Conservation of Japan's wild birds since 1934
The Wild Bird Society of Japan is its country’s oldest and largest nature conservation organisation. Since 1934 it has worked to protect the natural habitat of birds, and their place in it. Today it manages reserves and engages in direct conservation of endangered species. It also works in communication, advocacy, research, and daily activities to give Japan’s birdlife a chance to thrive.
The society’s core conservation work includes protection of the habitat of the Blakiston’s Fish-Owl in north Japan, and of Red-crowned crane. In recent years the WBSJ has formed partnerships with local businesses to secure spaces for swallows to nest. In the context of Japan’s rapid urbanisation and change, the WBSJ has been a voice for nature for almost 90 years. Birds are a barometer of healthy ecosystems, and their presence in the skies, on shorelines, riverbanks and cities signal hope for the natural environment.
Since 2005, the WBSJ has also sold rain boots. First designed to meet the needs of bird watchers, they have a broad following in Japan for their functional quality and style. Wearing a pair of WBSJ boots also contributes to the society’s conservation objectives, and helps fund their work.
History of the WBSJ
The Wild Bird Society of Japan was founded by Godō Nakanishi, a poet, author and former monk, who saw the plight of birds as holding a wider symbolism. Often captured and kept, Nakanishi created the word ‘Yacho’ (wild birds) and the founding ethos of ‘wild birds to the wild’. “If we can not achieve the liberation of humans, we can at least try for birds” Nakanishi once said. After bringing a small group of similarly minded intellectuals and associates to a bird watching event on Mount Fuji in 1934, the society slowly expanded to what it is today, a membership organisation with deep roots across Japan.
In its early days the WBSJ published its journal: Yacho, and achieved its first advocacy success in 1963 with the revision of Japan’s hunting laws. This was followed in 1971 by Japan’s accession to the Ramsar Convention on the protection of Wetlands.
In 1981 the WBSJ opened is first reserve, at Lake Utonai, on the northern island of Hokkaido. An important migration site, it was threatened by industrial expansion. This was added to in subsequent years by land purchases to secure habitat for the threatened Blakiston’s Fish-Owl, and the breeding population of the Red-crowned crane. Today, protecting these species is at the centre of the WBSJ’s conservation work, with other recent projects to preserve the nesting sites of swallows in towns and cities, to research the migration of the Latham’s Snipe and understand how wind power development can co-exist with birdlife.
For close to a century, the WBSJ has supported its work through its members, and found new iterations of its founding principles. To play the part that humans should in letting birds to thrive in the wild, and by consequence preserving a richness in nature that is accessible to all.
The WBSJ engages in a range of conservation activities, detailed information on which can be found at its Japanese language website: