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Japan
Composition, Topography, and Drainage
The mountainous islands of the Japanese Archipelago form a crescent
off the eastern coast of Asia . They are separated from the mainland
by the Sea of Japan, which historically served as a protective barrier.
Japan's insular nature, together with the compactness of its main
territory and the cultural homogeneity of its people, enabled the
nation to remain free of outside domination until its defeat in
World War II (see World
War II and the Occupation, 1941-52 , ch. 1). The country consists
of four principal islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu;
more than 3,000 adjacent islands and islets, including Oshima in
the Nampo chain; and more than 200 other smaller islands, including
those of the Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima chains of the Ryukyu
Islands. The national territory also includes the small Bonin Islands
(called Ogasawara by the Japanese), Iwo Jima, and the Volcano Islands
(Kazan Retto), stretching some 1,100 kilometers from the main islands.
A territorial dispute with the Soviet Union, dating from the end
of World War II, over the two southernmost of the Kuril Islands,
Etorofu and Kunashiri, and the smaller Shikotan and Habomai Islands
northeast of Hokkaido remained a sensitive spot in Japanese-Russian
relations as the mid-1990s approached . Excluding disputed territory,
the archipelago covers about 377,000 square kilometers. No point
in Japan is more than 150 kilometers from the sea.
The four major islands are separated by narrow straits and form
a natural entity. The Ryukyu Islands curve 970 kilometers southward
from Kyushu.
The distance between Japan and the Korean Peninsula, the nearest
point on the Asian continent, is about 200 kilometers at the Korea
Strait. Japan has always been linked with the continent through
trade routes, stretching in the north toward Siberia, in the west
through the Tsushima Islands to the Korean Peninsula, and in the
south to the ports on the south China coast.
The Japanese islands are the summits of mountain ridges uplifted
near the outer edge of the continental shelf. About 75 percent of
Japan's area is mountainous, and scattered plains and intermontane
basins (in which the population is concentrated) cover only about
25 percent. A long chain of mountains runs down the middle of the
archipelago, dividing it into two halves, the "face," fronting on
the Pacific Ocean, and the "back," toward the Sea of Japan. On the
Pacific side are steep mountains 1,500 to 3,000 meters high, with
deep valleys and gorges. Central Japan is marked by the convergence
of the three mountain chains--the Hida, Kiso, and Akaishi mountains--that
form the Japanese Alps (Nihon Arupusu), several of whose peaks are
higher than 3,000 meters. The highest point in the Japanese Alps
is Kitadake at 3,192 meters. The highest point in the country is
Mount Fuji (Fujisan, also called Fujiyama in the West but not in
Japan), a volcano dormant since 1707 that rises to 3,776 meters
above sea level in Shizuoka Prefecture. On the Sea of Japan side
are plateaus and low mountain districts, with altitudes of 500 to
1,500 meters.
None of the populated plains or mountain basins is extensive in
area. The largest, the Kanto Plain, where Tokyo is situated, covers
only 13,000 square kilometers. Other important plains are the Nobi
Plain surrounding Nagoya, the Kinki Plain in the Osaka-Kyoto area,
the Sendai Plain around the city of Sendai in northeastern Honshu,
and the Ishikari Plain on Hokkaido. Many of these plains are along
the coast, and their areas have been increased by reclamation throughout
recorded history.
The small amount of habitable land prompted significant human modification
of the terrain over many centuries. Land was reclaimed from the
sea and from river deltas by building dikes and drainage, and rice
paddies were built on terraces carved into mountainsides. The process
continued in the modern period with extension of shorelines and
building of artificial islands for industrial and port development,
such as Port Island in Kobe and the new Kansai International Airport
in Osaka Bay. Hills and even mountains have been razed to provide
flat areas for housing.
Rivers are generally steep and swift, and few are suitable for
navigation except in their lower reaches. Most rivers are fewer
than 300 kilometers in length, but their rapid flow from the mountains
provides a valuable, renewable resource: hydroelectric power generation.
Japan's hydroelectric power potential has been exploited almost
to capacity. Seasonal variations in flow have led to extensive development
of flood control measures. Most of the rivers are very short. The
longest, the Shinano, which winds through Nagano Prefecture to Niigata
Prefecture and flows into the Sea of Japan, is only 367 kilometers
long. The largest freshwater lake is Lake Biwa, northeast of Kyoto.
Extensive coastal shipping, especially around the Inland Sea (Seto
Naikai), compensates for the lack of navigable rivers. The Pacific
coastline south of Tokyo is characterized by long, narrow, gradually
shallowing inlets produced by sedimentation, which has created many
natural harbors. The Pacific coastline north of Tokyo, the coast
of Hokkaido, and the Sea of Japan coast are generally unindented,
with few natural harbors .
Data as of January 1994
Japan
Geographic Regions
The country's forty-seven prefectures are grouped into eight regions
frequently used as statistical units in government documents . The
islands of Hokkaido, Shikoku, and Kyushu each form a region, and
the main island of Honshu is divided into five regions.
Hokkaido
Hokkaido, about 83,500 square kilometers in area, constitutes more
than 20 percent of Japan's land area. Like the other main islands,
Hokkaido is generally mountainous, but its mountains are lower than
in other parts of Japan; many have leveled summits, and hills predominate.
Valleys cut through the terrain, and communications are comparatively
easy. Hokkaido was long looked upon as a remote frontier area and
until the second half of the nineteenth century was left largely
to the indigenous Ainu . The Ainu number fewer than 20,000, and
they are being rapidly assimilated into the main Japanese population.
Since the movement of modern technology and development into the
area in the late nineteenth century, Hokkaido has been considered
the major center of Japanese agriculture, forestry, fishing, and
mining. Hokkaido, with about 90 percent of Japan's pastureland,
produces the same proportion of its dairy products. Manufacturing
industry played a smaller role compared with the other regions.
Hokkaido's environmental quality and rural character were altered
by industrial and residential development in the 1980s, with developments
such as the completion of the Seikan Tunnel linking Hokkaido and
Honshu. Hokkaido is both an important agricultural center and a
growing industrial area, with most industrial development near Sapporo,
the prefectural capital.
Data as of January 1994
Japan
Tohoku
The northeastern part of Honshu, called Tohoku (literally, "the
northeast"), includes six prefectures. Tohoku, like most of Japan,
is hilly or mountainous. Its initial historical settlement occurred
between the seventh and ninth centuries A.D., well after Japanese
civilization and culture had become firmly established in central
and southwestern Japan. Although iron, steel, cement, chemical,
pulp, and petroleum-refining industries began developing in the
1960s, Tohoku was traditionally considered the granary of Japan
because it supplied Sendai and the Tokyo-Yokohama market with rice
and other farm commodities. Tohoku provided 20 percent of the nation's
rice crop . The climate, however, is harsher than in other parts
of Honshu and permits only one crop a year on paddy land.
The inland location of many of the region's lowlands has led to
a concentration of much of the population there. Coupled with coastlines
that do not favor port development, this settlement pattern resulted
in a much greater than usual dependence on land and railroad transportation.
Low points in the central mountain range fortunately make communications
between lowlands on either side of the range moderately easy. Tourism
became a major industry in the Tohoku region, with points of interest
including the islands of Matsushima Bay, Lake Towada, the Rikuchu
Coastline National Park, and the Bandai-Asahi National Park.
Data as of January 1994
Japan
Kanto
The Kanto ("east of the barrier") region encompasses seven prefectures
around Tokyo on the Kanto Plain. The plain itself, however, makes
up only slightly more than 40 percent of the region. The rest consists
of the hills and mountains that border it except on the seaward
side. Once the heartland of feudal power, the Kanto became the center
of modern development (see Tokugawa
Period, 1600- 1867 , ch. 1). Within the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan
area, the Kanto houses not only Japan's seat of government but also
the largest group of universities and cultural institutions, the
greatest population, and a large industrial zone. Although most
of the Kanto Plain is used for residential, commercial, or industrial
construction, it is still farmed. Rice is the principal crop, although
the zone around Tokyo and Yokohama has been landscaped to grow garden
produce for the metropolitan market.
The Kanto region is the most highly developed, urbanized, and industrialized
part of Japan. Tokyo and Yokohama form a single industrial complex
with a concentration of light and heavy industry along Tokyo Bay.
Smaller cities, farther away from the coast, house substantial light
industry. The average population density reached 1,192 persons per
square kilometer in 1991 .
Data as of January 1994
Japan
Chubu
The Chubu, or central, region encompasses nine prefectures in the
midland of Japan, west of the Kanto region. The region is the widest
part of Honshu and is characterized by high, rugged mountains. The
Japanese Alps divide the country into the sunnier Pacific side,
known as the front of Japan, or Omote-Nihon, and the colder Sea
of Japan side, or Ura-Nihon, the back of Japan. The region comprises
three distinct districts: Hokuriku, a coastal strip on the Sea of
Japan that is a major wet-rice producing area; Tosan, or the Central
Highlands; and Tokai, or the eastern seaboard, a narrow corridor
along the Pacific Coast.
Hokuriku lies west of the massive mountains that occupy the central
Chubu region. The district has a very heavy snowfall and strong
winds. Its turbulent rivers are the source of abundant hydroelectric
power. Niigata Prefecture is the site of domestic gas and oil production.
Industrial development is extensive, especially in the cities of
Niigata and Toyama. Fukui and Kanazawa also have large manufacturing
industries. Hokuriku developed largely independently of other regions,
mainly because it remained relatively isolated from the major industrial
and cultural centers on the Pacific Coast. Because port facilities
are limited and road transport hampered by heavy winter snows, the
district relied largely on railroad transportation .
The Tosan district is an area of complex and high rugged mountains--often
called the roof of Japan--that include the Japanese Alps. The population
is chiefly concentrated in six elevated basins connected by narrow
valleys. Tosan was long a main silk-producing area, although output
declined after World War II. Much of the labor formerly required
in silk production was absorbed by the district's diversified manufacturing
industry, which included precision instruments, machinery, textiles,
food processing, and other light manufacturing.
The Tokai district, bordering the Pacific Ocean, is a narrow corridor
interrupted in places by mountains that descend into the sea. Since
the Tokugawa period (1600-1867), this corridor has been important
in linking Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. One of old Japan's most famous
roads, the Tokaido, ran through it connecting Edo (Tokyo, since
1868) and Kyoto, the old imperial capital; in the twentieth century,
it became the route of new super-express highways and high-speed
railroad lines.
A number of small alluvial plains are found in the corridor section.
A mild climate, favorable location relative to the great metropolitan
complexes, and availability of fast transportation have made them
truck-gardening centers for out-of-season vegetables. Upland areas
of rolling hills are extensively given over to the growing of mandarin
oranges and tea. The corridor also has a number of important small
industrial centers. The western part of Tokai includes the Nobi
Plain, where rice was grown by the seventh century A.D. Nagoya,
facing Ise Bay, is a center for heavy industry, including iron and
steel and machinery manufacturing.
Data as of January 1994
Japan
Kinki
The Kinki region lies to the west of Tokai and consists of seven
prefectures forming a comparatively narrow area of Honshu, stretching
from the Sea of Japan on the north to the Pacific Ocean on the south.
It includes Japan's second largest industrialcommercial complex,
centered on Osaka and Kobe, and the two former capital cities of
Nara and Kyoto, seats of the imperial family from the early eighth
century A.D. until the Meiji Restoration in 1868 . The area is rich
in imperial and cultural history and attracts many Japanese and
foreign tourists.
The Osaka Plain is the site of Osaka, Kobe, and a number of intermediate-sized
industrial cities, which together form the Hanshin commercial-industrial
complex. Since the 1980s, the suburbs of Osaka have been given over
to farming, including vegetables, dairy farming, poultry raising,
and rice cultivation. These areas were progressively reduced as
the cities expanded and residential areas, including numerous so-called
"new cities," were built, such as the developments north of Osaka
resulting from the Osaka International Exposition (Expo '70) world's
fair.
Data as of January 1994
Japan
Chugoku
The Chugoku region, occupying the western end of Honshu, encompasses
five prefectures. It is characterized by irregular rolling hills
and limited plain areas and is divided into two distinct parts by
mountains running east and west through its center. The northern,
somewhat narrower, district is known as San'in, or "shady side of
the mountain," and the southern district is known as San'y , or
"sunny side," because of the marked differences in climate. The
whole Inland Sea region, including San'yo, underwent rapid development
in the late twentieth century. The city of Hiroshima, rebuilt after
being destroyed by the atomic bomb in 1945, is an industrial metropolis
of more than 1 million people. Overfishing and pollution reduced
the productivity of the Inland Sea fishing grounds, and the area
concentrated on heavy industry. San'in, however, is less industrialized
and relies on agriculture.
Data as of January 1994
Japan
Shikoku
The Shikoku region--comprising the entire island of Shikoku-- covers
about 18,800 square kilometers and consists of four prefectures.
It is connected to Honshu by ferry and air and, since 1988, by the
Seto- Ohashi bridge network. Until completion of the bridges, the
region was isolated from the rest of Japan, and the freer movement
between Honshu and Shikoku is expected to promote economic development
on both sides of the bridges.
Mountains running east and west divide Shikoku into a narrow northern
subregion, fronting on the Inland Sea, and a southern part facing
the Pacific Ocean. Most of the population lives in the north, and
all but one of the island's few larger cites are located there.
Industry is moderately well developed and includes the processing
of ores from the important Besshi copper mine. Land is used intensively.
Wide alluvial areas, especially in the eastern part of the zone,
are planted with rice and subsequently are double cropped with winter
wheat and barley. Fruit is grown throughout the northern area in
great variety, including citrus fruits, persimmons, peaches, and
grapes.
The larger southern area of Shikoku is mountainous and sparsely
populated. The only significant lowland is a small alluvial plain
at Kochi, a prefectural capital. The area's mild winters stimulated
some truck farming, specializing in growing out-of-season vegetables
under plastic covering. Two crops of rice can be cultivated annually
in the southern area. The pulp and paper industry took advantage
of the abundant forests and hydroelectric power.
Data as of January 1994
Japan
Kyushu
Kyushu, meaning "nine provinces" (from its ancient administrative
structure), is the southernmost of the main islands and in modern
times comprises seven prefectures. It was the stepping stone to
Honshu for early migrants from the Korean Peninsula and a channel
for the spread of ideas from the Asian mainland . Kyushu lies at
the western end of the Inland Sea. Its northern extremity is only
about 1.6 kilometers from Honshu, and the two islands are connected
by the Kammon Bridge and by three tunnels, including one for the
Japan Railways Group's Shinkansen (bullet train). The region is
divided not only geographically but also economically by the Kyushu
Mountains, which run diagonally across the middle of the island.
The north, including the Kitakyushu industrial region, became increasingly
urbanized and industrialized after World War II, while the agricultural
south became relatively poorer. The hilly northwestern part of the
island has extensive coal deposits, the second largest in Japan,
which formed the basis for a large iron and steel industry. An extensive
lowland area in the northwest between Kumamoto and Saga is an important
farming district.
The climate of Kyushu is generally warm and humid, and the cultivation
of vegetables and fruits is supplemented by cattle raising. The
cities of Kitakyushu and Sasebo are noted for iron and steel production,
and Nagasaki is noted for manufacturing. Nagasaki is a city of historical
and cultural importance, a center for Chinese and Western influences
from the sixteenth century on, and the only port open to foreign
ships during most of the Tokugawa period. Like Hiroshima, it also
was rebuilt after being devastated by an atomic bomb attack in 1945.
Data as of January 1994
Japan
Ryukyu Islands
The Ryukyu Islands include more than 200 islands and islets-- some
little more than coral outcrops--of which less than half are populated.
They extend in a chain generally southwestward from the Tokara Strait,
which separates them from the outlying islands of Kyushu, to within
120 kilometers of Taiwan. The Ryukyus are considered part of the
Ryushu region but historically have been quite distinctively separate
from the rest of the region.
The islands are the tops of mountain ranges along the outer edge
of the continental shelf. They are generally hilly or mountainous,
with active volcanos occurring mainly in the northern part of the
archipelago. Okinawa is the largest and economically the most important
of the Ryukyus. There is little industry, and the economy relies
heavily on tourism. Northern Okinawa is quite rugged and forested,
while the southern part consists of rolling hills. Although agriculture
and fishing remained the occupations of most of the population in
the Ryukyus, the region experienced considerable industrial expansion
during the period of United States occupation from 1945 to 1972.
Data as of January 1994
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