Over spring break I took a few days off to visit some Hyogo attractions: Kinosaki Onsen (hot springs) and the Oriental White Stork Park. The hot springs were to relax, but the stork park was to learn about a local conservation success.
The Oriental White Stork
In case you missed my last post covering the storks’ biology and conservation history, here is a quick overview. The Oriental White stork is a large white bird with black feather tips that lives in wetlands and eats a variety of smaller animals like fish, frogs, and small mammals. It went locally extinct in Japan in 1971, but through captive breeding, habitat restoration, and reintroduction programs it has made a comeback with approximately 90 birds living wild in Japan again.
My first stork sighting
Hopping on the Kounotori Limited Express to Kinosaki Onsen, I sat back and enjoyed watching the countryside fly past the window for the 3-hour journey from Osaka. In Japan, you never know what you might see through the train windows. Rice paddies, small villages, cherry blossoms.
In my case, I saw something very large and white fly past as the train ran alongside a river. Too large for an egret I thought. Could it be a stork? Unfortunately, it was going in the opposite direction of the train so I only had a quick glimpse, but I think it might’ve been my very first Oriental stork sighting. Thanks to breeding and reintroduction efforts, wild Oriental storks are living in Japan again and if you’re in the Toyooka area you might spot one of them along the rivers where they can hunt for food. I can’t say for sure that I spotted one, but I think the chances are good. In any case, don’t forget to look out the windows occasionally because you never know what you might be missing.
Kinosaki Onsen Station
If you’re not familiar with Japanese, you might not have noticed what is special about the express train’s name. Kounotori is the Japanese name for the Oriental stork and the limited express train that runs to Toyooka and Kinosaki Onsen is named after it. Arriving in Kinosaki, you will also see artwork and souvenirs depicting the storks, from postcards to daruma dolls and station artwork. You can tell that the people here are very proud of the storks and that they’re a part of the local culture. I enjoyed wondering when I would see something stork-related pop up while I was walking around the town. The stork daruma dolls were tempting but my goal was to take some pictures of the storks so I managed to resist.
Hachigoro Toshima Wetlands
After taking a day to relax at the hot springs and another to do some sightseeing in nearby Izushi, I planned my last day to focus on the storks. The first stop on my stork itinerary was the Hachigoro wetlands.
The wetlands are named after one of the first wild oriental storks to migrate back to the Toyooka area. They are a short walk or bike ride from Kinosaki onsen so they are very easy to visit. I rented a bike from one of the visitor information facilities first thing in the morning, then headed down the road along the train tracks and took a left onto the blue bridge. Stopping on the bridge to take a few photos, I paused to enjoy the cool and quiet of the river and watch the swallows flit around me before continuing on my way.
On the other side of the bridge was a surprise. An oriental stork nest, just past the bridge and on top of a utility pole. The male and female were both standing on top of the nest, but after a moment one flew off towards the river. Its partner remained at the nest, rearranging sticks. I couldn’t believe I was already getting an up-close view of wild storks! I grabbed my camera and took a few shots before continuing to the wetland area, just a short distance up the road.
Hachigoro wetlands is a wetland habitat for waterfowl that was converted from rice fields and sits in a floodplain near the Maruyama river. It has one artificial nesting platform near the edge of the woods that is in use by a pair of oriental storks. Visitors can only access one side of the wetland so that they don’t disturb the birds. As you approach, you will see there is an observation shelter you can go inside with open windows looking out over the water. There are a couple of benches as well as information panels showcasing some of the species you may see. I sat on one of the benches and spent some time quietly watching and trying to take some pictures. It was a bright and sunny day and although there didn’t seem to be many birds out, I was able to see some egrets and ducks as well as the nesting pair of storks in the distance.
The artificial nest platform is set back farther away from the shelter so if you want a good view you should plan on bringing either a very large zoom lens, binoculars, or a viewing telescope. I’m still very much an amateur when it comes to birding so I don’t have my own binoculars and rely on my camera’s zoom to get a closer look. That being said, you can still enjoy watching the birds without binoculars and you don’t need a telescope to enjoy listening to the storks’ beak clattering.
Cafe Lamp Eye
After quietly watching for a bit I made my way over to Cafe Lamp Eye for some breakfast. This cute cafe is just past the wetlands, a minute or so walk through the parking lot, and across the street. The interior reminded me of a cozy grandparent’s house with comfy floral couches and an assortment of armchairs and tables to choose from. The morning air was still a little chilly so they had a portable heater set up in the room, adding to the cozy atmosphere.
I took a seat in one of the armchairs set up in front of a table with a view of the cherry blossom trees in the back garden. Sinking into the chair, I felt an urge to stay there all day with a bit of crochet or a book to read. I ordered some fruit waffles for breakfast (absolutely delicious) and took my time to enjoy the food and atmosphere before finally pulling myself up out of the armchair to pay and head to my next destination.
Hyogo Oriental Stork Park
My second stork stop was the Hyogo Park of the Oriental Stork in Toyooka. After returning my bike I went back to my hostel to pick up my bag and catch a bus to Toyooka station. It’s a bit of a bus ride to Toyooka, and another to the stork park, so I would recommend eating before you go as I later found out the food options there are very limited. On the bright side, there is a direct bus to the park from Toyooka station so you won’t get lost and you can also buy food or small lunchboxes from the station convenience store before you go. Once there however there is only one cafe that serves pizza, some coffee, and drinks, and the food orders end around 3:00.
After catching the bus, I arrived at the park around 2:00 and headed straight in, not realizing I was setting myself up for a very hungry afternoon. Entry to the park is a small 100 yen donation which comes with an oriental stork origami gift, and they do have English instructions and an English park pamphlet you can ask for. The museum itself also has a good amount of English information on the displays; most of the information about the storks and their conservation seemed to have English translations with only some of the specimen displays or smaller displays being Japanese only.
In the entrance area, there were some bird specimens of egrets, herons, and storks and in one of the education rooms, they had a side-by-side specimen display of the Oriental and White storks so you can see their differences.
Observation Cages
Out through the back is the captive stork observation cages, biotope, and nature trail. The cages have terraced pools for the storks to wade in but most were hanging out inside their eating area. When I came back later a few came out and were wading in the water closer to the fence so I could get some better pictures. At the biotope past the cages, I could see insects flying around and listen to the many frogs croaking. There’s also a nature trail you can take into the forest a bit but I passed on it this time around as I was on a bit of a time crunch.
A short walk up the road from the museum is another biotope and an observation area for the breeding cages. You can really only see into one of the cages and you can’t get very close to it, but up on the hill is another observation point with binoculars and a display showing videos and information about the breeding cages.
Final Thoughts
The Hyogo Park of the Oriental Stork is a great way to learn about the storks and a nice area to walk around and take in some of the natural landscape. Depending on your timing, you might be able to see some more of the wild storks hanging out in the terraced pools and nearby fields. Hachigoro Toshima wetlands are also a nice area for some relaxed birding and a chance to see some wild storks. Both are affordable attractions to visit at the low low prices of free (Hachigoro wetland) and 100 yen ( ~$1, Oriental Stork Park) and are easy to visit from the Kinosaki Onsen area for a conservation or wildlife-focused day trip. I definitely enjoyed my time visiting and would love to bring my family for a visit someday.
If you want to see some of my pictures from my trip, or an abridged storyline of it, check out my Instagram and the Oriental Stork highlight on my profile.
For more about visiting the storks and the Kinosaki or Toyooka area, check out the Visit Kinosaki website.
