Abstract
Various bird watching facilities or observatories had been built in or adjacent to protected nature conservation areas in Japan until the 1980s. Three major factors had contributed to this: 1） the introduction of bird watching facilities in Europe and USA in the 1960s; 2） the growth in the nature conservation movement against reclamation projects in tidal flats in the 1960s and 1970s; and 3） the “sanctuary movement” of the Wild Bird Society of Japan. In addition, the former Environment Agency started construction of “waterfowl and wetland centers” in the mid-1990s. The increase in the number of wild bird observatories has continued, and by the end of 2022 there were 51 facilities. The facility installers can be broken down as follows: municipalities（ 22 facilities）, prefectures（ 13 facilities）, the Ministry of the Environment（ 12 facilities）, and private organizations （4 facilities）. The management responsibility somewhat differs between facilities: private organizations （33 facilities）, municipalities （13 facilities）, prefectures （2 facilities）, and joint management （3 facilities）. The trend in Japan differs from that in the UK, where development has mainly been done by private organizations. The differences are the result of adaptation and development in response to the social situation in Japan.
