Kushiro

Hokkaido, Japan · City

A foggy fishing port with famous sunsets on the edge of Japan's largest wetland, where the red-crowned crane recovered from about twenty birds to nearly two thousand. It also eats better than most cities its size: a fish market, robatayaki grills and local fried specialities.

The essentials

Getting there

Train — Super Ozora limited express from Sapporo to Kushiro Station (about 4 hours, direct); there are also direct flights from Haneda to Kushiro Airport (about 1h40) followed by a 45-minute bus into town. For the wetland and the cranes a rental car is strongly recommended, as Akan Bus services run only a few times a day.

What it is genuinely strong in

🔭 Viewpoints & panoramas

Frequently asked questions about Kushiro

What to do in Kushiro: 25 activities

• Kushiro Marsh Observatory and loop trail 2 h must-see Kushiro (Hokuto) · 30 min

  A building by local architect Mozuna Kiko modelled on the wetland's sedge tussocks, with a rooftop over the marsh plain and a 2.5 km boardwalk loop (about an hour) out to a satellite viewpoint. Around 470 yen (ground floor free); open 8:30-18:00 May to October and 9:00-17:00 otherwise. About 40 minutes by Akan Bus from the station.

• Tsurui cranes: Ito Sanctuary and Tsurumidai 2 h must-see Tsurui · 50 min only 1 Oct - 30 Mar

  In winter hundreds of wild red-crowned cranes come down to fields where they have been fed corn since the 1950s, when only about twenty were left: a conservation programme now being scaled back gradually so the birds disperse. The Wild Bird Society of Japan sanctuary is free (October to March, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays); feeding around 9:00 and 14:00, December to February.

• Washo Market and its katte-don 1 h must-see

  A food market next to the station where you buy a bowl of rice and go stall to stall choosing your own toppings: salmon sashimi, roe, sea urchin, crab or saury. Open 8:00-17:00 Monday to Saturday; Sundays depend on the calendar. Best early.

• Canoeing the Kushiro River from Toro to Hosooka 2.5 h booking Shibecha (Toro) · 50 min only 1 Apr - 30 Nov

  A guided Canadian-canoe run down the river that crosses the wetland, from Lake Toro to Hosooka, silent and at water level among herons, deer and, with luck, cranes. About an hour and a half of paddling; with Family Canoe 106 it costs around 10,000 yen per person for two or more. Season April to November.

• Akan International Crane Center (Grus) 1.5 h Kushiro (Akan-cho) · 50 min

  A crane research centre in Kami-Akan, where a farmer began putting out corn for them in 1950. Open all year (9:00-17:00, about 480 yen) with captive cranes in an outdoor enclosure; from November to March wild cranes gather in the next-door field and are fed at 14:00. One hour by bus from the station.

• Dinner at Robata, the historic robatayaki 2 h

  A place of more than seventy years in Sakae-cho, in the Suehiro bar district, that bills itself as the birthplace of robatayaki: the grill lady cooks seasonal herring, saury, scallops or kinki over charcoal right in front of you. 17:00-23:00, closes on odd days; no English menu.

• Hosooka Observatory at sunset 1.5 h Kushiro-cho · 40 min

  In neighbouring Kushiro-cho: the free viewpoint with the widest view of the wetland, the Kushiro River winding towards the Akan mountains, and the best place to watch the sun go down. Take the Senmo Line to Kushiro-Shitsugen Station and walk ten minutes; there is a visitor lounge with a café nearby.

• Onnenai boardwalks 1.5 h Tsurui · 40 min

  The way to walk into the wetland rather than just look at it from above: flat boardwalks through reed beds, peat bog and alder woods, starting at the Environment Ministry visitor centre (free, closed Tuesdays). Irises and lilies bloom in summer; brown bears live in the area, so stay on the boardwalk.

• Open-air harbourside grill (Ganpeki Robata) 2 h only 15 May - 31 Oct

  A tent next to the MOO shopping centre by the harbour: buy tickets, choose seafood, fish and meat from the stalls and grill it yourself on your own brazier as the sun sets over the port. 17:00-21:00, from the third Friday of May to the end of October.

• Otowa Bridge at dawn 1.5 h Tsurui · 55 min only 1 Dec - 28 Feb

  In midwinter the cranes sleep standing in the unfrozen Setsuri River; at sunrise, steam off the water and frost on the trees make one of Hokkaido's most famous images. You need to be there before dawn at twenty below, with no flash or noise and without going down to the bank; reachable by car.

• SL Fuyu-no-Shitsugen steam train 5 h booking only 17 Jan - 15 Mar

  Steam locomotive C11 171, the only one still running in Hokkaido, hauls carriages with coal stoves from Kushiro to Shibecha (1h30) across the snowy wetland, on weekends only from mid-January to mid-March. All seats reserved and they sell fast. In 2026 some days ran with a diesel engine during repairs.

• Sunset at Nusamai Bridge 1 h

  The bridge over the mouth of the Kushiro River, with four bronze statues of the seasons by Japanese sculptors, is the in-town viewpoint for the sunsets the city promotes as among the world's finest. September to November has the clearest air; in summer the sea fog often hides everything.

• Winter canoeing in the frozen wetland 3 h booking Shibecha (Toro) · 50 min only 15 Dec - 15 Mar

  The spring-fed creeks around Toro never freeze, and at dawn, at fifteen or twenty below, steam rises off the water and frost coats the trees. Trips start around 7:30 with hotel pick-up and cold-weather gear included; with Gracefield, about 9,000 yen per person in groups of two or three.

• Akkeshi oysters at Conchiglie 4 h Akkeshi · 60 min

  In Akkeshi, an hour away on the local Hanasaki Line train: the bay farms oysters all year round, and at this roadside station's market you buy them and grill them yourself at the Aburiya brazier. Open until 21:00 April to October, earlier in winter; ten minutes' walk from the station.

• Bone-in zangi at Torimatsu 1 h

  Fried chicken heavily marinated in soy, garlic and ginger, known in Kushiro as zangi; this 1950s tavern in Sakae-cho, credited with inventing it, serves it on the bone with a dipping sauce. Opens from 17:00 until late, closed Sundays, cash only.

• Kottaro Wetland Observatory 1.5 h Shibecha · 60 min

  In Shibecha, an hour's drive away: after climbing about 200 metres of steps you look over the wildest part of the marsh, with the Kottaro River looping between ponds without a trace of people. The last stretch is a narrow gravel track, not advisable in snow; car only.

• Kushiro City Museum 1.5 h

  A building shaped like a crane with open wings, by Mozuna Kiko, beside Lake Harutori: wetland wildlife, the history of the port and coal, and a good collection on the Ainu culture of eastern Hokkaido, presented as that of a people still living here (for more depth, Upopoy or Akanko Ainu Kotan). 480 yen; closed Mondays.

• Kushiro Port Festival (Minato Matsuri) 3 h only Fri-Sun in early August

  The city's big summer festival since 1948: fireworks over the harbour on Friday, a neighbourhood dance parade along Kitaodori avenue on Saturday and a music parade on Sunday. In 2026 it ran from 7 to 9 August.

• Kushiro ramen at Ginsui 0.75 h

  The local ramen is light: a soy broth with chicken and bonito and fine curly noodles that cook in seconds; Ginsui, opened in 1935, is considered where it began. 11:00-20:00, closed on some Wednesdays; about fifteen minutes' walk from the station.

• Peat-water bath in Tsurui (Hotel Taito) 1.5 h Tsurui · 50 min

  Kushiro has no hot spring of its own; the nearest one with character is in Tsurui, next to the crane fields: amber peat water, highly alkaline and silky on the skin. Day bathing 700 yen, 11:00 (10:00 on holidays) to 22:00; it fits well after crane watching.

• Spakatsu at Restaurant Izumiya 1 h

  Spaghetti topped with a breaded cutlet and meat sauce, served on a sizzling iron plate: Kushiro's comfort dish, made by this Western-style restaurant since 1959. The Suehiro branch opens 11:00-21:00 and closes one Tuesday a month; portions are huge.

• Kodomo Yugakukan science museum 2 h

  A children's science museum eight minutes' walk from the station, with an indoor sandpit, light and water experiments and a planetarium: the fallback for foggy or freezing days with kids. 9:30-17:00, closed Mondays.

• Kushiro City Zoo 2.5 h Kushiro (Yamahana) · 30 min

  Japan's easternmost zoo, in a 48-hectare park, with polar bears, Blakiston's fish owls and cranes: captive animals, some rescued injured in the region, in enclosures of uneven size. 580 yen (free up to junior high); in winter it opens 10:00-15:30 and closes Wednesdays December to February.

• Kushiro Japanese Crane Reserve 1 h Kushiro (Tsuruoka) · 40 min

  A city-run park opened in 1958 where red-crowned cranes were first bred in captivity; today pairs live in aviaries along a 500-metre path. It is captivity, mainly worthwhile in summer when wild cranes are spread out. 480 yen; ten minutes from the airport.

• Kushiro Winter Festival 2 h only one weekend in early February

  A weekend of ice and snow sculptures, ice slides and food stalls at the port's cruise terminal, ten minutes' walk from the station. Small, very family-oriented and free; in 2026 it was held on 7-8 February.

What only happens on specific dates

• Tsurui cranes: Ito Sanctuary and Tsurumidai 1 Oct - 30 Mar
• Otowa Bridge at dawn 1 Dec - 28 Feb
• SL Fuyu-no-Shitsugen steam train 17 Jan - 15 Mar
• Winter canoeing in the frozen wetland 15 Dec - 15 Mar
• Kushiro Winter Festival one weekend in early February
• Canoeing the Kushiro River from Toro to Hosooka 1 Apr - 30 Nov
• Open-air harbourside grill (Ganpeki Robata) 15 May - 31 Oct
• Kushiro Port Festival (Minato Matsuri) Fri-Sun in early August

Ready-made routes through Kushiro

Chains well with

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