I am currently leading my annual Hokkaido photo workshop which includes Mt. Fuji and Nagano’s Snow Monkey park (in Jigokudani Yaen Koen).  Today, we spent the day exploring and photographing the World of the Samurai - including Matsumoto castle, which was completed in 1594.  We also visited Japan’s most pilgrimaged to Shinto Shrine complex in the valley of the dragons.  Tomorrow, we will be photographing snow monkeys, then Mt. Fuji, and after that we fly to Hokkaido.  During my annual Hokkaido photo tour, we will be spotting and photographing Steller’s Sea Eagles (Haliaeetus pelagicus) and other raptors, plus the Red-Crowned Cranes (Grus japonensis). The popularity of birding in Japan has never been stronger among locals and international photographers.  In Japan there are over 600 bird species recorded, over 60% of these are migratory.  Species that are either endemic or sub-regional endemic include the Blakiston’s Fish-owl (Bubo blakistoni), the Red-Crowned crane, Pyer’s Woodpecker (Yungipicus kizuki), Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus), Black Kite (Milvus migrans), and there are over 60 species in this category.  Japan is latitudinally long at over 3,000 kilometers, located in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, climates range from almost subarctic conditions in the north to subtropical in the south. There are two distinct ecological lines dividing Japan’s flora and fauna, the Blakiston’s Line and the Watase’s Line.  Due to this uniquely rare ecological condition, Japan is avifauna abundantly rich, making it the perfect location for wildlife and wildlife photography.