Lake Kutcharo is famous in Japan as one specifically mentioned in the Ramsar Convention on the protection of wetland habitats. Not surprisingly, there are birds everywhere...  though a disproportionate number seemed to be the aggressive crows that hardly seem to need protecting in Japan. There’s a bikepath that runs along part of the lake shore, but I spent so much time relaxing here that I never managed to get there. I’m sure the lake is pretty from any angle.

It was nostalgic for me to see the stacked poles that I wondered about on the North Hokkaido tour (I started seeing them again around Nayoro). And, once again, there was nobody around to ask what they were used for. About the only thing everyone seems to agree on is that the poles are stacked like this to prevent them from rotting.