List of islands of Japan

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Japanese archipelago with outlined islands

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 run from Hokkaido in the north-east, along the largest island, Honshu, to Kyushu, in the south-west. Shikoku is tucked between Honshu to the north and Kyushu to the west. The fifth and smallest is Okinawa which is far to the south-west.
Hokkaido
Hokkaido
Honshu
Honshu
Kyushu
Kyushu
Shikoku
Shikoku
Okinawa Island
Okinawa Island
The five main islands of Japan

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[]

Islands in Tokyo Bay[]

  • Dream Island (Yume No Shima)
  • Odaiba
  • Sarushima (natural)
  •  [ja]
  •  [ja]
  •  [ja]
  •  [ja]
  • Tokyo International Airport
  •  [ja]
  •  [ja]
  •  [ja]
  • Wakasu
  •  [ja]

Islands in Osaka Bay[]

Islands in Ise Bay[]

Islands in Mutsu Bay[]

Nanpō Islands (Nanpō Shotō)[]

Izu Islands
Ogasawara Islands

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.

Islands around Shikoku[]

Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shotō)[]

Ryukyu Islands

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:

Tokara Islands[]

The Shichi-tō:

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
Sakishima Islands[]

Also known as the Further Isles:

  • Miyako Islands
  • 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[]

Seto Inland Sea

Islands in lakes[]

  • Daikon-island
  • Bentenjima in Lake Tōya
  • Bentenjima in Lake Hamana

Other artificial islands[]

Claims but does not control[]

Kuril islands and the Northern Territories

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[]

Main article: List of islands of Japan by area

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[]

References[]

  1. ^ Look Japan, Vol. 43, Issues 493-504, p. 35; retrieved 2013-3-2.
  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.
  3. ^ "Island Countries Of The World". WorldAtlas.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
  4. ^ "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)
  5. ^ Imperial Japanese Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. (1903). Japan in the Beginning of the 20th century (Haruki Yamawaki, editor), p. 2.
  6. ^ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Rishiri-tō" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 791.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). Sovereign and Subject, p. 332.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Ponsonby-Fane, p. 331.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Nussbaum, "Izu Shotō" at p. 412.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Nussbaum, p. 412; Ponsonby-Fane, p. 332.
  12. ^ Nussbaum, "Ōshima" at p. 761.
  13. ^ Nussbaum, "Torishima" at p. 987.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Nussbaum, "Ogasawara Guntō" at p. 737.
  15. ^ Nussbaum, "Hashima" at p. 294.
  16. ^ [1]
  17. ^ Imperial Japanese Commission, p. 3.
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