Notsuke Peninsula (野付半島, Notsuke hantō) is a peninsula on the east coast of Hokkaidō, Japan, with its northwestern base in Shibetsu and southeast tip in Betsukai. The name is derived from the Ainu for jawbone, notkeu (ノッケウ), purportedly due to the landform's visual resemblance to that of a whale. The curved peninsula, the longest sandspit in the country, with a length of some 26 kilometres (16 mi) to 28 kilometres (17 mi), extends into the Nemuro Strait, which lies between Shiretoko Peninsula, Nemuro Peninsula, and the disputed island of Kunashiri in the Sea of Okhotsk; it was formed by the deposition of sand sediment carried by the currents in the strait, and itself forms and largely encloses Notsuke Bay. There remain on the peninsula traces of Satsumon culture pit dwellings, while during