peninsula
A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula.
Etymology
The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
on the east coast of
Hokkaidō
is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel.
The ...
, Japan, with its northwestern base in
Shibetsu
file:Shibetsu city center area Aerial photograph.2011.jpg, 270px, downtown Shibetsu
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 16,400 in 706 households, and a populat ...
and southeast tip in
Betsukai
is a town located in Nemuro Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and exte ...
jawbone
In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla).
The jawbone ...
, ''notkeu'' (ノッケウ), purportedly due to the landform's visual resemblance to that of a whale. The curved peninsula, the longest sandspit in the country, with a length of some to , extends into the
Nemuro Strait
Nemuro Strait (), also called Notsuke Strait and Kunashirsky Strait (), is a strait separating Kunashir Island of the Kuril Islands, Russia ( claimed by Japan) from the Shiretoko Peninsula, Hokkaidō, Japan. The strait connects the Sea of Okhots ...
, which lies between
Shiretoko Peninsula
The is located on the easternmost portion of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, protruding into the Sea of Okhotsk. It is separated from the Russian Kunashir Island by the Nemuro Strait. The name Shiretoko is derived from the Ainu language, Ainu wo ...
,
Nemuro Peninsula
The Nemuro Peninsula (根室半島 ''Nemuro-hantō'') is a peninsula which extends from the east coast of Hokkaidō, Japan. It is some long and wide, and forms part of Nemuro City. Cape Nosappu at its tip is the easternmost point of Hokkaidō. ...
, and the
disputed
Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an oppo ...
island of
Kunashiri
Kunashir Island (; ; ), possibly meaning ''Black Island'' or ''Grass Island'' in Ainu, is the southernmost island of the Kuril Islands. The island has been under Russian administration since the end of World War II, when Soviet forces took pos ...
in the
Sea of Okhotsk
The Sea of Okhotsk; Historically also known as , or as ; ) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan's island of Hokkaido on the sou ...
; it was formed by the deposition of sand
sediment
Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...
carried by the currents in the strait, and itself forms and largely encloses
Notsuke Bay
is a shallow bay in eastern Hokkaido, Japan, separated from Nemuro Bay and the Sea of Okhotsk by the curving Notsuke Peninsula. The bay mouth has a width of some and a maximum depth of ; most of the area of the bay has a depth of less than , mak ...
. There remain on the peninsula traces of
Satsumon culture
The is a partially agricultural, archeological culture of northern Honshu and southern Hokkaido (700–1200 CE) that has been identified as Emishi, as a Japanese-Emishi mixed culture, as the incipient modern Ainu, or with all three synonymo ...
Edo period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
samurai were stationed at a checkpoint controlling the crossing to Kunashiri. It is said that from the Edo period to the beginning of the
Meiji period
The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
there was a settlement known as at the tip of the peninsula, with streets lined with samurai residences and even
pleasure quarters
Pleasure is experience that feels good, that involves the enjoyment of something. It contrasts with pain or suffering, which are forms of feeling bad. It is closely related to value, desire and action: humans and other conscious animals find p ...
, but this is not shown on contemporary maps and is poorly attested in the literature. Prominent features today include withered and eroded stretches of Sakhalin fir (''Abies sachalinensis'') at and Mongolian oak (''Quercus crispula'') at , while to be found in the Notsuke Peninsula Primeval Flower Garden near Notsukezaki Lighthouse towards the eastern tip are the Kamchatka lily,
Japanese iris
The term "Japanese iris" encompasses three species of Irises cultivated in gardens or growing wild in Japan: ''hanashōbu'' ('' Iris ensata''), ''kakitsubata'' ('' Iris laevigata'') and ''ayame'' (''Iris sanguinea''). Of these three species, ' ...
Rosa rugosa
''Rosa rugosa'' (rugosa rose, beach rose, Japanese rose, Ramanas rose, or letchberry) is a species of rose native to eastern Asia, in northeastern China, Japan, Korea and southeastern Siberia, where it grows on beach coasts, often on sand dunes ...
'', ''
Eriophorum vaginatum
''Eriophorum vaginatum'', the hare's-tail cottongrass, tussock cottongrass, or sheathed cottonsedge, is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is native to bogs and other acidic wetlands throughout t ...
'', and . The c. stretch of from the base of the peninsula to the nature centre is commonly known as the . Together with Notsuke Bay, Notsuke Peninsula has been designated a
Ramsar Site
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O)
*** Permanent 8 ha (P)
*** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts)
**
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
, and forms part of
Notsuke-Fūren Prefectural Natural Park
is a Prefectural Natural Park in eastern Hokkaidō, Japan. Established in 1962, the park spans the Municipalities of Japan, municipalities of Betsukai, Hokkaidō, Betsukai, Nemuro, Hokkaidō, Nemuro, and Shibetsu, Hokkaidō (Nemuro), Shibetsu. T ...
Hokkaidō Heritage
is an initiative aimed at the valorization and transmission to the next generation of the tangible and intangible natural, cultural, historical, and industrial heritage of Hokkaidō, Japan. It is advanced by the , an Nonprofit organization#Japan, ...
*
Nemuro Peninsula Chashi Sites
is a grouping of twenty-four Ainu chashi on the Nemuro Peninsula in Nemuro, Hokkaidō, Japan that have been jointly designated a national Historic Site, out of a total of thirty-two chashi sites identified in the city. The grouping is also the f ...