Tachikawa Wildlife Guide: Birdwatching, Fireflies and Tanuki Walks

Mammals of the town: tanuki, raccoons and masked palm civets

Tachikawa City’s website has a short page titled “Tanuki are wild animals.” The tanuki, or Japanese raccoon dog, is a native wild member of the dog family (no relation to the raccoon), famous in Japanese folklore as a shape-shifting trickster. The page says tanuki have adapted to the urban environment, sleeping in roadside gutters, sewer pipes and the like. If you see one in town, the city writes, it has not lost its way.

Tanuki sleeping in sewer pipes. Reading that sentence, I sat thinking for a while. To a tanuki, the ground beneath Tachikawa is a very, very long tunnel home, sheltered from wind and rain. Tanuki measure about 50 to 70 centimetres and weigh about 4 to 6 kilograms; they are nocturnal but also active in the daytime. The city asks people not to feed them: the food humans give is too nourishing, and actually makes tanuki more likely to fall ill. Let’s quietly watch over them as a community, it adds. The residents of the sewer pipes have their own lives to live.

The Tachikawa Ikimono Database has 9 photos of the tanuki. They were taken on the Tama River, in Showa Kinen Park, in the central area including Izumicho and Midoricho, and in the southern area including Fujimicho and Shibasakicho. They are almost everywhere in town.

But the same database also has 9 photos of the raccoon. Raccoons and masked palm civets are alien species, and according to the city they have spread across Tokyo in recent years, with sightings reported in Tachikawa too. Both eat sweet fruit and vegetables and sometimes get into the space above people’s ceilings. The city’s warning even has an item that reads “the goldfish in the pond have disappeared.” The disappearance of goldfish appears on the list of damage. A peaceful-sounding sentence, but not so peaceful for the goldfish.

The city runs a control programme in which a contractor sets cage traps on the property of people troubled by raccoons and civets. Setting the trap and collecting the captured animal are free, but the person who asked pays for the bait put in the trap. And it is settled that if a tanuki or a cat gets into the trap, the contractor releases it on the spot. You buy bait for the trap and catch a tanuki. In that case, the tanuki gets a free meal and goes home.

The mammal section of the database also lists the small Japanese mole, the Japanese house bat, the harvest mouse, the Japanese weasel, the Japanese marten, and the red fox. There are 2 photos of the fox, taken in the Nishisunacho and Ichibancho area and in the south of the city. The harvest mouse, according to Wikipedia, weighs about 7 to 14 grams and is the smallest mouse in Japan. It weaves the leaves of tall grasses such as Japanese pampas grass and silvergrass into a round nest about 10 centimetres across, about a metre off the ground. Somewhere in Tachikawa’s grass there may be a house small enough to sit in your palm.

After the mammals, let’s lower our eyes a little further, to our feet. The grass is crowded with Tachikawa residents too.

Grass lizards and skinks tie 14–14: small residents of grass and woods

The “amphibians and reptiles” index of the Tachikawa Ikimono Database also makes good reading. The most numerous are the Japanese grass lizard and the Japanese skink, with 14 photos each. A dead heat. Next come the Japanese toad with 10, the Japanese rat snake with 8 and the Japanese four-lined snake with 7. There is even one photo of the hibakari (Japanese keelback), a small snake. Which also means that Tachikawa has at least a few people who photograph snakes and post the pictures.

The state’s Tama River survey also covered amphibians, reptiles and mammals in 2018. Its list includes the Japanese brown frog, the kajika frog, the Chinese softshell turtle, the yamakagashi (tiger keelback), and even the Japanese hare, the Japanese badger and the wild boar. But this is the list for all the survey points on the Tama River including the Asakawa, and it does not mean there are wild boar on Tachikawa’s riverbank. The Japanese brown frog is marked as endangered in the Kitatama area. The Tachikawa Ikimono Database has just one photo of it.

For woods rich in birds, the city’s documents offer several clues. Suwa no Mori Park in Shibasakicho was part of the sacred forest that surrounded the shrine, and the city writes that many wild birds come in search of the greenery. The city’s “Twelve Green Views” chose Yagawa Green Space in Hagoromocho as a place with many wild birds where you can enjoy nature to the full. The description of Kawagoe-michi Green Space in Saiwaicho calls it a place where you can hear birdsong, reminiscent of quiet countryside. On the Tamagawa Aqueduct, Japanese tits raised young in nest boxes put up by the citizens’ group. Tachikawa’s birds don’t gather only in Showa Kinen Park. They are there in the shrine forest, in the spring-fed wetland, in the coppice and in the aqueduct’s nest boxes.

While we’re at it, let’s open the database’s “fish and shellfish” index too. Japanese fluvial sculpin, kawa-yoshinobori goby, striped loach, catfish, and snakehead. The land snail misuji-maimai has a curiously large 8 photos, probably the fruit of walks on rainy days. According to the city’s Environment Book, endangered species on the Red Data lists have been posted to this guide too. A single photo of a creature nobody could name sometimes turns out to be a record of the town’s treasure.

Having seen the woods and the grass, it is finally time to talk about the wild bird closest to us in town. That black bird.

Crows and pigeons, our closest wild birds

The city’s page “Crow ecology and countermeasures” begins like this: city crows are one of our most familiar wild birds, leading a wild life within the city’s nature. There are two familiar species, the large-billed crow and the carrion crow. The Tachikawa Ikimono Database has two photos of each.

Crows build their nests from March to April, lay three to five eggs, and the eggs hatch in about 20 days. The parents look after the chicks until they fledge in June and July. Crows attack people mainly in this June-to-July breeding season, to protect their chicks, the city says. They very rarely attack in flocks of three or more.

The interesting thing is that the city spells out the crows’ calls. When someone approaches the nest, the crow first circles overhead calling “kau, kau, kau” in a relatively high-pitched, quick voice. That is the warning. If the person still doesn’t leave, it perches nearby, calls “gaaa, gaaa, gaaa” in a somewhat rough voice, and pecks at wires or branches. That is the threat. If the person still doesn’t leave, it snaps off twigs and tears off leaves and drops them. The crow, in other words, gives warnings in three properly ordered stages. A more careful procedure than in many human workplaces.

As ways to protect yourself, the city lists not going near, wearing a hat, and holding a stick-like object such as a walking stick or an umbrella above your head. Walking with an umbrella open works too. If you see someone in Tachikawa walking under an umbrella on a sunny day in early summer, they may be someone who understands crow language.

The city also recommends not leaving clothes hangers outdoors, so crows don’t build nests. Besides twigs, crows make clever use of wire hangers to build their nests. On the morning you find one hanger missing from your washing pole, that hanger is becoming the frame of a home on top of a telegraph pole somewhere.

The city’s pages go into detail about pigeons too. Feral pigeons can breed 5 or 6 times a year, and when well fed they can repeat it 7 or 8 times. So please don’t feed them. In July 2026, too, the city put out a page asking people to stop the nuisance of feeding pigeons and other wild birds. Wild birds, it says, are not pets.

A traveller’s detour quiz

According to Tachikawa City, which is a crow’s first warning call when someone comes near its nest? (A) “Gaaa, gaaa, gaaa” (B) “Kau, kau, kau” (C) “Kaa, kaa, kaa” (the classic crow cry of Japanese picture books). The answer comes at the end.

Now that we have learned some crow, let’s go back to the first mystery. Why are the hawks’ whereabouts never written down? The answer lay in the etiquette of the people who watch birds.

Showa Kinen Park’s birdwatching walks: winter places go by lottery

First, a short word about the easiest place in Tachikawa to see birds. Showa Kinen Park holds birdwatching walks led by volunteers. According to the 2026 programme, you meet at the Nishi-Tachikawa Gate and walk a two-hour course past the Waterfowl Pond, the Fureai Bridge and the Flowering Tree Garden to the Bird Sanctuary, and at the end all participants check the species and numbers they have seen against a special checklist. Taking part is free (park admission is separate). Binoculars are lent free too, to the first 12 people who ask on the day.

Read the programme closely and you find that the January and February walks alone are allocated by lottery rather than first come, first served. In Tachikawa, seeing birds in midwinter takes a bit of luck.

Where the hawks are is never written: the etiquette of watching

The bird list of the state’s National Census on River Environments carries a disclaimer. For species classed as Vulnerable or higher on the Ministry of the Environment’s Red List, and for birds of prey, the survey points where they were confirmed are not shown, for conservation reasons. They were confirmed at one of the points, but which one is not written. In the rows for the northern goshawk, the peregrine falcon, the common kestrel and the little tern, a row of dashes stands in place of the marks for survey points.

The “unspecified” on the Tachikawa Ikimono Database’s hawks is probably the same etiquette. I have not read the posting rules in detail, so I have not confirmed the intention. But when every one of the 7 sparrowhawk photos and both goshawk photos is “unspecified,” and 10 of the 11 kingfisher photos are “unspecified,” it is hard to believe it is chance.

Why not write down where they are? The Wild Bird Society of Japan sums up the right attitude for watching birds outdoors in a seven-syllable phrase, “ya-sa-shi-i-ki-mo-chi,” which spells out “yasashii kimochi,” “a kind heart.” Each syllable starts a line of advice. Enjoy outdoor activities without overdoing it. Refrain from collecting; leave nature as it is. Quietly, softly. Stay on the path; don’t stray from it. Be careful with photography, feeding, and bothering other people. Take home your memories and your rubbish. And finally: don’t go near birds’ nests.

The society explains that parent birds raising young are nervous, and if they sense danger or the area around the nest changes, they may abandon it. Photographing near a nest can even kill the chicks. If a location becomes known, people gather. If people gather, the hawks may abandon their nest. So it isn’t written. That is the answer to my opening mystery. Not writing down where the hawks are is the etiquette that lets Tachikawa live alongside its hawks.

One more thing to remember in spring and summer. Newly fledged chicks are sometimes on the ground. The Wild Bird Society asks that you don’t touch them but leave the spot and watch quietly from a distance, because the parents are usually nearby. If you are worried, just move the chick into a nearby bush. The parent birds can find their chick by its voice even when they can’t see it. Tachikawa City’s pages on crows and pigeons also say to leave fallen chicks where they are.

The city’s park rules contain items in the same spirit. If you catch insects, take only as many as you can keep. Be considerate and let them go after catching them. Catching fish in park ponds is prohibited, and so is releasing fish. And on page after page, the city repeats that catching wild birds or mammals requires a permit under the Wildlife Protection and Management Act.

Wikipedia has an interesting note about the rose-ringed parakeet too. To avoid scattering their roosts, it is said, it is better not to chase them away carelessly when you find them. Even with an alien bird, if people startle it, the problem simply moves somewhere else. Look. Count. Write it down. But don’t write down where. Don’t startle. Don’t feed. Getting along with Tachikawa’s wildlife is, in the end, rather simple.

The answer: on an invisible map

Why are the hawks’ whereabouts never written down? The answer was: to protect them. The state’s survey and the residents’ guide follow the same etiquette, leaving part of the map blank.

When I had finished my research, I began to see the map of Tachikawa a little differently. Above ground: the station, the office blocks, the monorail. Below, in the sewer pipes, tanuki sleep, and in the current of the Tama River, crabs heading for the sea move their legs. Around Konpira Bridge on the Tamagawa Aqueduct, someone counts fireflies every June night, and behind the paddy in Tachikawa Park, the channel where the crabs are gone is glowing. And in a tree somewhere, a hawk the size of a pigeon is raising its young, its location written down by no one.

On the Showa-era Tama River, people watched sweetfish from pleasure boats. In the high-growth era, wildlife almost vanished from that river. Now the state counts 106 species of birds on the Tama River, and residents have gathered more than 10,000 photos of living things with their smartphones. Tachikawa’s nature, after being lost, is being counted again by human hands and eyes.

On the deck in front of the station, a pigeon walks past, bobbing its head. That pigeon, too, is one of the 77 names.

Answer to the detour quiz

The answer is (B), “kau, kau, kau.” According to Tachikawa City, when someone approaches the area around a nest or a crow’s territory, the crow circles overhead calling “kau, kau, kau” in a relatively high-pitched, quick voice. (A), “gaaa, gaaa, gaaa,” is the threat call it uses if the person still doesn’t leave.

Before you go

• Showa Kinen Park birdwatching walks: usually on the third Sunday of each month (not July to September), 10:00 to 12:00, meeting at the Nishi-Tachikawa Gate. Advance online booking is required, and the January and February walks are by lottery. Always check dates, capacity and how to apply on the official page: https://www.showakinen-koen.jp/event/64823/ (Showa Kinen Park is the easiest of these places to reach from Shinjuku: JR Chuo Line to Tachikawa, or the Ome Line one stop on to Nishi-Tachikawa for the Nishi-Tachikawa Gate.)
• The Tama River banks: the floodplain at Shibasakicho and Nishikicho, Tachikawa. You can walk there from Shibasaki-Taiikukan Station on the Tama Monorail along the Nekawa Green Path (the route in this series’ article on the Nekawa Green Path and the Tama River). Do not go down onto the riverbed when the water is high.
• Tachikawa Park (Ganigara Plaza): about 15 minutes’ walk from the South Exit of JR Tachikawa Station, or about 1 minute from Shibasaki-Taiikukan Station on the Tama Monorail (according to Tachikawa City). For the firefly season and whether viewing is possible, follow the local groups’ guidance. https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/sports/1002924/1003007.html
• Tamagawa Aqueduct: flows east to west across the north of the city. The area around Konpira Bridge overlaps with the route in this series’ article on the Tamagawa Aqueduct and Sunagawa.
• Living with wildlife: Tachikawa City, “How to get along with wild animals” (Japanese): https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kurashi/seikatsu/1001667/1002460/index.html ; Wild Bird Society of Japan, “Field manners” (Japanese): https://www.wbsj.org/activity/spread-and-education/bbw/manner-field/
• The residents’ guide: Tachikawa Ikimono Database (Japanese): https://ikimono-tachi.jp/ (currently accepting posts of wild plants and insects only)
• Etiquette in brief: don’t feed tanuki, pigeons or other wild animals; don’t go near nests; if you post photos of birds of prey or nests online, leave out the location; leave fledglings on the ground where they are; and never catch wild birds or mammals (a permit is required).
• Carry an IC card such as Suica or PASMO; it works on the JR lines and the Tama Monorail alike.
• To combine: walk the Tama River banks with the article on the Nekawa Green Path and the Tama River, the Tamagawa Aqueduct with the article on the Tamagawa Aqueduct and Sunagawa, the springs and the eight-barbel loach with the article on the Yagawa, and the park rules with this series’ guide to Tachikawa’s parks.

After the birds, at the North Exit

Birdwatching is a hobby that involves a lot of standing still. Hold binoculars up on a winter riverbank and your body gets colder than you expect. Your arm, too, may be a little stiff from holding an umbrella up for the crows.

A one-minute walk from the North Exit of JR Tachikawa Station, on the 3rd floor of the Etoile Building at 2-14-10 Akebonocho, Tachikawa, Tokyo, is On the Shore Tachikawa (オンザショア立川店), a hot yoga studio where classes are held on heated lava stone. There is also room-temperature yoga, Pilates, women-only kickboxercise, boxercise, HIIT and personal training, with more than 25 kinds of yoga lessons.

It is open every day from 8:00 to 23:30, so there is time to drop in after a morning birdwatching walk or before a firefly evening.

A trial yoga lesson costs ¥1,980 (tax included), with two bath towels, one face towel and a mat included as rentals. You can drop in with nothing but yourself, binoculars still round your neck. Pregnant guests cannot join the lava-stone hot yoga, but room-temperature maternity yoga is available. Many of our yoga instructors speak English, and the studio’s owner, Naomi Fujita, who holds Japan’s top English qualification (Eiken Grade 1) and a perfect TOEIC score and once worked as a translator and overseas interpreter at Nomura Securities, and who lived in Alaska for three years, often helps guests from the US bases in English herself (visitors from abroad have even left Google reviews about the care they received in English); if you would like an English-friendly lesson, just say so when you book.

Studio information: https://ontheshore.jp/ ; trial booking: https://site.locaop.jp/C0aVK?_src=hp

Quietly, softly. The etiquette of birdwatching probably works on a yoga mat too.

Cover photo: A common kingfisher perched on a dead branch above water, showing its blue back, orange breast and long bill. (Photo: Takashi Hososhima / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons)

Information as of October 2026.

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