Japanese archipelago

2025-10-31T22:33:43Z

2600:8801:2999:A00:432:D7FF:1416:10C6: Added Transliteration Infobox.

{{Short description|Archipelago off the coast of Northeast Asia}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Japanese Archipelago
| image_name = Satellite View of Japan 1999.jpg
| image_caption = A satellite image of the main archipelago (Ryukyu Islands and South Kuril Islands not pictured)
| coordinates = {{Coord|36|N|138|E|type:isle_region:JP_scale:10000000|display=inline,title}}
| country = Japan
| area_km2 = 377,975
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| l = ''Japanese archipelago''
| t = 日本列島
| s = 日本列岛
| p = Rìběn lièdao
| kyujitai = 日本列島
| lja = Japanese archipelago
| hangul = 일본열도
| hanja = 日本列島
| rr = Ilbon yeoldo
| mr = Ilbon y'oldo
| lk = ''Japanese archipelago''
| shinjitai = 日本列島
| hepburn = Nippon/Nihon Rettō
| kunrei = Nippon/Nihon-Rettou
| y = Jat6bun2lit6dou2
| romaji = Nippon/Nihon-Rettō
}}

The {{nihongo|'''Japanese archipelago'''|日本列島|Nippon/Nihon Rettō|{{IPA|ja|ɲip.pon/ɲi.hon ɾeꜜt.toː}}<ref>{{cite book|script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典|publisher=NHK Publishing|editor=NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute|date=24 May 2016|lang=ja}}</ref>|lead=yes}} is an [[archipelago]] of [[list of islands of Japan|14,125 islands]] that form the country of [[Japan]].<ref name="recount">{{cite web |title=Recount with digital map leads to doubling of listed Japanese islands |website=Japan Times |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/02/15/national/japanese-islands-recount/ |date=Feb 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230215042328/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/02/15/national/japanese-islands-recount/ |archive-date=Feb 15, 2023}}</ref> It extends over {{cvt|3000|km|mi}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Water Supply in Japan |format=website |url=https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/policy/health/water_supply/1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126130519/https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/policy/health/water_supply/1.html |archive-date=January 26, 2018 |publisher=Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare |access-date=2018-09-26}}</ref> from the [[Sea of Okhotsk]] in the northeast to the [[East China Sea|East China]] and [[Philippine Sea|Philippine]] seas in the southwest along the [[Pacific coast]] of the [[Eurasia]]n continent, and consists of three [[island arc]]s from north to south: the [[Northeastern Japan Arc]], the Southwestern Japan Arc, and the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryukyu Island Arc]]. The [[Daitō Islands]], the [[Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc]], and the [[Kuril Islands]] neighbor the [[archipelago]].

Japan is the largest [[island country]] in [[East Asia]] and the [[list of island countries|fourth-largest island country]] in the world with {{convert|377,975.24|km²|sqmi|abbr=on}}.<ref name="world-atlas">{{cite web |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-are-the-island-countries-of-the-world.html |title=Island Countries Of The World |publisher=WorldAtlas.com |access-date=2019-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207094959/http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-are-the-island-countries-of-the-world.html | archive-date=2017-12-07}}</ref><ref name="Geospatial Information Authority of Japan 2019">{{cite web |title=令和元年全国都道府県市区町村別面積調（１０月１日時点）, Reiwa 1st year National area of each prefecture municipality (as of October 1) |url=https://www.gsi.go.jp/KOKUJYOHO/MENCHO201910-index.html |publisher=[[Geospatial Information Authority of Japan]] |access-date=2 January 2020 |language=ja |date=26 December 2019 |archive-date=15 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200415123703/https://www.gsi.go.jp/KOKUJYOHO/MENCHO201910-index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It has an [[Exclusive economic zone of Japan|exclusive economic zone]] of {{convert|4,470,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}.<ref name="kaiho">{{cite web |url=http://www1.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/JODC/ryokai/ryokai_setsuzoku.html |title=日本の領海等概念図 |publisher=海上保安庁海洋情報部| access-date=12 August 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812151410/http://www1.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/JODC/ryokai/ryokai_setsuzoku.html| archive-date=August 12, 2018}}</ref>

==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]].<ref name="main-islands-japan">{{cite web |script-title=ja:離島とは(島の基礎知識) |trans-title=what is a remote island? |publisher=[[Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]] |url=http://www.mlit.go.jp/crd/chirit/ritoutoha.html |website=MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) |date=22 August 2015 |access-date= 9 August 2019 |language=ja |format=website |quote=MILT classification 6,852 islands(main islands: 5 islands, remote islands: 6,847 islands) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113053915/http://www.mlit.go.jp/crd/chirit/ritoutoha.html |archive-date=2007-11-13}}</ref> 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 of Japan|emperor]] would be restricted.{{citation needed|date=June 2013}} The term is also commonly used today to distinguish the archipelago from Japan's colonies and other territories.<ref>Milton W. Meyer, ''Japan: A Concise History'', fourth ed. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2012, {{ISBN|9780742541184}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=d11lJ2JKN4wC&dq=Japan+archipelago+Home+Islands&pg=PA2 p. 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226040610/https://books.google.com/books?id=d11lJ2JKN4wC&pg=PA2&dq=Japan+archipelago+Home+Islands&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Wa_IUZGgFKSviALPqoG4DA&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Japan%20archipelago%20Home%20Islands&f=false |date=2023-02-26 }}.</ref>

== Paleogeography ==
{{main|Geology of Japan}}
{{Gallery
|title=Changes of land-forms of Japan over time
|width=160 | height=170
|align=center
|footer=
|File:Sea of Japan Early Miocene map.svg
|Japanese archipelago, Sea of Japan and surrounding part of continental [[East Asia]] in [[Early Miocene]] (23–18 Ma)
|File:Sea of Japan Pliocene map.svg
|Japanese archipelago, Sea of Japan and surrounding part of continental [[East Asia]] in [[Middle Pliocene]] to [[Late Pliocene]] (3.5–2 Ma)
|File:Japan glaciation.gif
|Japanese archipelago at the [[Last Glacial Maximum]] about 20,000 years ago, thin black line indicates present-day shorelines:
{{legend|#fbad5d|Vegetated land}}
{{legend|white|Unvegetated land}}
{{legend|#acfefc|Ocean}}
}}

{{Clear}}

==Geography==
{{Main|Geography of Japan}}

{{See also|Prefectures of Japan}}

The archipelago consists of 14,125 islands<ref name="recount">{{cite web |title=Recount with digital map leads to doubling of listed Japanese islands |website=Japan Times |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/02/15/national/japanese-islands-recount/ |date=Feb 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230215042328/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/02/15/national/japanese-islands-recount/ |archive-date=Feb 15, 2023}}</ref> (here defined as land more than 100 m in circumference), of which 430 are inhabited.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Islands in Abundance |magazine=Look Japan |year=1997 |volume=43 |issue=493–504 |publisher=Limited |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NHi6AAAAIAAJ&q=%226%2C852+islands%22 |page=35 |access-date=2015-10-18 |archive-date=2023-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226040609/https://books.google.com/books?id=NHi6AAAAIAAJ&q=%226%2C852+islands%22 |url-status=live }}</ref> The five main islands, from north to south, are [[Hokkaido]], [[Honshu]], [[Shikoku]], [[Kyushu]], and [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]].<ref name="main-islands-japan" /> Honshu is the largest and is referred to as the [[Mainland Japan|Japanese mainland]].<ref>[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Japanese+Archipelago "Japanese Archipelago"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919195043/https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Japanese+Archipelago |date=2018-09-19 }}, [[TheFreeDictionary.com]], retrieved 24 June 2013.</ref>

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|Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc]]).

===Image gallery===
{{Gallery
|title=
|width=160 | height=170
|align=center
|footer=
|File:Ogasawara islands.png
|The [[Nanpō Islands]] stretch to the southeast and are administered by the [[Tokyo Metropolis]].|File:Location_of_the_Ryukyu_Islands.JPG
|The [[Ryukyu Islands]], which stretch towards [[Taiwan]], are administered by [[Kagoshima Prefecture]] and [[Okinawa Prefecture]].|File:Japan_Relief_Map_of_Land_and_Seabed.png
|Seabed relief map, showing surface and underwater terrain and islands such as Minami-Tori-Shima, Benten-jima, Okinotorishima, and Yonaguni}}

==See also==
*[[Sea of Japan#Geography and geology|Japan in the Paleolithic]]
*[[List of extreme points of Japan]]
*[[List of islands of Japan]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Japan topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Japanese archipelago| ]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of Japan|Archipelago]]
[[Category:Geography of Japan|Archipelago]]

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Japanese archipelago