A Water Tour of Kansai Nurturing Natural Treasures HYOGO Prefecture Toyooka City Where the Oriental White Storks Live Storks raised in captivity. The local people hope they will be able to adapt to the wild. The Maruyama River fosters fish, insects and koriyanagi, the willow used to make Kiryu zaiku, a specialty handicraft produced in Toyooka. The river crosses the Toyooka Basin, formerly a habitat for oriental white storks, birds designated a protected species. Because the country's rapid economic growth led to the deterioration of their living environment, the number of oriental white storks declined sharply. In 1965, a breeding center for oriental white storks was established in Toyooka, and by October 1998 the number of storks at the center had grown to 56. The Maruyama River flows swiftly through the Toyooka Basin. Programs are under way to develop a city where people and nature can coexist and to return the oriental white storks to the wild. The Home of Oriental White Storks Park (provisional name) is scheduled to open in autumn 1999, while farmers in the region are promoting chemical-free farming. Home of Storks Park Promotion Office, Lifelong Learning Section, Toyooka Municipal Board of Education TEL 0796-23-1111 BACK NEXT All images Copyright. 1999 Kansai International Public Relations Promotion Office. All Rights Reserved.