Typical fauna

Many species not found in neighbouring countries are included in Japan's fauna.
Just as its plant life is greatly diversified thanks to widely differing climatic conditions from north to south, so are the Japanese islands inhabited by animals from contrasting climates: Southeast Asiatic tropical animals, temperate-zone Korean and Chinese animals, and Siberian sub arctic animals.

Brightly colored tropical coral fish, turtles, and sea snakes flourish in the tropical sea of the Ryukyu Islands, this is also home to the dugong and the black finless porpoise. In the sea to the north of central Honshu we find sea lions, fur seals, and beaked whales. Arctic-region animals such as the walrus sometimes visit Hokkaido, the northeastern side of which faces the Sea of Okhotsk.

On land in Japan's southern extremity, mostly tropical animals such as the crested serpent eagle, the flying fox, and the variable lizard inhabit the Ryukyu Islands.

On the mainland islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and K yushu wander tanuki (racoon dogs), sika deer, and mandarin ducks, which are from the deciduous forests of Korea as well as central and northern China. From the Siberian coniferous forests come the brown bear, hazel grouse, and common lizard.

The distribution of animals tends not to be continuous because historically the Japanese islands have repeatedly separated from and rejoined the Asian continent, resulting in animal migration that is extremely complex. Furthermore, the animals found in a particular part of Japan are not always the same as those found in corresponding areas of the continent; many are found only in Japan.

Among the species that are endemic to the Japanese mainland are the Japanese dormouse, the Japanese macaque, the copper pheasant, the Japanese giant salamander, and the primitive dragonfly. Likewise, in the Ryukyu Islands, which scholars believe became separated from the continent much earlier than the mainland did, live Pryer's woodpecker and the Amami spiny mouse. The Shimokita Peninsula, at the northern end of Honshu, is the northernmost habitat in the world of any simian.

In the depth of the sea, such living fossils as the horseshoe crab, the slit shell, and the frilled shark can be found. Still other Japanese aquatic animals are the giant spider crab (the largest crustacean in the world) and the freshwater Japanese giant salamander (the largest amphibian on earth, also said to live almost 50 years).

Asian land salamanders, cicadas, and dragonflies inhabit the islands in many forms. There are 8 species of swallowtail butterflies on the mainland alone.

Many animals in Japan, however, are facing extinction. According to a report by the Environment Agency in 1991, 22 species were classified as extinct, 72 as endangered and 65 as vulnerable; Moreover, the Japanese crested Ibis (Nipponia Nippon) became extinct in 1997. Among the endangered species are, for example, the Iriomote cat (Mayailurus iriomotensis), Japanese otter (Lutra nippon), albatross (Diomedea albatrus), and stork (Ciconia ciconia boyciana).