is a low-lying lake in
Wakkanai
file:Wakkanai city office.JPG, 290px, Wakkanai City Hall
file:Wakkanai shore.jpg, 290px, Shore of Wakkanai
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Wakkanai is the capital of Sōya Subprefecture. Situated approx ...
,
Hokkaidō
is the second-largest island of Japan 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 railway via the Seikan Tunnel.
The ...
, Japan. Its surface area of makes it, by this metric, the twentieth largest on the island. It is located a short distance inland from
Sōya Bay
is a bay on the north coast of Hokkaidō, Japan. It is demarcated by Cape Sōya to the east and Cape Noshappu to the west, with Wakkanai
file:Wakkanai city office.JPG, 290px, Wakkanai City Hall
file:Wakkanai shore.jpg, 290px, Shore of Wakkana ...
, with which it is connected by the lower reaches of the Koetoi River, and is six kilometers east of the urban center of Wakkanai. It is also known as Shupunto Swamp from its
Ainu name meaning "swamp belly"
Birdlife
Ōnuma provides a resting point in the autumn for
Whooper swan
The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/ "hooper swan"; ''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the genu ...
s,
mute swan
The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurasia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to ...
s,
white-fronted geese, and
grey heron
The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...
from
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
on their way to their winter grounds, and again in spring upon their return. On the north shore is the Wakkanai City Onuma Bird Observation Center (Onuma Birdhouse), allows visitors to see wild birds from the observation room.
History
From 1943 to 1945, the Wakkanai detachment of the
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...
's
Ōminato Naval Air Group was based on the north side of Ōnuma (near the current Ōnuma Birdhouse) and patrolled the Sōya Strait with
Zero-type floatplanes. On October 11, 1943, the Wakkanai detachment's floatplanes attacked the submarine , which was attempting to break through the Sōya Strait, with
depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...
s and guided it to surface ships, contributing to its sinking.
Lake Onuma Wakkanai-city Aerial photograph.2018.jpg, Lake Onuma
See also
*
Cape Sōya
is the northernmost point of the island of Hokkaidō, Japan. It is situated in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, Wakkanai, Sōya Subprefecture. The is at the cape, although the true List of extreme points of Japan, northernmost point under Japanese control ...
*
Koetoi River
is a river in Hokkaidō, Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk ...
*
Wakkanai Park
References
External links
Onuma
Wakkanai
{{Hokkaido-geo-stub