Japanese archipelago
Archipelago off the coast of Northeast Asia
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Through Archipelago, Japan and East Asia
Japan is the largest island country in East Asia and the fourth-largest island country in the world with 377,975.24 km2 (145,937.06 sq mi). It has an exclusive economic zone of 4,470,000 km2 (1,730,000 mi2).
Terminology
The term "Mainland Japan" is used to distinguish the large islands of the Japanese archipelago from the remote, smaller islands; it refers to the main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. From 1943 until the end of the Pacific War, Karafuto Prefecture (south Sakhalin) was designated part of the mainland. Geographically speaking the term "mainland" is somewhat inaccurate, as this refers to an expanse of territory that is attached to a continental landmass.
The term "home islands" was an exonym used at the end of World War II to define the area where Japanese sovereignty and constitutional rule of its emperor would be restricted. The term is also commonly used today to distinguish the archipelago from Japan's colonies and other territories.
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Paleogeography
Changes of land-forms of Japan over time
Geography
The archipelago consists of 14,125 islands (here defined as land more than 100 m in circumference), of which 430 are inhabited. The five main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Honshu is the largest and is referred to as the Japanese mainland.
The topography is divided as:
- Hokkaido, Honshu, and Shikoku and its surrounding islands;
- Kyushu and the Ryukyu arc, which is composed of the Ryukyu Islands and other surrounding islands;
- Eastern part of Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands;
- Nanpō Islands and the Izu Peninsula (part of Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc).