Iwaizumi Spring Cave and Its Bats

A large bat with a horseshoe-shaped nose-leaf, using caves for daytime roosts and hibernation and hunting insects with ultrasound. Bat caves such as Iwaizumi in Iwate and Saiko in Yamanashi are designated Natural Monuments.

A smaller relative of the Greater Horseshoe Bat, with a complex nose-leaf used to emit ultrasound while hunting insects in flight. It hibernates and roosts in caves, and sites like Iwaizumi in Iwate and Saiko in Yamanashi are protected.

A medium-sized bat with rabbit-like long ears, roosting in caves and tree hollows and catching insects in flight. Caves such as Iwaizumi in Iwate and Saiko in Yamanashi are protected as Natural Monuments for its habitat.

Hilgendorf's Tube-nosed Bat has tube-like nostrils that stick out like a tengu's nose. It lives in tree hollows and caves in forests and eats insects. The Iwaizumi spring cave in Iwate, used by bats, is designated a Natural Monument.

The Japanese Large-footed Myotis is a bat with large hind feet that forages close to the surface of rivers and ponds, catching insects such as midges, caddisflies and moths. It roosts in caves and tunnels and may form large colonies. The Iwaizumi spring cave in Iwate, which it shares with other bats such as the tube-nosed bat, is protected as part of the national Natural Monument designated as the cave and its bats.