic to Japan. Description It is in length typically, not counting a long tail, and between in weight. Males are generally larger than females. The pelage varies in color from d ...

(''Martes melampus''). There are two wild

cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

in Japan: the

leopard cat The leopard cat (''Prionailurus bengalensis'') is a small wild cat native to continental South, Southeast, and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List as it is widely distributed although threatened by hab ...

(''Prionailurus bengalensis'') of mainland Asia occurs on

Tsushima Island is an island of the Japanese archipelago situated in-between the Tsushima Strait and Korea Strait, approximately halfway between Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula. The main island of Tsushima, once a single island, was divided into two in 1671 b ...

while the

Iriomote cat The Iriomote cat (''Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis'') is a subspecies of the leopard cat that lives exclusively on the Japanese island of Iriomote. It has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008, as the only p ...

(''Prionailurus iriomotensis'') is unique to the island of

Iriomote is the largest of the Yaeyama Islands of Japan, and the second largest in Okinawa Prefecture after Okinawa Island itself. The island has an area of and a 2005 population of 2,347. The island does not have an airstrip, and most visitors — ov ...

. Grazing mammals include the

sika deer The sika deer (''Cervus nippon''), also known as the Northern spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south to ...

(''Cervus nippon''),

Japanese serow The : (''Capricornis crispus'') ( 羚羊) is a Japanese goat-antelope, an even-toed ungulate mammal. It is found in dense woodland in Japan, primarily in northern and central Honshu. The serow is seen as a national symbol of Japan, and is subj ...

(''Capricornis crispus'') and

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

(''Sus scrofa''). Among Japan's most famous mammals is the

Japanese macaque The Japanese macaque (''Macaca fuscata''), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. Colloquially, they are referred to as "snow monkeys" because some live in areas where snow covers the gr ...

(''Macaca fuscata''), the world's most northerly

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

. Marine mammals include the

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...

(''Dugong dugon''),

finless porpoise ''Neophocaena'' is a genus of porpoise native to the Indian and Pacific oceans, as well as the freshwater habitats of the Yangtze River basin in China. They are commonly known as finless porpoises. Genetic studies indicate that ''Neophocaena'' is ...

(''Neophocaena phocaenoides'') and

Steller's sea lion The Steller sea lion (''Eumetopias jubatus''), also known as the Steller's sea lion and northern sea lion, is a near-threatened species of sea lion in the northern Pacific. It is the sole member of the genus ''Eumetopias'' and the largest of t ...

(''Eumetopias jubatus'').

Birds

Japanse kraanvogels in Akan International Crane Centre, -24 februari 2012 a

Over 600 species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

have been recorded in Japan and more than 250 of these breed. A number of birds are

including the

Japanese woodpecker Japanese green woodpecker or Japanese woodpecker (''Picus awokera'') is a medium-sized woodpecker similar and closely related to the European green woodpecker, but endemic to Japan. This species reaches about 30 cm in length, with bright gr ...

(''Picus awokera''),

copper pheasant The copper pheasant or Soemmerring's pheasant (''Syrmaticus soemmerringii'') is endemism, endemic to Japan. The scientific name commemorates the Germany, German scientist Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring. Description It is a large pheasant with a ...

(''Syrmaticus soemmerringii'') and Japan's

national bird This is a list of national birds, including official birds of overseas territories and other states described as nations. Most species in the list are officially designated. Some species hold only an "unofficial" status. National birds See al ...

, the

green pheasant The green pheasant (''Phasianus versicolor''), also known as the Japanese green pheasant, is an omnivorous bird native to the Japanese archipelago, to which it is endemic. Some taxonomic authorities consider it a subspecies of the common pheasa ...

(''Phasianus versicolor''). Several species are unique to the smaller islands including the

Okinawa rail The Okinawa rail (''Hypotaenidia okinawae'') is a species of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It is endemic to Okinawa Island in Japan where it is known as the . Its existence was only confirmed in 1978 and it was formally described in 1981 a ...

(''Gallirallus okinawae''),

Izu thrush The Izu thrush or Izu Islands thrush (''Turdus celaenops'') is a bird of the thrush family native to Japan. Behavior Feeding Izu thrushes eat small animals, such as earthworms and insects, and fruits, like cherries or mullberries. Breeding ...

(''Turdus celaenops'') and

Bonin white-eye The Bonin white-eye (''Apalopteron familiare'') or is a small songbird endemic to the Bonin Islands (Ogasawara Islands) of Japan. It is the only species in the genus ''Apalopteron''. Its taxonomic affinities were a long-standing mystery and it ...

(''Apalopteron familiare ''). Most of the non-endemic birds are shared with China but a few originate in Siberia or south-east Asia. Large numbers of migrant birds pass through Japan in spring and autumn including many

wader 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

s. In winter, several sites are important for

swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

geese A goose (plural, : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family (biology), family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser (bird), Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some o ...

and cranes.

Reptiles and amphibians

Japan has about 73 species of

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

of which nearly half are endemic.

Sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

s and highly venomous but non-aggressive

sea snake Sea snakes, or coral reef snakes, are elapid snakes that inhabit marine environments for most or all of their lives. They belong to two subfamilies, Hydrophiinae and Laticaudinae. Hydrophiinae also includes Australasian terrestrial snakes, wher ...

s including the

black-banded sea krait The black-banded sea krait (''Laticauda semifasciata''), also known Common name, commonly as the Chinese sea snake or erabu, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Laticaudinae of the Family (biology), family Elapidae. In Japan it is kno ...

occur in warmer waters around southern Japan. Venomous snakes include the mildly venomous tiger keelback, and the more venomous front fanged vipers the elegant pit viper, Okinawa habu,

Tokara habu The Tokara habu (''Protobothrops tokarensis'')Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S. 2004. ''Asian Pitvipers''. Geitje Books. Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. . is a venomous pit viper species endemic to the Tokara Islands of Japan ...

, hime habu and the

mamushi ''Gloydius blomhoffii'', commonly known as the mamushi,Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . Japanese moccasin, Japanese pit viper, Qichun snake, Salmusa or Japanese mamushi,Gumprech ...

. Many pitviper species, known as habus throughout Japan are endemic to islands in the warmer Ryukyu Island chain however the mamushi (''Gloydius blomhoffii'') is found on the main islands. Non-venomous rat snakes found in Japan are the endemic

Japanese rat snake The Japanese rat snake (''Elaphe climacophora'') is a medium-sized colubrid snake found throughout the Japanese archipelago (except the far South West) as well as on the Russian-administered Kunashir Island. In Japanese it is known as the ''aod ...

, Japanese forest rat snake, Japanese four-lined rat snake, and the

king rat snake ''Elaphe carinata'', the king ratsnake (also known as Taiwan stink snake), is a species of Colubrid snake found in Southeast and East Asia. Description ''Elaphe carinata'' is a large snake with total length up to . The other common names "stin ...

and

beauty rat snake The beauty rat snake (''Elaphe taeniura'', once of the Orthriophis complex), also called the beauty ratsnake, the beauty snake, or the cave racer, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to the eastern and southeaste ...

(subspecies ''Orthriophis taeniurus schmackeri'') which in Japan are found only in the warm Ryukyu islands but have much wider distributions on mainland Asia. Three species of odd-scaled snakes are present in the southern islands including the Formosan odd-scaled snake, Japanese odd-scaled snake, and the Amami odd-scaled snake. Lizards include many endemic skink species (especially in the southern islands), the

viviparous lizard The viviparous lizard, or common lizard, (''Zootoca vivipara'', formerly ''Lacerta vivipara''), is a Eurasian lizard. It lives farther north than any other species of non-marine reptile, and is named for the fact that it is viviparous, meaning i ...

(found as far north as the island of Hokkaido), and the Okinawa tree lizard ('' Diploderma polygonatum''). Freshwater turtles found in Japan include the endemic

Japanese pond turtle The Japanese pond turtle (''Mauremys japonica''), also called commonly the Japanese pond terrapin and the Japanese pond tortoise, is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae endemic to Japan. Its Japanese name is ''nihon ishigame'', Japane ...

Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle The Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle or Ryukyu leaf turtle (''Geoemyda japonica'') is a species of turtles in the family Geoemydidae (formerly Bataguridae) endemic to the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. In 1975, the species was designated a National ...

. The

Chinese box turtle The Chinese box turtle (), also known as the yellow-margined box turtle, or golden-headed turtle, is a species of Asian box turtle. Taxonomy (biology), Taxonomically, it is called ''Cuora flavomarginata''. Anatomy ''C. flavomarginata'' has a hi ...

is found only on the southernmost islands of Iriomote and Ishigaki in its Japanese range. At least two

crocodilia Crocodilia (or Crocodylia, both ) is an order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles, known as crocodilians. They first appeared 95 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period ( Cenomanian stage) and are the closest living ...

n species are known to have occurred in the recent geological past of Japan: the

Chinese alligator The Chinese alligator (; ), also known as the Yangtze alligator (), China alligator, or historically the muddy dragon, is a crocodilian endemic to China. It and the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') are the only living species in the ...

and ''

Toyotamaphimeia ''Toyotamaphimeia machikanensis'' (Toyotama-hime from Mountain Machikane ( :ja:待兼山)) is an extinct gavialid crocodylian which lived in Japan during the Pleistocene. A specimen recovered in 1964 at Osaka University during the construction of ...

''. There are over 40

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

species including the

Japanese giant salamander The Japanese giant salamander (''Andrias japonicus'') is a species of fully aquatic giant salamander endemic to Japan. With a length of up to ,Asiatic salamander The Asiatic salamanders (family Hynobiidae) are primitive salamanders found all over Asia, and in European Russia. They are closely related to the giant salamanders (family Cryptobranchidae), with which they form the suborder Cryptobranchoidea. ...

family (Hynobiidae) is particularly well represented; many members of the family are found only in Japan.

Fish

Over 3000 different types of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

have been recorded in Japan. Important

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

fish include the

ayu Ayu or AYU may refer to: * Ayu (given name) * Ayu sweetfish (''Plecoglossus altivelis''), a species of smelt * ''Ayu'', a local name for the African manatee * Ayu (singer) or Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese singer * Ayu Islands, a small archipelago in I ...

(''Plecoglossus altivelis''),

crucian carp The crucian carp (''Carassius carassius'') is a medium-sized member of the common carp family Cyprinidae. It occurs widely in northern European regions. Its name derives from the Low German ''karusse'' or ''karutze'', possibly from Medieval Lat ...

(''Carassius carassius'') and

common carp The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...

(''Cyprinus carpio''). The common carp is the ancestor of the well-known domestic

koi or more specifically , are colored varieties of the Amur carp ('' Cyprinus rubrofuscus'') that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens. Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of ''C. rubrofuscus'' ke ...

carp. Small freshwater fish include the

pale chub The pale chub, (''Zacco platypus''), also known as pale bleak or fresh-water sprat, is a species of fish native to rivers and streams from northern China and Korea to northern Vietnam. They can grow up to but usually grow up to . Its diet consist ...

, Japanese chub (''Nipponocypris sieboldii'') and several species of

bitterling The bitterling-like cyprinids form the cyprinid subfamily Acheilognathinae. This subfamily contains four genera, although the Khanka spiny bitterling is often placed in ''Acheilognathus'', and at least 71 described species to date. Over half of th ...

including the endangered

rosy bitterling The rosy bitterling or Tairiku baratanago (''Rhodeus ocellatus'') is a small freshwater fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae (carp), native to East Asia from the Amur River basin to the Pearl River (China), Pearl River basin. Females are abou ...

. The southern Ryukyu Islands are home to endemic species of colourful freshwater gobies in the genus

Stiphodon ''Stiphodon'' is a genus of freshwater gobies. They inhabit swift, clear streams close to the sea and are found in large parts of Asia and Oceania. Many of the 36 currently recognized species have extremely restricted distributions on single isla ...

. Notable

anadromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...

fish include six species of salmon represented by the

chinook salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon in North America, as well as the largest in the genus ''Oncorhynchus''. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other ve ...

chum salmon The chum salmon (''Oncorhynchus keta''), also known as dog salmon or keta salmon, is a species of anadromous salmonid fish from the genus '' Oncorhynchus'' (Pacific salmon) native to the coastal rivers of the North Pacific and the Beringian A ...

pink salmon Pink salmon or humpback salmon (''Oncorhynchus gorbuscha'') is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. It is the smallest and most abundant of the Pacific salmon. The scientific species name is based on the Russian common name for ...

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name i ...

sockeye salmon The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a P ...

, and the

cherry salmon The masu salmon (''Oncorhynchus masou''), also known as masu ( ja, マス, , trout) or in Japan, is a species of salmon belonging to the genus '' Oncorhynchus'', found in the North Pacific along Northeast/East Asian coasts from the Russian Far Ea ...

(which has several unique freshwater morphs in Japan). Chars in the genus ''

Salvelinus ''Salvelinus'' is a genus of Salmonidae, salmonid fish often called char or charr; some species are called "trout". ''Salvelinus'' is a member of the subfamily Salmoninae within the family Salmonidae. The genus has a northern circumpolar distrib ...

'' are represented by the white-spotted char (including several unique varieties such as the Gogi char),

Dolly Varden trout The Dolly Varden trout (''Salvelinus malma'') is a species of salmonid fish native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. It belongs to the genus ''Salvelinus'', or true chars, which includes 51 recognized spec ...

, and the endemic

Kirikuchi char The kirikuchi char, ''Salvelinus leucomaenis japonicus'', is a freshwater fish in the family Salmonidae. It is endemic to the Kii Peninsula of central Honshu in Japan. It is the southernmost population of the char genus ''Salvelinus'' and is cons ...

. The Japanese taimen ('' Hucho perryi'') is the largest fish to enter freshwater in Japan and may reach sizes of up to 2 meters in length. The Japanese taimen is a critically endangered species including the Japanese populations which are restricted to the rivers and surrounding ocean of Hokkaido. Also present is the Japanese dace (''

Tribolodon ''Tribolodon'' (Redfin dace) is a genus of cyprinid fishes found in marine and freshwater in Eastern Asia. Species There are currently 4 recognized species in this genus: * ''Tribolodon brandtii'' ( Dybowski, 1872) (Pacific redfin) * ''Tribolod ...

hakonensis''). Important

saltwater Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...

fish include the

red sea bream Red seabream is a name given to at least two species of fish of the family Sparidae, ''Pagrus major'' and ''Pagellus bogaraveo''. ''Pagrus major'' ''Pagrus major'' is of great culinary and cultural importance in Japan, and is known as mada ...

(''Pagrus major'').

Mudskipper Mudskippers are any of the 23 extant species of amphibious fish from the subfamily Oxudercinae of the goby family Oxudercidae. They are known for their unusual body shapes, preferences for semiaquatic habitats, limited terrestrial locomotion and ...

s are found in warmer areas while

coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

in the Ryukyu Islands have many fish typical of tropical waters such as

parrotfish Parrotfishes are a group of about 90 fish species regarded as a Family (biology), family (Scaridae), or a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses. With about 95 species, this group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found ...

and

anemonefish Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. Thirty species of clownfish are recognized: one in the genus '' Premnas'', while the remaining are in the genus '' Amphiprion''. In the wild, t ...

. The little-known

goblin shark The goblin shark (''Mitsukurina owstoni'') is a rare species of deep-sea shark. Sometimes called a "living fossil", it is the only extant representative of the family Mitsukurinidae, a lineage some 125 million years old. This pink-skinned anima ...

(''Mitsukurina owstoni'') and

frilled shark The frilled shark (''Chlamydoselachus anguineus'') and the southern African frilled shark (''Chlamydoselachus africana'') are the two extant species of shark in the family '' Chlamydoselachidae''. The frilled shark is considered a living fossil, ...

(''Chlamydoselachus anguineus'') have been recorded from deep waters off Japan. The winter spawning

Japanese Flying Squid The Japanese flying squid, Japanese common squid or Pacific flying squid, scientific name ''Todarodes pacificus'', is a squid of the family Ommastrephidae. This animal lives in the northern Pacific Ocean, in the area surrounding Japan, along the e ...

are associated with the

Kuroshio Current The , also known as the Black or or the is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the Ku ...

. The eggs and larvae develop during winter in the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...

and the adults travel with minimum energy via the

to the rich northern feeding grounds near northwestern Honshu and Hokkaido.Mann, K.H. and J.R.N. Lazier. (2006). ''Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems''. Blackwell Scientific Publications, 2nd Edition

Insects

Japan has around 300 kinds of

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

including several of the mainly tropical

milkweed butterflies Danainae is a subfamily of the family Nymphalidae, the brush-footed butterflies. It includes the Daniadae, or milkweed butterflies, who lay their eggs on various milkweeds on which their larvae (caterpillars) feed, as well as the clearwing butte ...

in the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

. There are around 190

dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...

including the primitive ''

Epiophlebia superstes ''Epiophlebia superstes'', the Japanese relict dragonfly, is one of the four species of the genus '' Epiophlebia'', belonging to the family Epiophlebiidae, which is itself the sole living representative of the epiproctan infraorder Epiophlebiopt ...

''. Other well-known

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s in Japan include

cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

crickets Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets, and, more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms,Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) ''A General Textbook of Entomology'' 9th Ed. Methuen 8 ...

Asian giant hornet The Asian giant hornet (''Vespa mandarinia'') or northern giant hornet, including the color form referred to as the Japanese giant hornet, is the world's largest hornet. It is native to temperate and tropical East Asia, South Asia, Mainland Sout ...

and

fireflies The Lampyridae are a family (biology), family of Elateroidea, elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are bioluminescence, light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, ...

. Firefly viewing is a popular tourist attraction in some areas. Some of the butterflies are endangered, and thus added into the Japan Red List to indicate their endangered state. One example is ''Niphanda fusca'', a parasitic butterfly that commonly resides in satoyama. Due to changing ecosystems, this butterfly has become endangered, especially within the past 40 years. It is one of the four species that have disappeared in Shikoku.Takeuchi, T., Takahashi, J., Kiyoshi, T. et al (2015). Genetic differentiation in the endangered myrmecophilous butterfly Niphanda fusca: a comparison of natural and secondary habitats. Conservation Genetics Vol 16(4): 979.

Molluscs

Flora

Around 4000 to 6000 species of

plants Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...

occur naturally in Japan. The vegetation varies widely from

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

forest in the south to

coniferous forest Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All exta ...

in the north. In the subtropical zone,

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk (botany), trunk with a crown (botany), crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants o ...

s and

tree ferns The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ...

can be found. In the warm-temperate climate of Kyūshū, Shikoku and south-western Honshū, the dominant vegetation is

broad-leaved A broad-leaved, broad-leaf, or broadleaf tree is any tree within the diverse botanical group of angiosperms that has flat leaves and produces seeds inside of fruits. It is one of two general types of trees, the other being a conifer, a tree with ne ...

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

forest with many

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s. In north Honshū and south-west Hokkaidō the climate is cool-temperate with broad-leaved

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

trees including Japanese beech (''Fagus crenata'') and oaks like the jolcham oak (''Quercus serrata'').

Conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

s are dominant in much of Hokkaidō and in the mountains of central and northern Honshū with

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

s and

fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

s growing. In the highest mountains there is a zone of

Arctic–alpine An Arctic–alpine taxon is one whose natural distribution includes the Arctic and more southerly mountain ranges, particularly the Alps. The presence of identical or similar taxa in both the tundra of the far north, and high mountain ranges much f ...

plants including the low-growing

Siberian dwarf pine ''Pinus pumila'', commonly known as the Siberian dwarf pine, dwarf Siberian pine, dwarf stone pine, Japanese stone pine, or creeping pine, is a tree in the family Pinaceae native to northeastern Asia and the Japanese isles. It shares the common ...

(''Pinus pumila''). Conifer

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s have replaced natural forest in many areas. Commonly grown trees include the

hinoki cypress ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; ja, 檜 or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber and orname ...

(''Chamaecyparis obtusa''),

Japanese red pine ''Pinus densiflora'', also called the Japanese red pine, the Japanese pine, or Korean red pine, is a species of pine tree native to East Asia. Distribution and habitat ''P. densiflora'' has a home range that includes Japan, the Korean Peninsula, ...

(''Pinus densiflora''),

Japanese black pine ''Pinus thunbergii'' (syn: ''Pinus thunbergiana''), also called black pine, Japanese black pine, and Japanese pine, is a pine tree native to coastal areas of Japan (Kyūshū, Shikoku and Honshū) and South Korea. It is called () in Korean, () ...

(''Pinus thunbergii''), sakaki evergreen (''Cleyera japonica'') and

Japanese red cedar ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' (syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L. ...

(''Cryptomeria japonica''). The last is Japan's tallest conifer reaching 40 metres in height.

Bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

grows abundantly in Japan with around 400 to 500 different species including the dwarf bamboos known as ''sasa'' and the taller kinds known as ''take'' which can reach 20 metres in height. Many plants have been introduced to Japan from mainland Asia including important

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponic ...

s like

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

and garden plants such as the

chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums (), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus ''Chrysanthemum'' in the family Asteraceae. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the center ...

. Since the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, increasing numbers of plants have come from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and elsewhere. Native food plants include the water dropwort (''

Oenanthe javanica ''Oenanthe javanica'', commonly Java waterdropwort, water celery, water dropwort, Chinese celery, Indian pennywort and Japanese (flat leaf) parsley, is a plant of the genus '' Oenanthe'' originating from East Asia. It has a widespread native dist ...

'') and wasabi ('' Wasabia japonica'').

References

*Boeseman, M. (1947) ''Revision of the fishes collected by Burger and Von Siebold in Japan'' Leide
PDF
*Brazil, Mark A. (1991) ''The Birds of Japan'', Christopher Helm, London *

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

(1993) ''Japan: an illustrated encyclopedia'', Kodansha, Tokyo.

External links

Japan Wildlife Conservation Society
{{Asia in topic, Wildlife of Biota of Japan Natural history of Japan

Biota of archipelagoes