So far I haven’t found too many birding sites of much quality for Japan, but there are some very good ones out there. Perhaps the best, or rather a very good one which is best presented, would be Mike Danzenbaker’s Nature Photography site; he has about 200 Japanese birds categorized in a sidebar menu, with photographs of each that he’s taken. That’s the primary site I used for identifying species before I got my reference book.

Next would be Takashi Koike’s Virtual Birding in Tokyo site, with photos of birds listed by type, but also a list of 124 different birds by family, with English names much more accessible.

After his site, Naoto Kitagawa’s Online Birdwatching site is very good, albeit a little less accessible. Though in English, the birds (separated into field and wetland categories) are primarily listed by latin family names, which resolve into more recognizable English names only when each is clicked on. If you’re looking for a specific type of bird, it’ll probably be in there–but if you don’t know the Latin name, then it’s a real haystack search to find the right one. Still, he’s got some great photos in there.

Although this site is in Japanese, The Tokyo • Suginami Wild Bird site has a lot of very good photos taken by a Tokyo birder (with many taken on trips outside Tokyo, and outside Japan). Pages for birds by location are numerous, and there is also a comprehensive list, again in Japanese.

Then finally, as a reference site, Japan Hotspots has a great many links to sites of interest for birdwatchers in Japan. Enjoy!