Wildlife of Japan


The wildlife of Japan includes its flora, fauna and natural habitats. The islands of Japan stretch a long distance from north to south and cover a wide range of climatic zones. This results in a high diversity of wildlife despite Japan's isolation from the mainland of Asia. In the north of the country, north of Blakiston's Line, there are many subarctic species which have colonized Japan from the north. In the south there are south-east Asian species, typical of tropical regions. Between these areas lies the temperate zone which shares many species with China and Korea. Japan also has many endemic 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 occur in Japan. The largest of these are the two bears. The Ussuri brown bear is found in Hokkaidō where it plays an important role in the culture of the Ainu people. The Asian black bear inhabits mountainous areas in Honshū, Kyūshū and Shikoku. Smaller carnivores include the red fox, raccoon dog and Japanese marten. There are two wild cats in Japan: the leopard cat of mainland Asia occurs on Tsushima Island while the Iriomote cat is unique to the island of Iriomote.
Grazing mammals include the sika deer, Japanese serow and wild boar. Among Japan's most famous mammals is the Japanese macaque, the world's most northerly monkey.
Marine mammals include the dugong, finless porpoise and Steller's sea lion.

Birds

Over 600 species of bird have been recorded in Japan and more than 250 of these breed. A number of birds are endemic including the Japanese woodpecker, copper pheasant and Japan's national bird, the green pheasant. Several species are unique to the smaller islands including the Okinawa rail, Izu thrush and Bonin white-eye. 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 waders. In winter, several sites are important for swans, geese and cranes.

Reptiles and amphibians

Japan has about 73 species of reptile of which nearly half are endemic. Sea turtles and highly venomous but non-aggressive sea snakes including the black-banded sea krait 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, hime habu and the mamushi. Many pitviper species, known as habus throughout Japan are endemic to islands in the warmer Ryukyu Island chain however the mamushi is found on the main islands. Non-venomous rat snakes found in Japan are the endemic Japanese rat snake, Japanese forest rat snake, Japanese four-lined rat snake, and the king rat snake and beauty rat snake 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, the viviparous lizard, and the Okinawa climbing lizard. Freshwater turtles found in Japan include the endemic Japanese pond turtle, Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle. The Chinese box turtle is found only on the southernmost islands of Iriomote and Ishigaki in its Japanese range.
At least two crocodilian species are known to have occurred in the recent geological past of Japan: the chinese alligator and Toyotamaphimeia.
There are over 40 amphibian species including the Japanese giant salamander, one of the world's largest amphibians. The Asiatic salamander family is particularly well represented; many members of the family are found only in Japan.

Fish

Over 3000 different types of fish have been recorded in Japan. Important freshwater fish include the ayu, crucian carp and common carp. The common carp is the ancestor of the well-known domestic koi carp. Small freshwater fish include the pale chub, Japanese chub and several species of bitterling including the endangered rosy bitterling. The southern Ryukyu Islands are home to endemic species of colourful freshwater gobies in the genus Stiphodon.
Notable anadromous fish include six species of salmon represented by the chinook salmon, chum salmon, pink salmon, coho salmon, sockeye salmon, and the cherry salmon. Chars in the genus Salvelinus are represented by the white-spotted char, Dolly Varden trout, and the endemic Kirikuchi char. The Japanese taimen 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.
Important saltwater fish include the red sea bream. Mudskippers are found in warmer areas while coral reefs in the Ryukyu Islands have many fish typical of tropical waters such as parrotfish and anemonefish. The little-known goblin shark and frilled shark have been recorded from deep waters off Japan.
The winter spawning Japanese Flying Squid are associated with the Kuroshio Current. The eggs and larvae develop during winter in the East China Sea and the adults travel with minimum energy via the Kuroshio Current to the rich northern feeding grounds near northwestern Honshu and Hokkaido.

Insects

Japan has around 300 kinds of butterfly including several of the mainly tropical milkweed butterflies in the Ryukyus. There are around 190 dragonflies including the primitive Epiophlebia superstes. Other well-known insects in Japan include cicadas, crickets and fireflies. 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.

Molluscs

Flora

Around 4000 to 6000 species of plants occur naturally in Japan. The vegetation varies widely from subtropical forest in the south to coniferous forest in the north. In the subtropical zone, mangroves, cycads and tree ferns can be found. In the warm-temperate climate of Kyūshū, Shikoku and south-western Honshū, the dominant vegetation is broad-leaved evergreen forest with many oaks. In north Honshū and south-west Hokkaidō the climate is cool-temperate with broad-leaved deciduous trees including Japanese beech and oaks like the konara. Conifers are dominant in much of Hokkaidō and in the mountains of central and northern Honshū with spruces and firs growing. In the highest mountains there is a zone of Arctic–alpine plants including the low-growing Siberian dwarf pine.
Conifer plantations have replaced natural forest in many areas. Commonly grown trees include the hinoki cypress, Japanese red pine, Japanese black pine, sakaki evergreen and Japanese red cedar. The last is Japan's tallest conifer reaching 40 metres in height.
Bamboo grows abundantly in Japan with around 400 to 500 different species including the dwarf bamboos known as sasa and the taller kinds called take which can reach 20 metres in height.
Many plants have been introduced to Japan from mainland Asia including important crops like rice and garden plants such as the chrysanthemum. Since the Meiji Restoration, increasing numbers of plants have come from Europe, North America and elsewhere. Native food plants include the water dropwort and wasabi.