A small town on the eastern coast of Hokkaido has seen a proliferation of rare wild sea otters, giving it hopes of becoming a tourist hot spot at a time when the endangered marine mammal has been vanishing from Japanese aquariums.
"I would love to come here again," said Satoshi Ishizuka, 53, who was visiting Cape Kiritappu in Hamanaka from Kanagawa Prefecture on an evening in mid-August while he excitedly watched an otter, swimming with its head up, duck behind some rocks.
Sea otters can be observed year-round at the cape, even as their numbers dwindle significantly at aquariums due to international trade restrictions and aging populations.