Honshū (help·info) (本州?, literally "Main State") (also spelled Honshu) is the largest island An island or isle (/ˈaɪl/) is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets. A key or cay is another name for a small island or islet. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot, /ˈaɪ.ət/. A grouping of geographically or geologically related of Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaidō Hokkaidō (北海道?, literally "North Sea Circuit"), formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island and the largest, northernmost of its 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshū, although the two islands are connected by the underwater Seikan Tunnel. The across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku Shikoku is the smallest (225 km long and between 50 and 150 km wide) and least populous (4,141,955 as of 2005) of the four main islands of Japan, located south of Honshū and east of the island of Kyūshū. Its ancient names include Iyo-no-futana-shima (伊予之二名島), Iyo-shima (伊予島), and Futana-shima (二名島). The current name across the Inland Sea Formally named the Seto Inland Sea , the Inland Sea is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the main islands of Japan. It serves as an international waterway, connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Bay and provides a sea transport link to industrial centers in the Kansai region,, and northeast of Kyūshū Kyūshū or Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include Kyūkoku (九国 Nine States), Chinzei (鎮西 West of the Pacified Area), and Tsukushi-no-shima (筑紫島 Island of Tsukushi). The historical regional name Saikaidō (西海道 West Sea Circuit) referred to across the Kanmon Strait. It is the seventh largest island This is a list of islands in the world ordered by area. It includes all islands with an area greater than 2,500 km2 , and several other islands over 500 km2 (193 sq mi). For comparison, continental landmasses are also shown in the world, and the second most populous This is a list of islands in the world ordered by population. It includes all islands with population greater than 100,000. For comparison, continental landmasses are also shown after Java Java is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the center of powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia. Home to a population of 130 million in 2006, it is the most populous in Indonesia.
The island is roughly 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) long and ranges from 50 to 230 km wide, and its total area is 227,962.59 km², 60% of the total area of Japan. It is larger than the island of Great Britain Great Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 61.8 million people in mid-2009, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets. The island of, and slightly larger than the state of Minnesota Nearly sixty percent of Minnesota's residents live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area known as the "Twin Cities", the center of transportation, business and industry, education and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture;. Its area has been expanding with land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds . The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground and coastal uplift in the north, but global sea level rise Current sea level rise has occurred at a mean rate of 1.8 mm per year for the past century, and more recently, during the satellite era of sea level measurement, at rates estimated near 2.8 ± 0.4 to 3.1 ± 0.7 mm per year . Current sea level rise is due significantly to global warming, which will increase sea level over the coming century and has diminished these effects. Honshū has 5,450 kilometres (3,390 mi) of coastline.
Mountainous A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill. The adjective montane is used to describe mountainous areas and things associated with them. The study of mountains is called Orography and volcanic A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or crust, which allows hot magma, ash and gases to escape from below the surface, Honshū has frequent earthquakes An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are measured with a seismometer; a device which also records is known as a seismograph. The moment magnitude (or the related and mostly obsolete Richter magnitude) of an earthquake is conventionally reported, with magnitude 3 or (the Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes heavily damaged Tokyo Tokyo , officially Tokyo Metropolis (東京都, Tōkyō-to?), is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. It is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture (Tokyo-fu) and the city of Tokyo. Tokyo is the in September 1923); the highest peak is the active volcano A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or crust, which allows hot magma, ash and gases to escape from below the surface Mount Fuji Mount Fuji (富士山, Fuji-san?, IPA: [ɸɯꜜdʑisaɴ] ) is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 m (12,388 ft). Along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku, it is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains" (三霊山 Sanreizan). An active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji is just west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there at 3,776 m, which makes it the world's 7th highest island This is a list of islands in the world ordered by their highest point. It includes all islands with peaks higher than 2,000 m. Non-insular landmasses are included for comparison. There are many rivers, including the Shinano River, Japan's longest. The climate is temperate In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold. But in continental areas, such as central North America the variations between summer and winter can be extreme. In regions, but has marked difference between the eastern or southern (Pacific or Inland Sea coast) side, and the western or northern (Sea of Japan coast) side. A mountain range runs along the length of Honshū from end to end. In addition to Mt. Fuji, the Japanese Alps are features of Honshū.
It has a population of 103 million in 2005, (98,352,000 as of 1990; in 1975 it was 89,101,702), mostly concentrated in the available lowlands, notably in the Kantō plain The Kantō region is a geographical area of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain. The rest consists of the hills and where 25% of the total population reside in the Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is a large metropolitan area in Kantō region, Japan consisting of most of the prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tokyo . In Japanese, it is referred to by various terms, including the Tokyo Area (東京圏, Tōkyō-ken?), National Capital Region (首都圏, Shuto-ken?), One Metropolis, Three Prefectures (一都三, which includes Tokyo Tokyo , officially Tokyo Metropolis (東京都, Tōkyō-to?), is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. It is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture (Tokyo-fu) and the city of Tokyo. Tokyo is the and Yokohama Yokohama ( listen (help·info)) is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshū. It is a major commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area[citation needed], Kawasaki Kawasaki is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan, between Tokyo and Yokohama. It is the 9th most populated city in Japan and one of the main cities forming the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area, Saitama Saitama is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture in Japan, situated in the south-east of the prefecture. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance. Being in the Greater Tokyo Area and lying 15 - 30 kilometres north of central Tokyo, many of and Chiba Chiba is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is located approximately 40 km east of the center of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. Chiba City became a government designated city in 1992. Its population as of 2008 is approximately 960,000 cities. Most of the nation's industry is located along the belt running from Tokyo along Honshū's southern coastal cities, including Kyoto Kyoto (Japanese pronunciation: [kjoːto] ( listen)) is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area, Osaka Osaka listen (help·info) is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshū, the designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the heart of Greater Osaka Area. Located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay. Osaka is the third largest city by population after Tokyo and Yokohama, Nagoya Nagoya is the third-largest incorporated city and the fourth most populous urban area in Japan, Kobe Kobe is the sixth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately 500 km (310.69 mi) west of Tokyo. Kobe is a prominent port city with a population of about 1.5 million. The city is located in the Kansai region of Japan and is part of the Keihanshin (京阪神,, and Hiroshima Hiroshima ( listen (help·info)) is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It became the first city in history destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15am on August 6, 1945, near the end of World War, part of the Taiheiyo Belt.
The economy along the northwestern coast by the Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered by Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Russia. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure. There was a dispute at the United Nations over its official name. Although the issue is still open to discussion, the United Nations is largely fishing and agriculture;[1] Niigata Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name "Niigata" literally means "new lagoon" is noted as an important producer of rice. The Kantō and Nōbi plains produce rice and vegetables. Yamanashi is a major fruit-growing area, and Aomori is famous for its apples.
Eminent historical centers include Kyoto Although archaeological evidence places the first human settlement on the islands of Japan to approximately 10,000 BC, relatively little is known about human activity in the area before the 6th century AD. During the 8th century, when the powerful Buddhist clergy became involved in the affairs of the Imperial government, the Emperor chose to, Nara Nara is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture. Eight temples, shrines and ruins in Nara, specifically Tōdai-ji, Saidai-ji, Kōfuku-ji, Kasuga Shrine, Gangō-ji, Yakushi-ji, Tōshōdai-ji and the Heijō Palace remains, together, and Kamakura Kamakura is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called Renpu (鎌府?) (short for Kamakura Bakufu (鎌倉幕府, or Kamakura Shogunate?)).
The island is nominally divided into five regions and contains 34 prefectures, including metropolitan Tokyo. The regions are Chūgoku The Chūgoku region or San'in-San'yō region (山陰山陽地方, San'in san'yō-chihō?) is the westernmost region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It consists of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Shimane, Tottori, and Okayama (western), Kansai The Kansai region or the Kinki region (近畿地方, Kinki-chihō?) lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, and Shiga. Depending on who makes the distinction, Mie, Fukui, Tokushima and even Tottori Prefecture are also included. While the use of (southern, east of Chūgoku), Chūbu The Chūbu region is the central region of Honshū, Japan's main island. Chūbu has a population estimate of 21,886,324 as of 2008 (central), Kantō (eastern), and Tōhoku The Tōhoku region is a geographical area of Japan. Tōhoku is Japanese for "northeast", and the Tōhoku region occupies the northeastern portion of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. The area is also known as Michinoku (みちのく?). The population estimate of Tōhoku as of 2008 is 9,708,257.[citation needed] (northern). Some smaller islands are included within these prefectures, most prominently Ogasawara Islands The Bonin Islands, known in Japan as the Ogasawara Group are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some 1,000 kilometres (540 nmi; 620 mi) directly south of Tokyo, Japan. Administratively, they are part of Ogasawara Municipality (mura) of Ogasawara Subprefecture, Tokyo. The total area of the islands is 73 square kilometres (28, Sado Island Sado is a city located on Sado Island (佐渡島 or 佐渡ヶ島, both Sadogashima) in the Chūbu region of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Since 2004 the city comprises the entire island, although not all of its 855.26 square kilometers is urbanized. Sado is the sixth largest island of Japan in area following Okinawa Island and excluding the Northern, Izu Oshima Izu Ōshima is a volcanic island in the Izu Islands and administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan government, Japan, lies about 100 km south of Tokyo, 22 km east of the Izu Peninsula and 36 km southwest of Bōsō Peninsula. Ōshima Town (大島町, Ōshima-machi?) serves as the local government of the island. The town (municipality) was formed in 1955 and Awaji Island.
The prefectures are:
- Chūgoku region The Chūgoku region or San'in-San'yō region (山陰山陽地方, San'in san'yō-chihō?) is the westernmost region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It consists of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Shimane, Tottori, and Okayama — Hiroshima-ken Hiroshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Hiroshima, Okayama-ken Okayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Okayama, Shimane-ken Shimane Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is Matsue. It is the second least populous prefecture in Japan, next to the Tottori Prefecture that is a neighboring prefecture on the east side. The prefecture has an area elongated from east to west facing the Chūgoku Mountain Range on the, Tottori-ken, Yamaguchi-ken.
- Kansai — Hyōgo-ken, Kyoto-fu, Mie-ken, Nara-ken, Osaka-fu, Shiga-ken, Wakayama-ken.
- Chūbu — Aichi-ken, Fukui-ken, Gifu-ken, Ishikawa-ken, Nagano-ken, Niigata-ken, Toyama-ken, Shizuoka-ken, Yamanashi-ken.
- Kantō — Chiba-ken, Gunma-ken, Ibaraki-ken, Kanagawa-ken, Saitama-ken, Tochigi-ken, Tokyo-to.
- Tōhoku — Akita-ken, Aomori-ken, Fukushima-ken, Iwate-ken, Miyagi-ken, Yamagata-ken.
Honshū is connected to the islands of Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku by tunnels or bridges. Three new bridge systems have been built across the islands of the Inland Sea between Honshū and Shikoku (Akashi Kaikyō Bridge and the Ohnaruto Bridge; Shin-Onomichi Bridge, Innoshima Bridge, Ikuchi Bridge, Tatara Bridge, Ohmishima Bridge, Hakata-Ohshima Bridges, and the Kurushima-Kaikyo Bridge; Shimotsui-Seto Bridge, Hitsuishijima Bridge, Iwakurojima Bridge, Yoshima Bridge, Kita Bisan-Seto Bridge, and the Minami Bisan-Seto Bridge), and the Seikan Tunnel connects Honshū with Hokkaidō.
Extreme points
The northernmost point on Honshū is the tip of the Shimokita Peninsula in Ōma, Aomori. At the southern extreme lies Cape Kure in Kushimoto, Wakayama. The island is bounded on the east by Todogasaki in Miyako, Iwate and on the west by Bishanohana in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi. It spans more than eight degrees of latitude and 11 degrees of longitude.
References
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Coordinates: 36°N 138°E / 36°N 138°E
Categories: Islands of Japan
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