Japan is divided into eight regions. They are not official administrative units, though they have been used by government officials for statistical and other purposes since 1905. They are widely used in, for example, maps, geography textbooks, and weather reports, and many businesses and institutions use their home regions in their names as well, for example Kyushu National Museum, Kinki Nippon Railway, Chūgoku Bank, and Tōhoku University.
Each region contains one or more of the country's 47 prefectures. Of the four main islands of Japan, Hokkaidō, Shikoku, and Kyūshū make up one region each, the latter also containing the Satsunan Islands, while the largest island Honshū is divided into five regions. Okinawa Prefecture is usually included in Kyūshū, but is sometimes treated as its own ninth region.[1][2][3]
Japan has eight High Courts, but their jurisdictions do not correspond to the eight regions (see Judicial system of Japan for details).
Table
edit| Region | Population | Area in km2[4] | Prefectures contained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hokkaidō | 5.4 million[5] | 83,000 | Hokkaidō |
| Tōhoku | 8.9 million[6] | 67,000 | Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata |
| Kantō | 43.3 million[7] | 32,000 | Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, Tōkyō |
| Chūbu | 21.4 million[8] | 67,000 | Aichi, Fukui, Gifu, Ishikawa, Nagano, Niigata, Shizuoka, Toyama, Yamanashi |
| Kansai (also known as Kinki) | 22.5 million[9] | 33,000 | Hyōgo, Kyōto, Mie, Nara, Ōsaka, Shiga, Wakayama |
| Chūgoku | 7.3 million[10] | 32,000 | Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, Yamaguchi |
| Shikoku | 3.8 million[11] | 19,000 | Ehime, Kagawa, Kōchi, Tokushima |
| Kyūshū & Okinawa | 14.3 million[12] | 44,000 | Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Ōita, Okinawa, Saga |
Regions and islands
editThis is a list of Japan's major islands, traditional regions, and subregions, going from northeast to southwest.[13][14] The eight traditional regions are marked in bold.
- Hokkaidō (the island and its archipelago)
- Honshū
- Tōhoku region (northern part)
- Kantō region (eastern part)
- Nanpō Islands (part of Tokyo Metropolis)
- Chūbu region (central part)
- Hokuriku region (northwestern Chūbu)
- Kōshin'etsu region (northeastern Chūbu)
- Tōkai region (southern Chūbu)
- Kansai (or Kinki) region (south-central part)
- Chūgoku region (western part)
- San'in region (northern Chūgoku)
- San'yō region (southern Chūgoku)
- Shikoku
- Kyūshū
Other regional divisions
editIn many contexts in Japan (government, media markets, sports, regional business or trade union confederations), regions are used that deviate from the above-mentioned common geographical 8-region division that is sometimes referred to as "the" regions of Japan in the English Wikipedia and some other English-language publications. Examples of regional divisions of Japan as used by various institutions are:
| Region | Prefectures |
|---|---|
| – | Hokkaidō (separate liaison office with the National Police Agency) |
| Tōhoku | Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima |
| – | Tokyo (separate liaison office with the National Police Agency) |
| Kantō | Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi, Shizuoka |
| Chūbu | Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Gifu, Aichi, Mie |
| Kinki | Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama |
| Chūgoku | Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi |
| Shikoku | Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi |
| Kyūshū | Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa |
| Region | Prefectures |
|---|---|
| Hokkaidō | Hokkaidō |
| Tōhoku | Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima |
| Kantō-Kōshin'etsu | Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Nagano, Niigata, Yamanashi |
| Tōkai-Hokuriku | Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Shizuoka, Gifu, Aichi, Mie |
| Kinki | Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama |
| Chūgoku | Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi |
| Shikoku | Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi |
| Kyūshū | Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa |
| Region | Prefectures (Nagano is split) |
|---|---|
| – | Hokkaidō (originally had a separate, cabinet-level development agency, now a separate MLIT department) |
| Tōhoku | Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima |
| Kantō | Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano (northern part) |
| Hokuriku | Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa |
| Chūbu | Nagano (southern part), Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie |
| Kinki | Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama, Fukui |
| Chūgoku | Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi |
| Shikoku | Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi |
| Kyūshū | Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima |
| – | Okinawa (originally had a separate, cabinet-level development agency, now a department in the Cabinet Office) |
| Region | Prefectures |
|---|---|
| Hokkaidō | Hokkaidō |
| Tōhoku | Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima |
| Kantō-Kōshin | Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano |
| Hokuriku | Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui |
| Tōkai | Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie |
| Kinki | Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama |
| Chūgoku | Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima |
| Shikoku | Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi |
| Northern Kyūshū | Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita |
| Southern Kyūshū-Amami | Miyazaki, Kagoshima |
| Okinawa | Okinawa |
| Constituency | Prefectures |
|---|---|
| Hokkaidō | Hokkaidō |
| Tōhoku | Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima |
| Northern Kantō | Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama |
| Tokyo | Tokyo |
| Southern Kantō | Chiba, Kanagawa, Yamanashi |
| Hokuriku-Shin'etsu | Niigata, Nagano, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui |
| Tōkai | Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie |
| Kinki | Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama |
| Chūgoku | Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi |
| Shikoku | Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi |
| Kyūshū | Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa |
| High court | Prefectures |
|---|---|
| Sapporo | Hokkaidō |
| Sendai | Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima |
| Tokyo | Tokyo, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano, Shizuoka |
| Nagoya | Aichi, Mie, Gifu, Ishikawa, Fukui, Toyama |
| Osaka | Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama |
| Hiroshima | Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi |
| Takamatsu | Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi |
| Fukuoka | Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa |
| Region | Prefectures |
|---|---|
| Hokkaidō | Hokkaidō |
| Tōhoku | Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima |
| Kantō | Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Yamanashi |
| Tokyo | Tokyo |
| Tōkai | Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie |
| Hoku-Shin'etsu | Niigata, Nagano, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui |
| Kinki | Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama |
| Chūgoku | Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi |
| Shikoku | Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi |
| Kyūshū | Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa |
| Region | Prefectures |
|---|---|
| Hokkaidō | Hokkaidō |
| Tōhoku | North: Aomori, Iwate, Akita South: Miyagi, Yamagata, Fukushima |
| Kantō | Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi |
| Tōkai | Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie |
| Hoku-Shin'etsu | Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Nagano |
| Kansai | Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama |
| Chūgoku | Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi |
| Shikoku | Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi |
| Kyūshū | Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa |
| Region | Prefectures |
|---|---|
| Hokkaidō | Hokkaidō |
| Tōhoku | Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima |
| Hokuriku | Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui |
| Kantō-Kōshin'etsu | Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano |
| Tōkai | Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie |
| Kinki | Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama |
| Chūgoku | Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi |
| Shikoku | Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi |
| Kyūshū-Okinawa | Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Regions". Archived from the original on 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
- ^ Regions of Japan
- ^ A Guide to the Regions of Japan
- ^ Japan's Regional Megamarkets - Semantic Scholar (PDF)
- ^ What special characteristics does Hokkaido have? from Kids Web Japan
- ^ What special characteristics does the Tohoku region have? from Kids Web Japan
- ^ What special characteristics does the Kanto region have? from Kids Web Japan
- ^ What special characteristics does the Chubu region have? from Kids Web Japan
- ^ What special characteristics does the Kinki region have? from Kids Web Japan
- ^ What special characteristics does the Chugoku region have? from Kids Web Japan
- ^ What special characteristics does the Shikoku region have? from Kids Web Japan
- ^ What special characteristics does the Kyushu-Okinawa region have? from Kids Web Japan
- ^ Regions of Japan on japan-guide.com
- ^ Regions of Japan on web-japan.org
- ^ NPA: 管区警察局の活動, retrieved September 24, 2021.
- ^ NHK: 全国のNHK Archived 2022-06-13 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved September 24, 2021.
- ^ MLIT: 地方整備局, retrieved September 24, 2021.
- ^ JMA: 天気予報等で用いる用語>地域名, retrieved September 24, 2021.
- ^ BoJ: 地域経済報告 ── さくらレポート ── （２０２１年７月）, the definition of regions is in the table of contents before p. 1 (Summary in English translation, the definition of regions is in the appendix), retrieved September 24, 2021.
External links
edit
Media related to Regions of Japan at Wikimedia Commons