One of the world's rarest cranes, the Japanese crane, also called the red-crowned crane or Manchurian crane (Grus japonensis), lives in swamps, river banks and rice fields of Japan as well as in a limited territory of Manchuria, Korea. Tall, slim, long-legged, and always elegant. Tancho, as it is known in Japanese, is the bird of happiness and long life (in fable it lives for a 1,000 years). Considered to bring good luck since ancient times, this crane is deeply entrenched in Japanese culture, appearing in many folk tales. It is used as a symbol on many things including the official logo of Japan Airlines. These cranes mate by dancing, gracefully leaping into the air or even bouncing like a ball.
See also: Red crowned crane
