At Lake Akan in Kushiro City, Hokkaido, locals carried out work to return the national special natural monument "Marimo of Lake Akan", which was launched on the shore in large numbers, to the lake.
On December 2, a large amount of marimo was found on the northern shore of Lake Akan.
It is believed to be affected by heavy rains in November and strong winds in early December.
The area where Marimo was found was more than 1,500 square meters, and part of it reached the depths of the land, so on the 9th, about 50 locals worked to return it to the lake.
After returning the finely divided marimo to the water with a shovel, I used a pump to move it from the shallows to the offshore.
The marimo that have been launched and fall apart are usually thought to be part of a cycle of returning to the lake by the returning waves and increasing their numbers.
However, this time it may not be possible to return to the lake naturally, so it was returned by hand.
"Marimo of Lake Akan" is being protected locally, but its growing range has decreased by about 30% compared to 1997.
Naoyuki Matsuoka, Chairman of the NPO Akan Tourism Association Town Development Promotion Organization, said, "I would like to take responsibility and continue activities to protect Marimo from Lake Akan."