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Japan Cities with Hotels
 Japan, constitutional monarchy in eastern Asia, comprising four large islands, as well as the Ryukyu Islands and more than 1000 lesser adjacent islands. It is bounded on the north by the Sea of Okhotsk, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea, and on the west by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan. In Japanese the country's name is Dai ("great") Nihon or Nippon ("origin of the sun"), hence, Land of the Rising Sun. The Japanese islands extend in an irregular crescent from the island of Sakhalin (Russia) to the island of Taiwan. Japan proper consists of the large islands of Hokkaido, the northernmost; Honshu, the largest, called the mainland; Shikoku; and Kyushu, the southernmost. The combined area of these islands is about 362,000 sq km (about 140,000 sq mi). The total area of Japan is 377,688 sq km (145,826 sq mi). Tokyo is Japan's capital and largest city.
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Japan
The Kuril Islands, north of Hokkaido and formerly included in Japan proper as Chishima-retto, were occupied by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) at the conclusion of World War II under an agreement reached at the Yalta Conference in 1945. Until the unconditional surrender of Japan to the Allied powers on September 2, 1945, the Japanese Empire controlled, in addition to present-day Japan and the Kuril Islands, an area of about 1,651,100 sq km (about 637,500 sq mi), including Korea, Taiwan, Manchuria, the leased territory of Guangdong, the P'eng-hu Islands (Pescadores), Karafuto (the southern half of Sakhalin), and the South Sea Mandated Territories, comprising the Marshall, Mariana (except Guam, a United States possession), and Caroline islands, which were made a Japanese mandate by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, after World War I (1914-1918). For the disposition of these territories and others acquired by Japanese conquest during World War II, see the History section of this article.
Land and Resources
The islands of Japan are the projecting summits of a huge chain of mountains originally a part of the continent of Asia, from which they were detached in the Cenozoic era. The long and narrow main island, Honshu, measures less than 300 km (less than 200 mi) at its greatest breadth; no part of Japan is more than 150 km (more than 100 mi) from the sea.
The coastline of Japan is exceedingly long in proportion to the area of the islands and totals, with the many bays and indentations, about 29,800 km (about 18,500 mi). The greatest amount of indentation is on the Pacific coast, the result of the erosive action of the tides and severe coastal storms. The western coast of Kyushu, on the East China Sea, is the most irregular portion of the Japanese coast. Few navigable inlets are found on the eastern coast above Tokyo, but south of Tokyo Bay are many of the best bays and harbors in Japan. Between Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu is the Inland Sea, dotted with islands and connected with the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan by three narrow straits through which oceanic storms rarely pass. The western coast of the islands of Japan, on the almost tideless Sea of Japan, is relatively straight and measures less than 5000 km (less than 3000 mi); the only conspicuous indentations in the coastline are Wakasa and Toyama bays of Honshu.
Topographically, Japan is a rugged land of high mountains and deep valleys, with many small plains. Because of the alternating sequence of mountain and valley, and the rocky soil, only about 13 percent of Japan is arable land.
Rivers and Lakes
Although Japan is abundantly watered-almost every valley has a stream-no long navigable rivers exist. The larger Japanese rivers vary in size from swollen freshets during the spring thaw or the summer rainy season to small streams during dry weather. Successions of rapids and shallows are so common that only boats with extremely shallow draft can navigate them. The longest river in Japan is the Shinano, on Honshu, which is 367 km (228 mi) long; other large rivers on Honshu are the Tone, Kitakami, Tenryu, and Mogami. The important rivers of Hokkaido include the Ishikari, the Teshio and Tokachi. The Yoshino is the longest river on Shikoku. The many Japanese lakes are noted for their scenic beauty. Some are located in the river valleys, but the majority are mountain lakes, and many are summer resorts. The largest lake in Japan is Biwa, on Honshu, which covers about 672 sq km (about 259 sq mi).
Plains and Mountains
The Japanese plains lie chiefly along the lower courses of the principal rivers, on plateaus along the lowest slopes of mountain ranges, and on lowlands along the seacoast. The most extensive plains are on Hokkaido: along the Ishikari River in the western part of the island, along the Tokachi River in the southeast, and around the cities of Nemuro and Kushiro on the east central shore. Honshu has several large plains. That of Osaka contains the cities of Kobe, Kyoto, and Osaka; the plain of Kanto is the site of Tokyo; and Nagoya is the location of the plain of Nobi. The plain of Tsukushi is the most important level area on Kyushu.
The mountains of Japan are the most conspicuous feature of the topography. Mountain ranges extend across the islands from north to south, the main chains sending off smaller ranges that branch out laterally or run parallel to the parent range, and frequently descend to the coast, where they form bays and harbors. In the north, the island of Hokkaido is marked by a volcanic range that descends from the Kurils and merges in the southwestern part of the island with a chain branching from Point Soya in the northwestern tip. These mountains branch into two lines near Uchiura Bay, on the southwestern coast, and reappear on the island of Honshu in two parallel ranges. The minor range, situated entirely in the northeast, separates the valley of the Kitakami River from the Pacific Ocean.
The main range continues toward the southwest until it meets a mass of intersecting ridges that enclose the plateau of the Shinano River and forms a belt of mountains, the highest in Japan, across the widest part of the island. The highest peak, at 3776 m (12,389 ft), is Fuji, a dormant volcano near Yokohama, which, because of its exceptional beauty, is one of the favorite themes of Japanese art. One of the subsidiary ranges in the central mountain mass is called the Japanese Alps because of the grandeur of the landscape. This range is composed of three linked chains running north to south on central Honshu. The southern chain includes Japan's second highest peak, Kita at 3192 m (10,472 ft). The northern chain includes the next two highest peaks, Hotaka (3190 m/10,466 ft) and Yariga (3180 m/10,433 ft). The islands of Shikoku and Kyushu are dotted with mountain ranges, although none contains any peak higher than Ishizuchi (1982 m/6503 ft) on the island of Shikoku. Volcanoes are common in the Japanese mountains; some 188 volcanoes are known, more than 40 of which are still active. Thermal springs and volcanic areas emitting gases are also numerous.
Climate
The Japanese islands extend through approximately 15° of latitude, and Japan's climatic conditions vary widely. Average mean temperatures range from about 5° C (about 41° F) in Nemuro (Hokkaido) to about 16° C (about 61° F) on Okinawa Island. Short summers and severe long winters characterize Hokkaido and the northern part of Honshu. The severity of the winters is caused in great part by the northwestern winds blowing from Siberia and the cold Okhotsk (or Oyashio) Current, which flows south into the Sea of Japan. To the south and east of this region the winters are considerably moderated by the influence of the warm Kuroshio (or Japan) Current. On Shikoku, Kyushu, and southern Honshu the summers are hot and humid, almost subtropical, and the winters are mild with comparatively little snow. Japan lies in the path of the southeastern monsoons, which add considerably to the oppressive humidity of the summers. Yearly precipitation ranges from about 1020 mm (about 40 in) on Hokkaido to 3810 mm (150 in) in the mountains of central Honshu. From late August to early October tropical cyclones, also called typhoons, occur; they can cause great damage, especially to shipping.
"Japan," Microsoft® Encarta® 97 Encyclopedia.
© 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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