List of islands of Japan
Japan has 6,852 islands. Approximately 430 are inhabited.[1][2] Japan is the largest island country in East Asia and the fourth largest island country in the world.[3]
Main islands[]
The five main islands of Japan are:[4][5]
- Hokkaido - the northernmost and second largest main island.
- Honshu - the largest and most populous island with the capital Tokyo.
- Kyushu - the third largest main island and nearest to the Asian continent.
- Shikoku - the second smallest main island after Okinawa. It is between Honshu and Kyushu.
- Okinawa Island - the smallest and southernmost of the main islands.
Hokkaido prefecture[]
- Ōshima
- Okushiri Island
- Teuri Island
- Rebun Island
- Rishiri Island[6]
- Yagishiri Island
- Kamome island
Islands of Honshu in the Sea of Japan[]
- Awashima Island, Niigata
- Kanmurijima
- Kutsujima, Kyoto
- Mitsukejima
- Nanatsujima archipelago
- Notojima
- Oki Islands (Oki Islands)[7]
- Sado[8]
- Takashima, Shimane
- Tobishima (Yamagata)
- Tsunoshima
- Umashima, Shimane
Islands in Tokyo Bay[]
- Dream Island (Yume No Shima)
- Odaiba
- Sarushima (natural)
- Tokyo International Airport
- Wakasu
Islands in Osaka Bay[]
- Maishima
- Yumeshima
- Kansai International Airport
- Kobe Airport
- Port Island
- Rokkō Island
- Wakayama Marina City
Islands in Ise Bay[]
- Chūbu Centrair International Airport (artificial island)
- Kami-shima
- Kashiko Island
- Kozukumi Island
- Mikimoto Pearl Island
- Ōzukumi-jima
Islands in Mutsu Bay[]
Nanpō Islands (Nanpō Shotō)[]
- Izu Islands[9]
- Ogasawara Islands (Bonin Islands)[14]
- Kazan Rettō (Volcano Islands)
- Nishinoshima
- Kita Iwo Jima (North Iwo Jima)
- Iwo Jima[14]
- Minami Iwo Jima (South Iwo Jima)
Other Japanese islands[]
- Minami Torishima (Marcus Island)
- Enoshima
- Okino Torishima (Parece Vela)
Islands around Kyushu[]
Most of these are located in the East China Sea.
- Amakusa
- Shimoshima Island, Amakusa
- Kamishima Island, Amakusa
- Nagashima Island, Kagoshima
- Aoshima
- Gotō Islands[8]
- Danjo Islands
- Hashima[15]
- Hirado[7]
- Iki
- Koshikijima Islands
- Tsushima[8]
- Ukushima
Islands around Shikoku[]
Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shotō)[]
Satsunan Islands[]
The northern half is administratively part of Kagoshima Prefecture and Kyushu.
Ōsumi Islands[]
The North-Eastern Group:
- Tanegashima[8]
- Yakushima
- Kuchinoerabujima
- Mageshima
The North-Western Group:
- Takeshima (Liancourt Rocks) - Japanese and Korean disputes
- Iōjima
- Shōwa Iōjima
Tokara Islands[]
The Shichi-tō:
- Kuchinoshima
- Nakanoshima (Kagoshima)
- Gajajima
- Suwanosejima
- Akusekijima
- Tairajima
- Kodakarajima
- Takarajima
Amami Islands[]
- Amami Ōshima
- Kikaijima
- Kakeromajima
- Yoroshima
- Tokunoshima
- Okinoerabujima
- Yoronjima
Ryukyu Islands (Ryūkyū-shotō)[]
The Southern Half, Okinawa Prefecture
Okinawa Islands[]
The Central Group or Ryukyu proper:
- Okinawa Island[7]
- Kumejima
- Iheyajima
- Izenajima
- Iejima
- (Iōtorishima)[16]
- Kerama Islands
- Tokashikijima
- Zamamijima
- Akajima
- Gerumajima
- Daitō Islands
- Kitadaitojima
- Okidaitōjima
Sakishima Islands[]
Also known as the Further Isles:
- Miyako Islands
- Miyako-jima
- Ikema
- Ogami
- Irabu Island
- Shimoji
- Kurima-jima
- Minna
- Tarama
- Yaeyama Islands
- Iriomote
- Ishigaki
- Taketomi
- Kohama
- Kuroshima
- Hatoma
- Hateruma
- Yonaguni
- Senkaku Islands (in dispute with China and Taiwan)
- Uotsurijima
- Kuba Jima
- Taisho Jima
- Kita Kojima
- Minami Kojima
Seto Inland Sea islands[]
- Kasaoka Islands
- 高島 (岡山県笠岡市)
- Shiraishi Island
- , 北木島
- , 大飛島
- , 小飛島
- Manabeshima, 真鍋島
- , 六島 (岡山県)
- Shiwaku Islands
- Awaji[8]
- Etajima
- Kurahashi-jima
- Inujima
- Itsukushima (popularly known as "Miyajima")
- Shōdoshima
- Naoshima Islands
- Suō-Ōshima, Yamaguchi
- Himeshima, Ōita
- Aoshima, Ehime
- Hashira Island
- Okamura Island
- Ōshima (Ehime)
- Mukaishima Island, Hiroshima
- Ōmishima Island, Ehime
Islands in lakes[]
- Daikon-island
- Bentenjima in Lake Tōya
- Bentenjima in Lake Hamana
Other artificial islands[]
- Chūbu Centrair International Airport
- Dejima[7]
- New Kitakyushu Airport
- , off Hakodate (artificial)
- (artificial)
- Wakaejima (artificial)
- Island City, Fukuoka (artificial)
Claims but does not control[]
The Northern Territories[]
There are four disputed Kuril Islands that are controlled by Russia and claimed by Japan. These islands are called the Chishima Islands.[17]
- Iturup - Etorofu (択捉島, Etorofu-tō)
- Kunashir - Kunashiri (国後島, Kunashiri-tō)
- Shikotan - Shikotan (色丹島, Shikotan-tō)
- Habomai Islands - Habomai (歯舞群島, Habomai guntō)
Others[]
- Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima) - controlled by South Korea, disputed by Japan and North Korea.
Former[]
- South Seas Mandate (1919–1947) - part of the Japanese colonial empire until its defeat in 1945. Formally revoked by the United Nations in 1947.
- Taiwan and Penghu (1895–1945) - part of the Japanese colonial empire until its defeat in 1945. Returned to the Republic of China in 1945.
Largest islands of Japan[]
These are the 50 largest islands of Japan. It excludes the disputed Kuril islands known as the northern territories.
Rank | Island name | Area (km2) |
Area (sq mi) |
Island group |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Honshu | 227,960 | 88,020 | |
2 | Hokkaido | 83,424.31 | 32,210.31 | |
3 | Kyushu | 36,782 | 14,202 | |
4 | Shikoku | 18,800 | 7,300 | |
5 | Okinawa Island | 1,207 | 466 | Ryukyu Islands |
6 | Sado Island | 855.26 | 330.22 | |
7 | Amami Ōshima | 712.35 | 275.04 | Amami Islands |
8 | Tsushima Island | 708.7 | 273.6 | |
9 | Awaji Island | 592.17 | 228.64 | |
10 | Shimoshima Island, Amakusa | 574.01 | 221.63 | |
11 | Yakushima | 504.88 | 194.94 | Ōsumi Islands |
12 | Tanegashima | 444.99 | 171.81 | Ōsumi Islands |
13 | Fukue Island | 326.43 | 126.04 | Gotō Islands |
14 | Iriomote Island | 289.27 | 111.69 | |
15 | Tokunoshima | 247.8 | 95.7 | Amami Islands |
16 | Dōgojima | 241.58 | 93.27 | Oki Islands |
17 | Kamishima Island, Amakusa | 225.32 | 87.00 | Amakusa islands |
18 | Ishigaki Island | 222.5 | 85.9 | |
19 | Rishiri Island | 183 | 71 | |
20 | Nakadōri Island | 168.34 | 65.00 | Gotō Islands |
21 | Hirado Island | 163.42 | 63.10 | |
22 | Miyako-jima | 158.87 | 61.34 | |
23 | Shōdoshima | 153.30 | 59.19 | |
24 | Okushiri Island | 142.97 | 55.20 | |
25 | Iki Island | 138.46 | 53.46 | |
26 | Suō-Ōshima | 128.31 | 49.54 | |
27 | Okinoerabujima | 93.63 | 36.15 | Amami Islands |
28 | Etajima | 91.32 | 35.26 | |
29 | Izu Ōshima | 91.06 | 35.16 | Izu Islands |
30 | Nagashima Island, Kagoshima | 90.62 | 34.99 | |
31 | Rebun Island | 80 | 31 | |
32 | Kakeromajima | 77.39 | 29.88 | Amami Islands |
33 | Kurahashi-jima | 69.46 | 26.82 | |
34 | Shimokoshiki-jima | 66.12 | 25.53 | |
35 | Ōmishima Island, Ehime | 66.12 | 25.53 | |
36 | Hachijō-jima | 62.52 | 24.14 | |
37 | Kume Island | 59.11 | 22.82 | Okinawa Islands |
38 | Kikaijima | 56.93 | 21.98 | Amami Islands |
39 | Nishinoshima | 55.98 | 21.61 | |
40 | Miyake-jima | 55.44 | 21.41 | |
41 | Notojima | 46.78 | 18.06 | |
42 | Kamikoshiki-jima | 45.08 | 17.41 | |
43 | Ōshima (Ehime) | 41.87 | 16.17 | |
44 | Ōsakikamijima | 38.27 | 14.78 | |
45 | Kuchinoerabu-jima | 38.04 | 14.69 | |
46 | Hisaka | 37.23 | 14.37 | |
47 | Innoshima | 35.03 | 13.53 | |
48 | Nakanoshima (in Kagoshima) | 34.47 | 13.31 | Tokara Islands |
49 | Hario Island | 33.16 | 12.80 | |
50 | Nakanoshima (in Shimane) | 32.21 | 12.44 | Oki Islands |
See also[]
- Geography of Japan
- Japanese archipelago
- List of islands of Japan by area
- List of islands
- Names of Japan
References[]
- ^ Look Japan, Vol. 43, Issues 493-504, p. 35; retrieved 2013-3-2.
- ^ "離島とは(島の基礎知識)" (in Japanese). Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Archived from the original (website) on November 13, 2007. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ "Island Countries Of The World". WorldAtlas.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
- ^ "離島とは(島の基礎知識) (what is a remote island?)". MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) (in Japanese). Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. 22 August 2015. Archived from the original (website) on 2007-11-13. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
MILT classification 6,852 islands(main islands: 5 islands, remote islands: 6,847 islands)
- ^ Imperial Japanese Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. (1903). Japan in the Beginning of the 20th century (Haruki Yamawaki, editor), p. 2.
- ^ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Rishiri-tō" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 791.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). Sovereign and Subject, p. 332.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Ponsonby-Fane, p. 331.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Nussbaum, "Izu Shotō" at p. 412.
- ^ Gotoh, H. et al. (2010). "Infrastructure Maintenance and Disaster Prevention Measures on Isolated Islands: the Case of the Izu Islands near Tokyo" in Island Sustainability (Favro, S., editor), p. 187.
- ^ Nussbaum, p. 412; Ponsonby-Fane, p. 332.
- ^ Nussbaum, "Ōshima" at p. 761.
- ^ Nussbaum, "Torishima" at p. 987.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Nussbaum, "Ogasawara Guntō" at p. 737.
- ^ Nussbaum, "Hashima" at p. 294.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Imperial Japanese Commission, p. 3.
- Islands of Japan
- Japanese archipelago
- Lists of islands by country
- Lists of landforms of Japan