Muroran Port Excursion: A Visit to Noboribetsu Bear Park (Hokkaido, Japan)

Having just visited Noboribetsu Jigokudani Hell Valley on our Jigokudani (Hell Valley) & Mt. Usu by ShoreExcursions.asia, the tour's next stop was to Noboribetsu Bear Park.

The bear park started as a research and observation facility back in October 1958 with only 8 Ezo brown bears (...the native bears to Hokkaido island and the Russian Far East). These days, the park houses over captive 60 brown bears as a dedicated mountaintop sanctuary while there's an estimated 11,600 wild Ezo brown bears in Hokkaido.

Entrance tickets were included with the tour package.

Saketoba 鮭とば

A display of their TobaGO tradition where the gondolas hang salmon in the cold winter air to naturally dry and cure them into "toba" (salmon jerky) to feed the park's brown bears.

On this October day in Noboribetsu was 15°C / 49°F.

Here's our gondola. We had some company in our "Teddy Bear" car while we took in the sweeping, bird's-eye panoramic views of Noboribetsu city and mountain backdrops.

 

 

 

 

 

The fleet of 30 gondolas operated every 15 seconds where we had a scenic 7-minute ride that from the hot spring town up to the park summit.

We arrived at 10:20am and would only be hear until 11:30am. Where and what to explore in our ~1hr visit?!

Immediately, we spot the Baby Bear Cub Kindergarten.

Looks like we caught these bear cubs at nap time.

 

The Human Cage
The Human Cage at the Noboribetsu BearPark in Hokkaido, Japan, is a ground-level underground viewing enclosure that puts visitors face-to-face with large brown bears.
 
You can purchase bags of bear treats (biscuits or apples) from vending machines (200¥ / $1.25usd) then drop the food down a chute or slot it through designated feeding holes to feed the bears directly.

 

 

The Second Enclosure
Home to the park's female bears famously known for standing on their hind legs and making "silly poses" or waving to beg visitors for food.

 

 

Lake Kuttara 倶多楽湖 Observatory

Forming a perfectly round, 3-kilometer-wide (1.86-mi) crater 40,000 years ago, Lake Kuttara (倶多楽湖) became a caldera lake filled with water.

According to Japan National Tourism Organization, it's worth a visit to enjoy: canoeing, wildlife spotting, birding and hiking.

We spotted a few of Hokkaido's year-round residents – large-billed crows.

The rooftop was the Lake Kuttara Observatory. The 2nd Floor had the Brown Bear Museum.

And as we head back to the ropeway, there is also a Bear Mountain Cafe & Shop, but it wasn't open during the times we were there.

Noren (Traditional Split Curtain) depicting an Ainu hunter

Love this vintage illustration of the Ainu hunter. Ainu were the indigenous people of Hokkaido who relied on the bow (ku) and arrow as their primary hunting tool. Their weapon was amazingly efficient in taking down the Ezo sika deer and brown bears especially since the arrows were treated with botanical hunting surku toxins -- mainly Wolf's bane (aka Aconitum genus), which contained powerful neurotoxins and cardiotoxins.