Notoro Cape, located near the town of  Abashiri in Hokkaido, juts into the Okhotsk Sea.The name ‘Notoro’ comes from a  corruption of the word for ‘place of cape’ in the Ainu language.At the beginning of winter ice floes  appear around the cape; and soon the sea is completely covered with ice.On the rocks around the cape can be seen lovely Gomafu seals, and sometimes, far out,you can see dolphins jumping and diving.Nearby is Ojiro’s Waterfall, which is 40m in height and becomes an ice waterfall in winter, when it seems that  timehas stopped.In the summer, grassland spreads as far as the eye can see and friendly browsing cattle approach you. The grasslandis like a green carpet; and contrasts  with the blue carpet of the Okhotsk Sea, giving us a feeling of a vast natural canvas.Notoro Cape is designated as the Abashiri National Park.