Mammals of Japan

Every mammals in the Wildlife of Japan guide: 155 species, grouped by family or group. Each name opens its page with photos, identification notes, habitat and range.

Cats

• Mainland Leopard Cat Prionailurus bengalensis

Bears, Dogs & Otters

• Red Fox Vulpes vulpes
• Japanese Marten Martes melampus
• Brown Bear Ursus arctos
• Japanese Weasel Mustela itatsi
• Asian Black Bear Ursus thibetanus
• Japanese Badger Meles anakuma
• Siberian Weasel Mustela sibirica
• Sea Otter Enhydra lutris
• Sable Martes zibellina
• Beringian Ermine Mustela erminea
• Least Weasel Mustela nivalis
• Japanese Raccoon Dog Nyctereutes viverrinus
• Japanese Otter Lutra nippon

Monkeys, Gibbons, Lorises & Colugo

• Japanese Macaque Macaca fuscata

Deer & Chevrotains

• Sika Deer Cervus nippon

Wild Cattle & Serow

• Japanese Serow Capricornis crispus

Wild Pigs

• Eurasian Wild Pig Sus scrofa

Whales, Dolphins & Dugong

• Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae
• Harbor Porpoise Phocoena phocoena
• Dall's Porpoise Phocoenoides dalli
• Pacific White-sided Dolphin Aethalodelphis obliquidens
• Sperm Whale Physeter macrocephalus
• Striped Dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba
• Melon-headed Whale Peponocephala electra
• Common Minke Whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata
• Common Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus
• Risso's Dolphin Grampus griseus
• Baird's Beaked Whale Berardius bairdii
• Cuvier's Beaked Whale Ziphius cavirostris
• Common Killer Whale Orcinus orca
• Short-finned Pilot Whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
• Rough-toothed Dolphin Steno bredanensis
• Dwarf Sperm Whale Kogia sima
• Pantropical Spotted Dolphin Stenella attenuata
• Fraser's Dolphin Lagenodelphis hosei
• Pygmy Sperm Whale Kogia breviceps
• False Killer Whale Pseudorca crassidens
• Fin Whale Balaenoptera physalus
• Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops aduncus
• Sei Whale Balaenoptera borealis
• Panglobal Common Dolphin Delphinus delphis
• Pygmy Killer Whale Feresa attenuata
• Eden's Whale Balaenoptera edeni
• Northern Right-whale Dolphin Lissodelphis borealis
• Spinner Dolphin Stenella longirostris
• Dugong Dugong dugon
• Gray Whale Eschrichtius robustus
• Blue Whale Balaenoptera musculus
• East Asian Finless Porpoise Neophocaena sunameri
• Omura's Whale Balaenoptera omurai
• Stejneger's Beaked Whale Mesoplodon stejnegeri
• Blainville's Beaked Whale Mesoplodon densirostris
• Ginkgo-toothed Beaked Whale Mesoplodon ginkgodens
• Hubbs's Beaked Whale Mesoplodon carlhubbsi
• Least Beaked Whale Berardius minimus
• Longman's Beaked Whale Indopacetus pacificus
• Resident Killer Whale Orcinus ater
• Bigg's Killer Whale Orcinus rectipinnus

Squirrels & Flying Squirrels

• Japanese Squirrel Sciurus lis
• Eurasian Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgaris
• Japanese Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista leucogenys
• Siberian Chipmunk Eutamias sibiricus
• Japanese Flying Squirrel Pteromys momonga
• Siberian Flying Squirrel Pteromys volans

Rats, Mice, Voles & Porcupines

• Large Japanese Field Mouse Apodemus speciosus
• Gray Red-backed Vole Craseomys rufocanus
• Small Japanese Field Mouse Apodemus argenteus
• House Mouse Mus musculus
• Ryukyu Islands Tree Rat Diplothrix legata
• Northern Red-backed Vole Clethrionomys rutilus
• Eurasian Harvest Mouse Micromys minutus
• Hokkaido Red-backed Vole Craseomys rex
• Korean Field Mouse Apodemus peninsulae
• East Asian House Rat Rattus tanezumi
• Striped Field Mouse Apodemus agrarius
• Japanese Grass Vole Alexandromys montebelli
• Smith's Red-backed Vole Craseomys smithii
• Amami Spiny Rat Tokudaia osimensis
• Anderson's Red-backed Vole Craseomys andersoni
• Japanese Dormouse Glirulus japonicus
• Okinawa Island Spiny Rat Tokudaia muenninki
• Tokunoshima Spiny Rat Tokudaia tokunoshimensis

Pangolins, Treeshrews, Shrews & Gymnures

• Japanese Hare Lepus brachyurus
• Japanese Shrew Mole Urotrichus talpoides
• Amami Rabbit Pentalagus furnessi
• Dsinezumi White-toothed Shrew Crocidura dsinezumi
• Small Japanese Mole Mogera imaizumii
• Laxmann's Shrew Sorex caecutiens
• Mountain Hare Lepus timidus
• Northern Pika Ochotona hyperborea
• Shantung White-toothed Shrew Crocidura shantungensis
• Large Japanese Mole Mogera wogura
• Long-clawed Shrew Sorex unguiculatus
• True's Shrew Mole Dymecodon pilirostris
• Slender Shrew Sorex gracillimus
• Shinto Shrew Sorex shinto
• Japanese Water Shrew Chimarrogale platycephala
• Lesser Ryukyu White-toothed Shrew Crocidura watasei
• Sado Mole Mogera tokudae
• Japanese Mountain Mole Oreoscaptor mizura
• Echigo Mole Mogera etigo
• Eurasian Least Shrew Sorex minutissimus
• Azumi Shrew Sorex hosonoi
• Greater Ryukyu White-toothed Shrew Crocidura orii
• Senkaku Mole Mogera uchidai

Bats

• Little Japanese Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus cornutus
• Japanese Pipistrelle Alionoctula abramus
• Northern Fur Seal Callorhinus ursinus
• Ryukyu Flying Fox Pteropus dasymallus
• Asian Long-fingered Bat Miniopterus fuliginosus
• Asian Particolored Bat Vespertilio sinensis
• Spotted Seal Phoca largha
• Greater Japanese Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus nippon
• Ryukyu Long-fingered Bat Miniopterus fuscus
• Lesser Roundleaf Bat Hipposideros turpis
• Hilgendorf's Tube-nosed Bat Murina hilgendorfi
• Harbor Seal Phoca vitulina
• Ussuri Tube-nosed Bat Murina ussuriensis
• Steller Sea Lion Eumetopias jubatus
• Bonin Flying Fox Pteropus pselaphon
• Northern Serotine Cnephaeus nilssonii
• Ringed Seal Pusa hispida
• Ribbon Seal Histriophoca fasciata
• Walrus Odobenus rosmarus
• Bearded Seal Erignathus barbatus
• Marianas Flying Fox Pteropus mariannus
• Beluga Delphinapterus leucas
• Russian Myotis Myotis petax
• Ryukyu Tube-nosed Bat Murina ryukyuana
• Northern Elephant Seal Mirounga angustirostris
• Reddish-black Myotis Myotis rufoniger
• Siberian Whiskered Myotis Myotis sibiricus
• Eurasian Particolored Bat Vespertilio murinus
• Big-footed Myotis Myotis macrodactylus
• North Pacific Right Whale Eubalaena japonica
• Ikonnikov's Myotis Myotis ikonnikovi
• Bird-like Noctule Nyctalus aviator
• Imaizumi's Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus imaizumii
• Yaeyama Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus perditus
• Japanese Long-eared Bat Plecotus sacrimontis
• Endo's Pipistrelle Alionoctula endoi
• Far Eastern Myotis Myotis bombinus
• Japanese Noctule Nyctalus furvus
• Japanese Barbastelle Barbastella pacifica
• Frosted Myotis Myotis pruinosus
• Japanese Sea Lion Zalophus japonicus
• Long-tailed Myotis Myotis longicaudatus
• East Asian Free-tailed Bat Tadarida insignis
• Yanbaru Whiskered Myotis Myotis yanbarensis
• Japanese Serotine Cnephaeus japonensis
• Sturdee's Pipistrelle Alionoctula sturdeei
• Gloomy Tube-nosed Bat Murina tenebrosa
• Alashanian Pipistrelle Hypsugo alashanicus
• Okinawa Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus pumilus

Frequently asked questions

How many mammals are in the Wildlife of Japan guide?

The guide lists 155 mammals of Japan, each with its own page covering identification, habitat and range.

Which groups of mammals are covered?

Cats (1), Bears, Dogs & Otters (13), Monkeys, Gibbons, Lorises & Colugo (1), Deer & Chevrotains (1), Wild Cattle & Serow (1), Wild Pigs (1), Whales, Dolphins & Dugong (41), Squirrels & Flying Squirrels (6), Rats, Mice, Voles & Porcupines (18), Pangolins, Treeshrews, Shrews & Gymnures (23), Bats (49).