Lake Kutcharo

What it is

• A brackish lagoon in northern Hokkaido consisting of two basins called Onuma and Konuma
• Part of the North Okhotsk Prefectural Natural Park registered under the Ramsar Convention
• Japan's second northernmost lake with a circumference of twenty-seven kilometers
• A site named after the Ainu word for lake outlet where fishing for prawns occurs

What to see

• Approximately twenty thousand whistling swans that visit the lake annually
• The Kutcharo River flowing from the lagoon into the Sea of Okhotsk
• Populations of lake prawns and pond smelt living within the brackish waters

Getting there

• Accessible by bus from Otoineppu Station or Wakkanai Station

Notes written by Japan Gems from facts in Japanese Wikipedia.