Japanese Animals

Japan has a versatile topography covered with a wide mountainous terrain and dense forests. This makes it a suitable habitat for around 90 000 animal species that live in the country, including mammals, birds, marine animals, insects, and reptiles. There are around 130 mammal species, of which the two bears, the Asian black bear, and Ussuri brown bear, are the largest. The island also has about 73 reptiles, 40 amphibians, over 600 birds, and 3000 different varieties of fish.

Japanese Animals

List of of the Animals that are Native to Japan

Mammals

  • Amami Rabbit
  • Asian Black Bear
  • Asian Particolored Bat
  • Azumi Shrew
  • Birdlike Noctule
  • Bonin Flying Fox
  • Daubenton’s Bat
  • Dsinezumi Shrew
  • Echigo Mole
  • Endo’s Pipistrelle
  • Ezo Red Fox
  • Fraternal Myotis
  • Frosted Myotis
  • Greater Horseshoe Bat
  • Hokkaido Red-backed Vole
  • Hokkaidō Wolf
  • Honshu Wolf
  • Horsfield’s Shrew
  • Ikonnikov’s Bat
  • Imaizumi’s Horseshoe Bat
  • Iriomote Cat
  • Japanese Badger
  • Japanese Black Bear
  • Japanese Boar
  • Japanese Dormouse
  • Japanese Dwarf Flying Squirrel
  • Japanese Giant Flying Squirrel
  • Japanese Grass Vole
  • Japanese Hare
  • Japanese House Bat
  • Japanese Macaque
  • Japanese Marten
  • Japanese Mountain Mole
  • Japanese Pond Turtle
  • Japanese Raccoon Dog
  • Japanese Red Fox
  • Japanese Red-backed vole
  • Japanese Serow
  • Japanese Shrew Mole
  • Japanese Squirrel
  • Japanese Water Shrew
  • Japanese Weasel
  • Japanese White Crucian Carp
  • Kerama Deer
  • Kobe Mole
  • La Touche’s Free-tailed Bat
  • Large Japanese Field Mouse
  • Lesser Great Leaf-nosed Bat
  • Little Japanese Horseshoe Bat
  • Muennink’s Spiny Rat
  • Northern Pika
  • Okinawa Flying Fox
  • Ryukyu flying fox
  • Ryukyu Long-tailed Giant Rat
  • Ryukyu Mouse
  • Ryukyu Shrew
  • Ryukyu Spiny Rat
  • Ryukyu Tube-nosed Bat
  • Sable
  • Sado Mole
  • Sado Shrew
  • Shinano Whiskered Bat
  • Shinto Shrew
  • Siberian Chipmunk
  • Sika Deer
  • Small Japanese Field Mouse
  • Small Japanese Mole
  • Southeast Asian Long-fingered Bat
  • Sturdee’s Pipistrelle
  • Tanezumi Rat
  • Tokunoshima Spiny Rat
  • True’s Shrew Mole
  • Tsushima Leopard Cat
  • Ussuri Brown Bear
  • Viper Box Jelly Fish
  • Wild Boar
  • Yanbaru Whiskered Bat
  • Yezo Sika Deer

Birds

  • Japanese Green Pheasant
  • Black-faced Bunting
  • Mandarin Duck
  • Long-tailed Rosefinch
  • Red-crowned Crane
  • Japanese Quail

Invertebrates

  • Chinese Horseshoe Crab
  • Disk Abalone
  • Firefly Squid
  • Giant Squid
  • Japanese Sea Lily
  • Japanese Spider Crab
  • Nomura’s Jellyfish

Fish

  • Anago
  • Ayu
  • Fugu
  • Ginbuna
  • Goblin Shark
  • Japanese Amberjack
  • Japanese Common Catfish
  • Japanese White Crucian Carp
  • Koi
  • Maguro
  • Nigorobuna
  • Oily Bitterling
  • Saba
  • Sake
  • Sakhalin Taimen
  • Sanma
  • Tanakia Lanceolata
  • Viper Dogfish
  • Japanese Roughshark

Reptiles

  • Chinese Box Turtle
  • Hokou Gecko
  • Iwasaki’s Snail-eater
  • Japanese Grass Lizard
  • Japanese Keelback
  • Japanese Odd-scaled Snake
  • Japanese Pond Turtle
  • Japanese Rat Snake
  • Japanese Striped Snake
  • Kishinoue’s Giant Skink
  • Kuroiwa’s Ground Gecko
  • Mamushi
  • Okinawa Habu
  • Schlegel’s Japanese Gecko
  • Tiger Keelback

Amphibians

  • Daruma Pond Frog
  • Japanese Brown Frog
  • Japanese Common Toad
  • Japanese Fire belly Newt
  • Japanese Giant Salamander
  • Japanese Stream Toad
  • Japanese Tree Frog
  • Montane Brown Frog

Insects

  • Alpine Black Swallowtail
  • Asian Giant Hornet
  • Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
  • Evening Cicada
  • Genji-botaru
  • Japanese Emperor Butterfly
  • Jewel Beetle
  • Joro Spider
  • Min-min Cicada

FAQs

What is the national animal of Japan?

Japanese macaque

What are the most dangerous animals in Japan?

Asian giant hornet, Viper box jellyfish, Ussuri brown bear, Wild boar, Okinawa habu

What animals are rare in Japan?

Hondo stoat, loggerhead turtle, Blakiston’s fish owl, Japanese river otter

What are the aquatic animals of Japan?

Japanese sea lily, Japanese spider crab, giant squid, firefly squid

Subscribe our newsletter

Enter your email here to stay updated with the animal kingdom
Loading