Shiretoko Peninsula: Japan’s “end of the earth”

One of the most remote parts of Japan, Shiretoko is derived from sir etok, meaning “the end of the earth” in the Ainu language. Ainu people lived in the region for thousands of years, but like indigenous groups worldwide, they were discriminated against, and largely obliterated when, in this case, the Japanese people moved into Hokkaido in the 19th century. But many place names in eastern Hokkaido are derived from Ainu words and they are struggling to revive their culture.

Shiretoko’s volcanoes

The Shiretoko Peninsula began to form about 8.6 million years ago with volcanic eruptions that built up from the seafloor. Some of the volcanoes have not erupted for hundreds of thousands of years and are considered extinct. Others remain active. All are explosive composite/strata-type cones, with eruptions of both lava and pyroclastic materials, as is typical of subduction-related volcanoes.

Back to the volcanoes—Mt. Iou and Rausu are both active. Mt. Iou has erupted regularly during the past hundreds of years. It is famous for ejecting around 200,000 tons of molten sulfur from 1935 to 1936 (Io=sulfur). The pure grade sulfur was later mined and used to manufacture explosives. There are two explosion craters and a lava dome at its summit. Mt. Rausu, at 1660 m (5445 ft) elevation, is the peninsula’s highest volcano. Eruptions have produced pyroclastic (hot-particle) flows about 2200, 1400, and 800 years ago.

Shiretoko’s hot and cold waters

Wherever there are active volcanoes, underground magma is likely to heat the groundwater and create hot springs—called onsen in Japan. The Shiretoko Peninsula has a large number of onsen, ranging from underdeveloped to highly-developed options. We had an excellent onsen in our hotel, but it could not be photographed because they follow the usual protocol of nude bathing in gender-separated spaces.

There are cold-water lakes that have formed where the volcanic flows made a flat plateau. The lakes are also fed by groundwater, not rivers.

Shiretoko’s wildlife

Because of its remote location, and rugged terrain shaped by volcanic activity, Shiretoko has had limited human activity, fostering a rich natural environment with diverse wildlife. Most famously, it has Japan’s largest population of Ussuri brown bears that are abundant, large and sometimes aggressive. This species ranges in other parts of eastern Asia. It is similar to, but distinct from, the North American Grizzly bear. Our boat ride along the coast was primarily to see brown bears where they fish for salmon at a beach along the coast. We did see one bear cub, but weren’t close enough to photograph it.

Other noteworthy fauna include two internationally-endangered eagles (White-tailed and Steller’s sea eagles), Blakiston’s fish owl, red fox, sita deer, otter, spotted seal, orca and other whales. Because of the high biodiversity, the Shiretoko Peninsula was designated a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 2005.

Shiretoko may be “at the end of the earth”, but more people are discovering this incredible natural environment. We have been enjoying the fact that most of the tourists we’ve seen are from Japan.