:Uchiura Bay

File:A Man & Woman of Volcano Bay (1796).png family living near Uchiura Bay during the voyage of Commander Broughton and {{HMS|Providence|1791|6}}.]]

The shoreline of Uchiura Bay was first settled by the Jōmon people as early as 4000 BC. Trade settlements have been found along its shoreline, such as the Ōfune Site where the Jōmon people relied on the body of water for trade routes to other Jōmon settlements in northern Tōhoku.{{cite web|title=内浦湾沿岸の縄文文化遺跡群|trans-title=Jōmon cultural sites along the shoreline of Uchiura Bay|url=https://www.hokkaidoisan.org/uchiura_jomon.html|access-date=9 November 2020}} In modern history, the bay was charted during the late-eighteenth century voyage of Royal Navy Commander William Robert Broughton and the crew of {{HMS|Providence|1791|6}} during the eruption of nearby Mount Usu. Due to the eruptive activity, they labeled the bay as "Volcano Bay" in September 1796. Commander Broughton and his crew mingled extensively with the Ainu and Japanese living around the bay while they surveyed the bay's coastline. At a dinner they exchanged maps with the Japanese and conversed using Russian.{{cite book|last=Broughton|first=William Robert|author-link=William Robert Broughton|title=A voyage of discovery to the north Pacific Ocean : in which the coastal Asia, ... Japan ... as well as the coast of Corea have been examined and surveyed, performed in His Majesty's Sloop Providence and her tender in the years 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798|pages=96–114|publication-date=1804|publisher=T. Cadell and W. Davies|url=http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/12329001|ol=24159440M|access-date=9 November 2020}}

Uchiura Bay is a bay east of the Oshima Peninsula that protrudes from the southwestern corner of Hokkaido south towards Honshu and to the south of western Iburi Subprefecture. It is a subdivision of the Pacific Ocean with a total area of {{convert|2485|km2|mi2|sp=us}}. Its opening to the Pacific Ocean is marked by a {{convert|30.2|km2|mi2|sp=us|adj=mid|-long}} line between Hokkaido Koma-ga-take and Cape Chikiu.{{cite web|title=噴火湾|trans-title=Eruption Bay|url=https://www.env.go.jp/water/heisa/heisa_net/waters/hunkawan.html|language=ja|date=1 April 2011|access-date=9 November 2020}} It has been known as "Eruption Bay" as well as "Volcano Bay" due to the eruption of Mount Usu when the bay was being documented by Western explorers in the late-eighteenth century. In addition to Mount Usu, several other volcanoes line the shore of Uchiura Bay.{{cite web|title=火山学者に聞いてみよう|trans-title=Ask a volcanologist|url=http://kazan-g.sakura.ne.jp/J/QA/topic/topic234.html|publisher=The Volcanological Society of Japan|language=ja|date=January 2012|access-date=9 November 2020}} It has also been called Iburi Bay, likely due to its proximity to Iburi Subprefecture.{{cite web|title=Japan, Hokushu – South Coast. Uchiura Wan or Iburi Wan (Volcano Bay)|url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/11370756|publisher=U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office|location=Washington, D.C.|date=February 1929|access-date=9 November 2020}}

The bay marks a junction between the arctic sea life seen in the waters surrounding northern Hokkaido and eastern Russia and the more temperate marine ecosystem seen around the rest of Japan.{{cite web|title=噴火湾|trans-title=Funka Bay|url=https://www.emecs.or.jp/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/002.pdf|language=ja|publisher=International Center for the Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas|date=October 2019|access-date=9 November 2020}} Arctic rainbow smelt, the Japanese lamprey, flounder, several species of shellfish, and kelp live in the waters of Uchiura Bay.{{cite web|title=Southern Uchiura Bay|url=http://www.env.go.jp/en/nature/biodic/kaiyo-hozen/kaiiki/engan/11402.html|publisher=Ministry of the Environment|date=September 2018|access-date=9 November 2020}} The practice of farming scallops was first developed in the bay by the residents of the town of Toyoura on the bay's northern shore.{{cite web|title=北海道でホタテ釣り選手権　「世界王者」に１年分贈呈|trans-title=Scallop fishing champion to be presented with a year's worth of scallops|url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASJCF5DCHJCFIIPE002.html|language=ja|newspaper=The Asahi Shimbun|date=14 November 2016|access-date=9 November 2020}}

In Ainu mythology it is believed that a gigantic octopus kamuy lives in Uchiura Bay. The kraken-like creature is known as Atkorkamuy and Akkorokamui among the Ainu and Japanese, respectively.{{cite web|title=Akkorokamui|url=http://yokai.com/akkorokamui/|publisher=Yokai.com|date=2020|access-date=10 November 2020}}

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Category:Bays of Hokkaido