{"id":84233,"date":"2021-08-20T10:58:50","date_gmt":"2021-08-20T01:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/?p=84233"},"modified":"2022-01-07T14:28:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T05:28:00","slug":"how-many-islands-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/how-many-islands-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many Islands Are There in Japan?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The famous “Japanese Archipelago” periphrase speaks volumes about the country’s geography. Apart from the four main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, Japan is made up of countless islands and islets of various areas, manned and unmanned<\/strong>. The main island, Honshu, is surrounded by other large islands: Hokkaido in the north, Shikoku, and Kyushu in the southwest. Hokkaido Island and the Okinawa Archipelago lie at the northern and southern ends of the Japanese archipelago. The wide range of latitudes gives the country a variety of landscapes, ecosystems, and climates. But how many islands in total are there in Japan?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Japan, An Archipelago and Island-Studded Country<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Japan is located in the Pacific Ocean in the southeast of the Eurasian continent. The territory is surrounded by the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk, the Sea of \u200b\u200bJapan<\/a>, the Pacific Ocean, and the East China Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Japanese territory is in the form of an island arc that stretches along a northeast\/southwest axis<\/strong>. It is a volcanic archipelago, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire<\/strong>, where several tectonic plates intersect, explaining the frequency of earthquakes<\/a>. These volcanic islands line over 3,000 km from Russia to the island of Taiwan. This topography is the origin of the nickname “Archipelago” by which Japan is regularly referred as. It also results in a great diversity of climates<\/strong>: an arctic zone in Hokkaido, humid subtropical in Honshu, oceanic subtropical in Okinawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"View
View of Mount Fuji from the shores of Lake Motosu.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Among the myriad of islands that make up the Japanese archipelago, there are four main islands, respectively called, from the north to the south: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Some bays are dotted with islands and islets, such as Matsushima Bay in the Tohoku region or Nagasaki Bay in Kyushu<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nakajima
Nakajima Island, in the middle of Lake Kussharo.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Main Islands of Japan: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let’s take a closer look at the geographical features of Japan’s four main islands, plus the Okinawa Archipelago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hokkaido <\/strong>(\u5317\u6d77\u9053, “Way to the North Sea”) is the northernmost island in Japan.<\/a> Covering an area of \u200b\u200b83,457 km\u00b2, it is surrounded by the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk<\/a>, the Pacific Ocean, and the Sea of \u200b\u200bJapan. The island is one of the largest wilderness areas in Japan<\/strong> and home to spectacular national parks<\/a>. The forests abound in thermal springs, and the landscape is traversed by gorges. Caldera lakes sprinkle the mountains and mountain plateaus. Volcanoes are still active, such as Mount Meakan (\u96cc\u963f\u5bd2\u5cb3, Meakan-dake) and the Daisetsuzan volcanic mountains<\/a> (\u5927\u96ea\u5c71).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
View from Mount Meakan, Hokkaido Island.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Honshu<\/strong> (\u672c\u5dde, “main province”, the main island), covers an area of \u200b\u200b227,943 km\u00b2. It covers more than 60% of the area of \u200b\u200bthe country, and 80% of the population lives there. The Japanese megalopolis<\/strong> spreads out on Honshu, bringing together a string of metropolises within an almost continuous urban fabric: Sendai, Tokyo, Shizuoka, Nagoya<\/a>, Kyoto<\/a>, Osaka<\/a>, Kobe<\/a>, Okayama<\/a>, and Hiroshima.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shikoku<\/strong><\/a> (\u56db \u56fd, \u201cFour countries\u201d or \u201cFour provinces\u201d) is separated from Honshu by the Seto Inland Sea (\u702c\u6238\u5185\u6d77, Seto Naikai). It covers an area of \u200b\u200b18,800 km\u00b2. Among the four large islands of Japan, Shikoku is the smallest and least populated island. Shikoku is less urban and much more rural<\/strong> than the other big islands. It offers the image of a natural side of Japan. The landscape is crisscrossed with rice paddies, fishing and farming villages, wooded hills dotted with temples, with a coastline that has remained almost intact from major development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Katsurahama
Katsurahama Beach Kochi. Photo by Cl\u00e9mentine Cintr\u00e9<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mountainous and volcanic Kyushu<\/strong><\/a> (\u4e5d\u5dde, \u201cnine provinces\u201d) is the southernmost of the four main islands. It covers an area of \u200b\u200bapproximately 36,780 km\u00b2, making it the third-largest island in Japan, after Honshu and Hokkaido. Outside the large urban centers are prehistoric sites and mountain sanctuaries. Kyushu’s volcanic activity<\/strong> is intense. Sakurajima is one of the most active volcanoes in the country. Mount Aso is one of the largest active volcanoes in Japan<\/a> and features one of the largest calderas in the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the southwestern end of the archipelago, bordering the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea, the Okinawa Archipelago (\u6c96\u7e04, “Rope in the open sea”) borders the Tropic of Cancer. Covering an area of \u200b\u200b2,281 km\u00b2, the prefecture has 160 islands in total, including 47 inhabited islands. The coral reefs create a shield that protects paradisiacal beaches bathed in crystal clear waters.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Beach
Beach on Ishigaki with rock.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How Many Islands Are There in Japan ?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The figure of 6,852 islands<\/strong> is given by many sources, foremost is the annual report published by the Statistics Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications<\/a>. Five islands are officially considered “main” islands<\/strong>: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and the main island of Okinawa. The other 6,847 islands are referred to as “isolated” islands. Among the dizzying number of islands that make up the archipelago, around 416 islands are currently inhabited<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On closer inspection, the counting is more complex than it seems, due to the difficulty in defining the very notion of an island<\/strong>. The minimum area retained to qualify an expanse of land surrounded by water as an island changes the count. Thus, depending on the characterization retained, the estimates can go up to 7,000 islands<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kujukushima
Kujukushima Bay, in Nagasaki. Photo by Joachim Ducos<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Diverse Ecosystems of the Japan’s Islands<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Each island has its own uniqueness and ecosystem<\/strong> \u2014 from the volcanic mountains, primary forests, and swamps of Hokkaido, to the subtropical jungle and mangroves of Okinawa, the volcanic cones, calderas, and swamps of Kyushu, and limestone plateaus, and terrace cultivation of Shikoku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Swamp
Swamp in Kushiro National Park, Hokkaido Island.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Endemic Species on Okinawa’s Iriomote Island<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Some islands have their individuality thanks to endemic ecosystems<\/strong>. Iriomote island, in the Okinawa archipelago, is nicknamed the “Galapagos of the East”<\/a> due to the presence of protected endemic species. Among the many wild animals that live there, the Iriomote cat is an endemic subspecies of the leopard cat. The population of Iriomote cats is estimated at only a hundred individuals. The island is covered with jungle and primary forests, which extend into mangroves along the coastlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mangrove
Mangrove on Iriomote Island.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cat Islands of Japan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A dozen Japanese islands are famous for their feline populations, often called “cat islands” (nekojima<\/em>)<\/strong>. These include the cat islands of Ainoshima (\u76f8\u5cf6) in Fukuoka, Fukashima Cat Island in Oita, on Kyushu<\/a>, Manabeshima<\/a> (\u771f\u934b\u5cf6), in Okayama Prefecture, or even Tashirojima (\u7530\u4ee3\u5cf6), in Miyagi Prefecture. Okunoshima Island, in the Inner Sea of \u200b\u200bJapan, is home to hundreds of wild rabbits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n