Shiretoko World Nature Heritage site, Hokkaido, Japan. (IMAGE)

University of Tokyo

Shiretoko World Nature Heritage site, Hokkaido, Japan.

Caption

The name Shiretoko comes from an Ainu phrase meaning “End of the Earth.” The indigenous Ainu people of northern Japan have long had a close relationship with bears, which in local religion were seen as being a mountain deity in disguise and considered sacred.

Credit

2024 Kanji Tomita

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License

CC BY-NC

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