Hokkaidō’s Vanishing Paradise: The Wild Horses of Yururi Island

Huddling together in the snow, February 2014. (© Okada Atsushi)

Fine snow swirling around a horse in the subzero cold, February 2014. (© Okada Atsushi)

The sun rising behind Yururi Island, seen from Konbumori on the southern coast of the Nemuro Peninsula. (© Okada Atsushi)

Horse paths spread out from the lighthouse like the veins of a leaf, October 2014. (© Okada Atsushi)

Horses grooming one another, May 2017. (© Okada Atsushi)

Small anemones blooming in spring. (© Okada Atsushi)

Clockwise from top left: Horses played a vital role in the local fishing industry in the 1940s–60s (© Yamamoto Masami); horses being transported off the uninhabited island (year unknown, © Satō Shōichirō); a herd roaming the island. (year unknown, © Satō Shōichirō)

Grazing in the summer mist in a field of wildflowers, August 2013. (© Okada Atsushi)

Summers are shrouded in fog, August 2013. (© Okada Atsushi)

Many rare seabird species inhabit Yururi’s surrounding waters, July 2020. (© Okada Atsushi)

In autumn, Yururi is covered in flaxen wild grasses, November 2017. (© Okada Atsushi)

Many horses now sleep beneath the soil of the island’s meadows, February 2019. (© Okada Atsushi)