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Julie Edgley / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Tsurumidai Crane Viewing Site
鶴見台Hokkaido
In winter, Tsurumidai is one of the easiest places on earth to stand within metres of wild red-crowned cranes: grain is scattered around 9am and again in the early afternoon, and on January and February mornings the count can pass 200 birds. The site is an old schoolyard right beside the road, free and open to anyone, with a simple viewing fence and no facilities beyond a small parking area. Come early, dress for -15C, and expect company — this is a famous spot among wildlife photographers. Cranes gather here only from November to March; between April and October the feeding station is shut and the field is empty.
- Best season
- Winter
- Crowd level
- Moderate
- Rating
- 4.2· 1,374 reviews
- Opening hours
- Seasonal — see below
- Nearest station
- No practical rail access — by car roughly 55 min from JR Kushiro Station; the Tsurumidai observation point is on Route 53.
Usual hours — confirm with the official site for holidays + seasonal closures.
Note
- Open-air roadside viewing site with no gate, no building and no admission — accessible at any hour.
- The feeding station operates November to March only, with grain scattered around 09:00 and again in the early afternoon; outside those months there is nothing to see.
How to get there
From Sapporo Station · ~3h 56m by car
Tags
wildlifenaturebirdwatching
Location
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