Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Asia's giant salamanders are the largest amphibians on Earth. I went to Japan to see them up close, learn why they're disappearing, and meet the people working to save them.
Huge thanks to Dr. Yuki Taguchi and Richard Pearce for sharing their story. Support their work below:
Yuki:
sites.google.com/site/yukitaguchijgs/lian-luo-xian?authuser=0
facebook.com/y.taguchi.jgs
instagram.com/hadakasujgs
threads.net/@hadakasujgs
https://x.com/TaroJGS
Mizuho Hanzake Nature Museum:
ohtv.ne.jp/mizuho-hanzake
https://x.com/hanzakeshizenka
instagram.com/hanzakeshizenkan
Richard:
sustainabledaisen.org/en/home
instagram.com/japanesegiantsalamanders
facebook.com/japanesegiants
Sources/Further Reading:
Brazil - Japan: The Natural History of an Asian Archipelago: bit.ly/4tCCVoh
DellaSala - Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World: bit.ly/4t0gppD
Yoshikawa - From Colonial Science to the Genome Age: The Politics of Asian Giant Salamander Conservation: bit.ly/4tbsxE0
Totman - The Green Archipelago: tinyurl.com/y2u2zrcs
Smithsonian - Scheuchzer: bit.ly/4ebaHMM
UK - Cuvier: tinyurl.com/muw9mmf9
Stanlaw - Japan in the Ancient World: tinyurl.com/3tyazzc4
Britannica - China colonization: bit.ly/41m90EQ
Britannica - Meiji Restoration: bit.ly/4dxfFTZ
Natural Monument listing: bit.ly/4mjoh2V
IUCN Red List - Japanese giant salamander: bit.ly/3OtSDmL
Sasaki - Some Notes on the Giant Salamander of Japan: tinyurl.com/2rb7nahm
Ishikawa - About Japan's Giant Salamanders: bit.ly/4t0gxW9
Liu - Amphibians of Western China: tinyurl.com/3ak7n2c8
Sato - Japanese Tailed Amphibians: bit.ly/3Oee631
Water chapter - History of Water Development in Japan: tinyurl.com/259trwcw
Itsukushima - Historical development and present status of Japanese dams: tinyurl.com/ychn7e6m
University of Queensland - flood control dams: tinyurl.com/4a37fy8c
Britannica - Shinto: tinyurl.com/2zvrjebn
Maps/Graphics:
Asia: tinyurl.com/rdzbe38f
Library of Congress:
tinyurl.com/yx2ap3xw
tinyurl.com/yc6k57j7
UBC - Edo in 1700: tinyurl.com/4yz3h4zv
Land Bridges: tinyurl.com/3nc5cs9n
Illustrations:
Siebold: tinyurl.com/3uztu982
tinyurl.com/5a5zwbjj
tinyurl.com/3xwy2k2b
tinyurl.com/3zhwa8y9
tinyurl.com/53b3fcxp
tinyurl.com/4mee5m3n
tinyurl.com/mw6stcub
tinyurl.com/5hfptpr8
tinyurl.com/2v767can
tinyurl.com/hdkyehyr
tinyurl.com/ye26hr32
tinyurl.com/ye22v6fu
Crane: tinyurl.com/mrxhdjf7
Sea lion: tinyurl.com/3t3mx8by
Puffin: tinyurl.com/yc2rebtr
Tanuki: tinyurl.com/4add82mj
Evans - Common Grey Wolf Canis Lupus
Black bear: tinyurl.com/52r6v4ms
Okinawa rail: tinyurl.com/yc7443jj
Invasion of China: tinyurl.com/yc5wd8ph
tinyurl.com/ynatp952
tinyurl.com/4fu38fsf
tinyurl.com/4x2pezsm
Flood: tinyurl.com/hbs8nte5
Akisato - Sanjล Great Bridge: tinyurl.com/35w2uc9j
Kidder - Early Japanese art: tinyurl.com/mrxndw5z
Dams: tinyurl.com/27t2fdwj
tinyurl.com/rys5mxyf
tinyurl.com/y8458hr7
Canal: tinyurl.com/3b2djy5j
Utagawa: tinyurl.com/4mc4s78h
Gadow - Amphibia and reptiles: tinyurl.com/3knk67a9
Kinmo-zui: tinyurl.com/5n76tu6v
Skeleton: tinyurl.com/4un34bv2
Photos:
Ishikawa: tinyurl.com/muv8btdc
Documents:
Cuvier - Discourse on the revolutions of the globe: tinyurl.com/mryn458p
Sotara, Kanto, Masafumi, Masako - Morphological differentiation in giant salamanders, Andrias japonicus, A. davidianus, and their hybrids (Urodela, Cryptobranchidae), and its taxonomic implications: tinyurl.com/3au24dp4
Matsui, Masafumi & Kokuryo, Yasuhiro & Misawa, Yasuchika & Nishikawa, Kanto. (2004). A New Species of Salamander of the Genus Hynobius from Central Honshu, Japan (Amphibia, Urodela). Zoological science. 21. 661-9. 10.2108/zsj.21.661
Articles:
Siebold: tinyurl.com/4dy4m6ry
Japan bombs Shanghai: tinyurl.com/y2h52dxf
Atomic bomb: tinyurl.com/mv9etp95
Dam removal: tinyurl.com/4t4wctbe
๐ง Sound effects I use for my videos: bit.ly/2WI2aJ7
๐ง Contact Me: hello@aidinrobbins.com
๐ธ Instagram: instagram.com/aidinrobbins
0:00 - Extinction (Intro)
1:44 - Yuki
3:03 - Japan's Biogeography
5:55 - Habitat
7:12 - Richard
8:07 - Water
9:52 - Breeding
11:37 - History
14:13 - Scientists
16:45 - Wartime Science
19:21 - Hybrids
23:28 - Concrete
28:43 - Government
29:45 - Artificial Nest
31:47 - Extinction (reprise)
33:00 - Conservation
34:30 - Outro
The links above are affiliate links, from which I gain a small monetary compensation when purchases are made. They help keep the lights on ;)
Asia's giant salamanders are the largest amphibians on Earth. I went to Japan to see them up close, learn why they're disappearing, and meet the people working to save them.
Huge thanks to Dr. Yuki Taguchi and Richard Pearce for sharing their story. Support their work below:
Yuki:
sites.google.com/site/yukitaguchijgs/lian-luo-xian?authuser=0
facebook.com/y.taguchi.jgs
instagram.com/hadakasujgs
threads.net/@hadakasujgs
https://x.com/TaroJGS
Mizuho Hanzake Nature Museum:
ohtv.ne.jp/mizuho-hanzake
https://x.com/hanzakeshizenka
instagram.com/hanzakeshizenkan
Richard:
sustainabledaisen.org/en/home
instagram.com/japanesegiantsalamanders
facebook.com/japanesegiants
Sources/Further Reading:
Brazil - Japan: The Natural History of an Asian Archipelago: bit.ly/4tCCVoh
DellaSala - Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World: bit.ly/4t0gppD
Yoshikawa - From Colonial Science to the Genome Age: The Politics of Asian Giant Salamander Conservation: bit.ly/4tbsxE0
Totman - The Green Archipelago: tinyurl.com/y2u2zrcs
Smithsonian - Scheuchzer: bit.ly/4ebaHMM
UK - Cuvier: tinyurl.com/muw9mmf9
Stanlaw - Japan in the Ancient World: tinyurl.com/3tyazzc4
Britannica - China colonization: bit.ly/41m90EQ
Britannica - Meiji Restoration: bit.ly/4dxfFTZ
Natural Monument listing: bit.ly/4mjoh2V
IUCN Red List - Japanese giant salamander: bit.ly/3OtSDmL
Sasaki - Some Notes on the Giant Salamander of Japan: tinyurl.com/2rb7nahm
Ishikawa - About Japan's Giant Salamanders: bit.ly/4t0gxW9
Liu - Amphibians of Western China: tinyurl.com/3ak7n2c8
Sato - Japanese Tailed Amphibians: bit.ly/3Oee631
Water chapter - History of Water Development in Japan: tinyurl.com/259trwcw
Itsukushima - Historical development and present status of Japanese dams: tinyurl.com/ychn7e6m
University of Queensland - flood control dams: tinyurl.com/4a37fy8c
Britannica - Shinto: tinyurl.com/2zvrjebn
Maps/Graphics:
Asia: tinyurl.com/rdzbe38f
Library of Congress:
tinyurl.com/yx2ap3xw
tinyurl.com/yc6k57j7
UBC - Edo in 1700: tinyurl.com/4yz3h4zv
Land Bridges: tinyurl.com/3nc5cs9n
Illustrations:
Siebold: tinyurl.com/3uztu982
tinyurl.com/5a5zwbjj
tinyurl.com/3xwy2k2b
tinyurl.com/3zhwa8y9
tinyurl.com/53b3fcxp
tinyurl.com/4mee5m3n
tinyurl.com/mw6stcub
tinyurl.com/5hfptpr8
tinyurl.com/2v767can
tinyurl.com/hdkyehyr
tinyurl.com/ye26hr32
tinyurl.com/ye22v6fu
Crane: tinyurl.com/mrxhdjf7
Sea lion: tinyurl.com/3t3mx8by
Puffin: tinyurl.com/yc2rebtr
Tanuki: tinyurl.com/4add82mj
Evans - Common Grey Wolf Canis Lupus
Black bear: tinyurl.com/52r6v4ms
Okinawa rail: tinyurl.com/yc7443jj
Invasion of China: tinyurl.com/yc5wd8ph
tinyurl.com/ynatp952
tinyurl.com/4fu38fsf
tinyurl.com/4x2pezsm
Flood: tinyurl.com/hbs8nte5
Akisato - Sanjล Great Bridge: tinyurl.com/35w2uc9j
Kidder - Early Japanese art: tinyurl.com/mrxndw5z
Dams: tinyurl.com/27t2fdwj
tinyurl.com/rys5mxyf
tinyurl.com/y8458hr7
Canal: tinyurl.com/3b2djy5j
Utagawa: tinyurl.com/4mc4s78h
Gadow - Amphibia and reptiles: tinyurl.com/3knk67a9
Kinmo-zui: tinyurl.com/5n76tu6v
Skeleton: tinyurl.com/4un34bv2
Photos:
Ishikawa: tinyurl.com/muv8btdc
Documents:
Cuvier - Discourse on the revolutions of the globe: tinyurl.com/mryn458p
Sotara, Kanto, Masafumi, Masako - Morphological differentiation in giant salamanders, Andrias japonicus, A. davidianus, and their hybrids (Urodela, Cryptobranchidae), and its taxonomic implications: tinyurl.com/3au24dp4
Matsui, Masafumi & Kokuryo, Yasuhiro & Misawa, Yasuchika & Nishikawa, Kanto. (2004). A New Species of Salamander of the Genus Hynobius from Central Honshu, Japan (Amphibia, Urodela). Zoological science. 21. 661-9. 10.2108/zsj.21.661
Articles:
Siebold: tinyurl.com/4dy4m6ry
Japan bombs Shanghai: tinyurl.com/y2h52dxf
Atomic bomb: tinyurl.com/mv9etp95
Dam removal: tinyurl.com/4t4wctbe
๐ง Sound effects I use for my videos: bit.ly/2WI2aJ7
๐ง Contact Me: hello@aidinrobbins.com
๐ธ Instagram: instagram.com/aidinrobbins
0:00 - Extinction (Intro)
1:44 - Yuki
3:03 - Japan's Biogeography
5:55 - Habitat
7:12 - Richard
8:07 - Water
9:52 - Breeding
11:37 - History
14:13 - Scientists
16:45 - Wartime Science
19:21 - Hybrids
23:28 - Concrete
28:43 - Government
29:45 - Artificial Nest
31:47 - Extinction (reprise)
33:00 - Conservation
34:30 - Outro
The links above are affiliate links, from which I gain a small monetary compensation when purchases are made. They help keep the lights on ;)
