100 Places To Remember: Kushiro Marsh, Japan
Geschreven op 3-5-2010 - Erik van Erne. Geplaatst in Natuur
The Call of the Crane. The red-crowned crane, or tancho, is encountered everywhere in Japan. It can be seen in icons such as the early logo for the Japanese airline JAL, it is used in the names of cities and streets, and it appears in folktales and myths.
In Japan, the tancho is said to live a thousand years. The crane has long been considered a symbol of longevity and good luck, and its majestic appearance has made it a national treasure. It is rare to see a real crane in Japan, however. By the beginning of the 20th century, the long-necked bird with its sharply contrasting black and white plumage and characteristic red crown was thought to be extinct. That was until a dozen cranes suddenly appeared in Kushiro in the northernmost main island of Japan, Hokkaido. In 1952 local farmers started feeding the birds, and slowly their numbers rose.
Today, the red-crowned crane is the second-rarest crane species in the world. There are around 1,200 in Hokkaido, where they breed, stalk the fields and dance their wild courtship dances in the cool marshland habitat of Kushiro. Although their numbers have increased in the last 100 years, their habitat is shrinking, and this ultimately poses a serious threat to the crane.
The Japanese expression tsuru no hitokoe (the call of the crane) can mean the voice of authority. In this case it might also be seen as a cry for help, drawing attention to the massive developments and deforestation that threaten to make further inroads into their marshlands.
With the oceans rising because of global warming, coastal wetlands such as the Kushiro Marsh may become flooded, leading to increased salinity in the land and generating further uncertainty about the future of the tancho, which is so embedded in Japanese culture.
