Narashino: 谷津 - 千葉県, 日本

Yatsu Higata sits at a tidal flat on Tokyo Bay in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, where a narrow channel connects an urban wetland with the sea. Surrounded by Narashino’s apartment blocks, roads and parkland, the mudflat retains reed-fringed shallows shaped by the changing tide. It was designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 1993 and is an important stopover and wintering site for migratory waterbirds, especially shorebirds. The Yatsu Higata Nature Observation Center interprets this unusual meeting of metropolitan development and tidal ecology. Within the wider Tokyo Bay shore, Yatsu Higata is a compact reminder that coastal habitat can endure beside one of Japan’s largest urban regions.