Shimokita Peninsula, Japan

Postcard JP-492787 came from the Shimokita Peninsula (下北半島),  located in the remote northeastern cape of the Japanese island of Honshū, separated from Hokkaido from the Tsugaru Strait. Shaped like an axe pointing to the west, the peninsula has a thin "handle" in the east connecting to the mountainous "blade" to the mainland.

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The whole Shimokita area was designated as a quasi-national park (下北半島国定公園 Shimokita-hantō Kokutei Kōen) on July 22, 1968. All Quasi-National Parks in Japan are managed by the local prefectural governments. The card shows many swans, migrated from Siberia for the winter, at Ominato Bay inside Mutsu Bay.

Map of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia

Postcard RU-2308129, sent on the New Year's Day from Russia, shows a map of Krasnoyarsk, the third largest city in Siberia, Russia, after Novosibirsk and Omsk. It had  a population of  almost 1 million in 2010. Located on the Yenisei River. it is an important junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway that connects Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan, with branch lines going into Mongolia, China and North Korea.

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Polar Bear in a Bank

Polar Bear at First Interstate Bank

I am sending this postcard US-2359330 I bought at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum to Australia. It shows a 1600 lbs or 725.75 kg and 11 ft or 3.35 m tall Polar Bear on display in the lobby of the Main office at First Interstate Bank of Nevada, Reno, NV. It says on the back of the postcard that the bear was shot by A.M. Smith 50 miles north of Cape Uelen, Siberia in Russia. However, it didn't say when it was shot and how it ended up there in the bank. If you have additional information on this bear, send me an email.

Lake Baikal, Russia

Lake Baikal, Russia

The postcard RU-1836095 received yesterday shows Lake Baikal, a rift lake, in Siberia, Russia. Lake Baikal is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world. It is also the deepest (1,642 m or 5,387 ft); the clearest;  and the oldest (25 million years) of all lakes.

Lake Baikal area is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals, with 2/3 of those being unique to the region. It was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.