Kenbokki Island (嶮暮帰島, Kenbokki-tō) is an uninhabited island in Hamanaka, Hokkaidō, Japan. The island, with a 4.5-kilometer coastline, forms part of Akkeshi Prefectural Natural Park.[2] The name is derived from the Ainu kene-pok or "beneath the alder" (Alnus japonica).[3] During studies in 1999, four species of mammal (long-clawed shrew, grey-sided vole, harbour seal, and visiting sika deer) and forty-one species of birds were recorded on the island; there were no amphibians or reptiles.[4] Of the birds, Leach's storm petrel (some twenty thousand pairs), Japanese cormorant, Japanese snipe, slaty-backed gull, and common reed bunting were identified as breeding on Kenbokki.[4] Flora include Gentiana triflora var. japonica (エゾリンドウ), Hemerocallis esculenta, and lily-of-the-valley.[5] Masanori Hata founded Mutsugorō Animal Kingdom (ムツゴロウ動物王国) after his stay on the island.[2]

Kenbokki Island
Native name:
嶮暮帰島
Kenbokki Island viewed from Cape Azechi
Map
Geography
LocationPacific coast of eastern Hokkaidō
Coordinates43°03′00″N 145°06′18″E / 43.050112°N 145.105138°E / 43.050112; 145.105138
Coastline4.5 km (2.8 mi)[1]
Administration
Japan
PrefectureHokkaido
SubprefectureKushiro Subprefecture
DistrictAkkeshi District
TownHamanaka
Demographics
Populationuninhabited

References

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  1. ^ 嶮暮帰島 [Kenbokki Island] (in Japanese). Hokkaidō Prefecture. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b 厚岸道立自然公園 [Akkeshi Prefectural Natural Park] (in Japanese). Hokkaidō Prefecture. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  3. ^ Yamada Hidezō (2000). 北海道の地名 アイヌ語地名の研究 [Place Names of Hokkaido: research into Ainu place names] (in Japanese). Sōfūkan. p. 256. ISBN 4-88323-114-3.
  4. ^ a b Kawahara Atsushi; Nakajima Hiroaki (2002). 嶮暮帰島の動物相 [The Fauna of Kenbokki Island, Hokkaido]. Journal of the Japanese Wildlife Research Society. 28 (9). The Japanese Wildlife Research Society: 57–68. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  5. ^ 嶮暮帰島 [Kenbokki Island] (in Japanese). Hamanaka Town. Retrieved 22 October 2016.

See also

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