Kushiro-shitsugen in Hokkaido was Japan’s first Ramsar site and is a habitat for endangered Japanese cranes (pictured below).   Ramsar sites in Japan include habitats for waterfowl along with marshlands, lakes, salt marshes, tidal flats, seagrass & seaweed beds, beaches, mangrove forests, and groundwater systems.

To date Japan has thirty-three Ramsar Convention Protected Wetlands (many of which are part of Japan’s National Park System) as follows:

Nagura Amparu
Kerama-shoto Coral Reef
Manko
Yakushima Nagata-hama
Imuta-ike
Kuju Bogatsuru and Tadewara-shitsugen
Akiyoshidai Groundwater System
Shinji-ko
Nakaumi
Kushimoto Coral Communities (top right)
Biwa-ko (bottom right)
Mikata-goko
Katano-kamoike
Fujimae-Higata
Yatsu-higata
Oze
Oku-Nikko-shitsugen
Sakata
Kabukuri-numa and the surrounding rice paddies
Izu-numa and Uchi-numa
Hotokenuma
Miyajima-numa
Uryunuma-shitsugen
Sarobetsu-genya
Kutcharo-ko
Tofutsu-ko
Utonai-ko
Kushiro-shitsugen
Akkeshi-ko and Bekambeushi-shitsugen
Kiritappu-shitsugen
Akan-ko
Furen-ko and Shunkuni-tai
Notsuke-hanto and Notsuke-wan

Source: Japan Ministry of the Environment, Ramsar Sites in Japan Poster (PDF)

To search the list of important wetlands in Japan by region, including the Ramsar sites visits the Sizenken website or download PDF pamphlets for each Ramsar Site in Japan.

The Internet Nature Information Center offers beautiful live images of wildlife and natural sites in Japan, many of which are included in the Ramsar listing above.  The site is well worth browsing around if you would like to include one of these sites on your itinerary or if you just want to see some of the natural beauty that Japan has to offer.

Image Credit: Flickr,Crane at Kushiro, Lake Biwa & Coral