Home > Geography of Japan

About 73% of the country is mountainous, with a mountain chain running through each of the main islands. Japan's highest mountain is world-famous Mt. Fuji (3776 metres, 12388 feet). Since so little flat area exists, many hills and mountainsides are cultivated all the way to the top. As Japan is situated in a volcanic zone along the Pacific deeps, frequent low-intensity earth tremors and occasional volcanic activity are felt throughout the islands. Destructive earthquakes occur several times a century. Hot springs are numerous and have been developed as resorts.

The Japanese archipelago extends from north to south along the eastern coast of the Eurasian continent or the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. Japan belongs to the temperate zone with distinct four seasons, but its climate varies from cool temperate in the north to subtropical in the south. The climate is also affected by the seasonal winds that blow from the continent to the ocean in winters and vise versa in summers. Late June and early July are a rainy season except Hokkaido as a seasonal rain front or baiu zensen (梅雨前線) stays above Japan. In summer and early autumn, typhoons, grown from tropical depressions generated near the equator, attack Japan with furious rainstorms.

Its varied geographical features divide Japan into six principal climatic zones.

• Hokkaido (北海道): Belonging to the cool temperate zone, Hokkaido has long, cold winters and cool summers. Precipitation is not great.

• Nihonkai (日本海)or Sea of Japan: The northwest seasonal wind in winter gives heavy snowfalls. In summer it is less hot than in the Pacific area but sometimes experiences extreme high temperatures due to the Foehn wind phenomenon.

• Chuo-kochi (中央高地) or Central highland: A typical inland climate gives large temperature differences between summers and winters and between days and nights. Precipitation is not large throughout the year.

• Setonaikai (瀬戸内海) or Inland Sea: The mountains in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions block the seasonal winds and bring mild climate and many fine days throughout the year.

• Taiheiyo (太平洋) or Pacific Ocean: Winters are cold, with little snowfall, and summers are hot and humid due to the southeast seasonal wind.

• Nansei-shoto (南西諸島) or Southwest Islands: This zone has a subtropical climate with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very high, and is especially affected by the rainy season and typhoons

As an island nation, Japan has a long coastline. A few prefectures are landlocked: Gunma, Tochigi, Saitama, Nagano, Yamanashi, Gifu, Shiga, and Nara. The others all have coasts on the Pacific Ocean, Sea of Japan, Seto Inland Sea or have a body of salt water connected to them. Three prefectures--Two, Hokkaido and Okinawa--are composed of islands.

Location: Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean PeninsulaThe Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 1,100 kilometres from the continental Asian mainland into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the East Sea/Sea of Japan on the east, the East China Sea to the south, and.

Geographic coordinates: 36 00 N, 138 00 E

Map references: Asia

Area:
total: 377,835 km²
land: 374,744 km²
water: 3,091 km²
note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto 小笠原群島), Daito-shoto (大東諸島), Minami TorishimaMinami Torishima or Marcus Island is a very small isolated island in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, located at latitude 24'18" N and longitude 153'58" E. It is only 1 sq km in size. It is the easternmost territory belonging to Japan, some 1,900 km SE of(南鳥島), Okino-tori-shima (沖ノ鳥島), Ryukyu IslandsThe Ryukyu Islands or Luchu Islands ( Nansei-shoto or Ryukyu-retto are an island group between the islands of Kyushu and Taiwan. The northern half is known as Satsunan Shoto belonging to Kagoshima prefecture, Japan, while the southern half is known as Ryu (Ryukyu-shoto 琉球諸島), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto 火山列島)

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than California

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 29,751 km

Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles
territorial sea: 12 nautical miles; between 3 nautical miles and 12 nautical miles in the international straits - La PerouseLa Perouse Strait ( Japanese: Soya Strait strait dividing the southern part of the Russian island of Sakhalin from the northern part of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, and connecting the Sea of Japan on the west with the Sea of Okhotsk on the east. It is or Soya Strait (宗谷海峡), Tsugaru (津軽), Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait (対馬海峡)

Climate: varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north

Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Hachiro-gata (八郎潟) -4 m
highest point: Fujisan (富士山) 3,776 m

Natural resources: negligible mineral resources, fish

Land use:
arable land: 11%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 2%
forests and woodland: 67%
other: 19% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 27,820 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis ; Tropical cyclone

Environment - current issues: air pollution from car emissions in urban area suspected for causing Asthma; over-enrichment of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality for aquatic life; quota for fisheries imposed on Japanese fishing fleets; over-fish farming causing degrading water quality for aquatic life; Biodiversity threatened by foreign animals, fish, insects, and plants

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: strategic location in northeast Asia

See also : Japan, Japanese addressing system, List of national parks of Japan