Lake Kutcharo

About Lake Kutcharo

A lake 30 km around on the Sea of Okhotsk coast in Hamatombetsu Town, one of Japan's northernmost lakes. It consists of two parts, Onuma and Konuma, and formed about 5,500 years ago when an inlet was closed off from the sea. It averages only 1.5 m deep, and at high tide seawater flows back up the Kutcharo River into Onuma. It is the northernmost and one of the largest stopover sites in Japan for tundra swans breeding in the Russian Far East, with about 6,000 gathering at the spring peak. It was designated a Ramsar Site in 1989.

Sources: Ministry of the Environment, Ramsar Site leaflet: Kutcharo-ko, Environment Agency of Japan, Lake Survey Report (1993) (sources in Japanese)

Lake data

Area

13.44 km²#10 in Hokkaido

Maximum depth

3.3 m#55 in Hokkaido

Average depth

1 m

Surface elevation

0 m

Transparency

2.2 m#18 in Hokkaidoas of the 1991 survey

Origin

Lagoon-origin lake

Lake type

Eutrophic

Fresh or brackish

Freshwater

Freezing

Freezes in winter

Unmodified lake

No

Natural park

Kita Okhotsk Prefectural Natural Park

Ramsar Convention

Ramsar Site

Lake number

0110number in the national lake survey

Sources: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, Area Statistics of Prefectures and Municipalities 2026 (as of July 1), Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, Lake Survey (surveyed 1985), Environment Agency of Japan, 4th National Survey on the Natural Environment: Lake Survey Report (1993). Area and depth use newer figures from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan where available. Origin, lake type, transparency, freezing and unmodified status are as of the 1991 survey.

Themes that include Lake Kutcharo

• Lagoon-origin lakes
• Eutrophic lakes
• Freshwater lakes