Shiretoko National Park, National park in eastern Hokkaido, Japan

Shiretoko National Park covers about 60,000 hectares from the central Shiretoko Peninsula to Cape Shiretoko, including surrounding waters. More than half of the land is a Special Protection Zone. The park spans volcanic mountains, temperate and subalpine mixed forests, and sea cliffs, with a gravel footpath flanked by low wooden post-and-rail fences crossing grassland toward hills and mountains.

The park was created in 1964 by Japan's Ministry of Environment and later designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. This recognition honored the area's value as a natural landscape of global importance.

The name Shiretoko derives from the Ainu phrase "sir etok", meaning "the place where the earth protrudes". The Ainu, influenced by the Okhotsk culture that flourished along the Sea of Okhotsk around the 10th century, venerated animals such as the Blakiston's fish owl, brown bear and orca as gods. Kamuiwakka Falls takes its name from the Ainu words for "water of the gods".

The best conditions for exploring run from May through September, when weather is most stable and trails are easiest to navigate. Wear sturdy shoes, as paths lead through forests and over rocky terrain.

The Sea of Okhotsk off Shiretoko is the lowest-latitude seasonal sea ice zone in the Northern Hemisphere. Algae grow under the drift ice, and the mixing it causes brings nutrient-rich water to the surface, feeding plankton and the fish, seals and whales above them.