Welcoming the Night

We were staring at the each other for a long time.

It has been a whilte that I have been wanting to see a Hokkaido owl since I moved to Trurui village.

And finally today I got to spend the quality time with a beautiful Owl in the forest.

After 10 minutes of walk in the forest from our house, there lies the tree with a big hollow with an owl perching on it.

Owls are nocturnal birds, so as soon as the first star appeared in the sky, it took off into the darkness.



"Ezo Owl at the Evening"

The North

I have a Japanese friend in the village who guides in Alaska.

Considering the size of the population (2500), it is lucky to have a friend who can share the same passion for the North in North America.

After one year in Hokkaido, I still often think about the Yukon Territory of Canada and Alaska where I travelled in the backcoutry. Harsh but beautiful, it is certainly one of the best place to visit on the earth.

A shot of the Dall Sheep in Alaska taken this September.

I would love to go back there next year as well.



"Dall Sheep Falling Asleep..."

The Fisrt Snow

Finally, it has snowed all day today here in Tsurui village.

Snow has power to turn ordinary landscape into magical one.

Here is a shot from today.



"A Japanese Crane in Snow"

A Crane Couple

It was a clear morning in Tsurui village this morning.

I got up 5:30 am as usual to go take photos of Japanese cranes.

At this time of the year, the sun rises behind where cranes hang out in the early morning.

So here is a photo from this morning.


"Cranes Couple Facing"

Cranes usually mate for life as a pair unless one dies and another gets "married" again.

I wrote "usually" because the crane expert recently told me that cranes sometimes have affairs as well. Young ones especially try our some relationships before settling into solid partnership.

This is one of the reasons why many people are fascinated with this bird because they are just like human beings in many ways...

Cranes in the Fog

The place I live called Tsurui village is famous for the fog during the summer and it rarely gets fogged up at this time of the year.

But a few days ago, the fog covered the entire village in the early morning.



Here are the shots of Japanese cranes takne on that day.

Japanese Aurora Tour

When I was in the Yukon Territory, I used to work as an Aurora Borealis guide for Japanese tourists.

The local Yukoner often asked me if the Japanese really try to make babies under the Northern Lights.

While I never heard this rumor back in Japan, I was surprised how often I was asked in the Yukon.

Later, I found out that the rumour came from the TV program called "Northern Exposure" on which the Japanese tourists are trying to make babies under the excellent show of the Aurora Borealis.

After figuring that out, I told those who asked me that question that there is a secret room in the basement with the sound proof wall around it.

Here is a photo from the Yukon taken in the fall time.

Enjoy the show!



"Northern Lights in the Yukon Territory, Canada"

Glacier Bay, Alaska

As I was going through the files of my photos, I found the panoramic image of Glacier Bay, Alaska.

I kayaked there two years ago in the summer. This is the special spot where I spent two nights next to the tidal glacier.

Roaring sound of glacier calving and full moon lighting the glacier at night made the all hard paddling worthwhile.

I would like to go back there again in the future.



"Glacier and Lupin in Glacier Bay, Alaska"

Folding Kayak

Today, I tried out the Japanese folding kayak nearby lake in Hokkaido.

I have used kayak to take nature photographs in Alaska and Canada, but I have never owned one and always rented kayak.

A friend of mine was kind enough to ask the Fujita Canoe to send me a folding kayak, Noah 470 to try it before deciding to purchase it.

My partner and I paddled the lake and enjoyed the bird and wildlife sightings. As we were heading back to the shore, a full moon started to rise over the moutain.

It was a beautiful and fun paddling day!



"Full Moon Rising over the Kayak"

Crane Fighting

I have seen Japanese crane trying to intimidate each other by crying out loud, but I saw two cranes fighting fiercely today at Kushiro Marsh.

There were three cranes altogether along the small river and two of them were pecking each other with thier huge wings wide spread.



"Japanese Cranes in Fight"

One crane had even big red blood stain on the white wing coat.

During the battle, there stood another crane, probably the only female, watching the whole event taking place.

It could have been the battle between the crane boys trying to take the crane lady.

Moon Over Alaska Range

During the three years of living in the Yukon Territory, Canada from 2004 to 2007, I had a few opportunities of visiting the neighboring state of Alaska, USA.

Going through the pile of photo files last night, I found a shot I took two years ago that I had not digitized yet.

Here is a panoramic shot of Alaskan Range.



"Full Moon Lighting Alaskan Range"

It was a beautiful full moon night with Alaskan Range relfected on the small pond near Wonder Lake.

Wolves Nature School

One hour from my village, Tsurui (in Hokkaido Japan) there is a nature school.

At this place, a dozen of wolves from Mongolia and the Arctic live together with a Japanese couple, Mr and Mrs. Kuwahara.

The Kuwahara couple keep the wolves to study them closely on a daily basis, but the biggest goal for them is to regain the whole ecological balance of Hokkaido by reintroducing wolves into the wild.


Extinct for about 100 years, the eco system of Hokkaido nature has suffered an inbalance by having too many deers and no natural predators like the wolf. The overpopulation of deer is causing destruction to the forest.

Explaining the importance of wolves and their important role in the forest, Mr. Kuwahara talked about Yellow Stone National Park and how wild wolves have successfully been reintroduced into the park from Canada 13 years ago.

Of course, it is a controversial issue to do the same in northern Japan as many people have settled and started farming here. Mr.Kuwahara continues to hope to see wild wolves running again in Hokkaido.

For me, after several encounter with wild wolves in Alaska and Yukon, it was intereting to see wolves here being so friendly to the owner and licking him as though he was an Alpha wolf!

Here is a website to Wolves Nature School. (only in Japanese, but you could contact him if you like since he is fluent in English.(He studies with wolve specialist in the USA)

Cranes in Tsurui Village

At this time of the year, Japanese cranes are coming back to my villag(Tsurui village Hokkaido, Japan) to winter.

I went to one of the shooting spot where you can view cranes sleeping in the river.

They sleep in the water to avoid the predator like foxes.

As I was taking photos of them, I saw the Hokkaido deers crossing behind cranes, a very unusual site.














"Deers Crossing behind Japanese Cranes"

Tomohiro Uemura Photography

www.wild-world.com

Japanese Crane

Today is the first day to start my English Photo Blog!

Living in the northern island of Japan called Hokkaido, I have easy access to take photographs of Japanese cranes(called Tancho in Japanese).

These beautiful birds winter in my village every year.

Here is a photo of a pair of Japanese cranes I took today.














"Japanese Crane in Tsurui Village"

Tomohiro Yukon&Alaska photo site

www.wild-world.com