Outline of Japan explained

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Japan:

Japan - an island nation in East Asia, located in the Pacific Ocean. It lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin" (because it lies to the east of nearby countries), which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun". Japan is an archipelago of 14,125 islands. The four largest islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, which together comprise about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area.

General reference

Pronunciation:
- pronounced as /ja/ or pronounced as /ja/
Common endonyms:
Official endonym:
Adjectival: Japanese
Etymology: Name of Japan
International rankings of Japan
ISO country codes: JP, JPN, 392
ISO region codes:
Internet country code top-level domain: .jp

Geography of Japan

See main article: Geography of Japan.

Japan is: an island country and archipelago of 6,852 islands, shaped like the lowercase letter J.^[1]
Location:
- Pacific Ocean
- Northern Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere
  - Asia
    - East Asia^[2]
- Time zone: Japan Standard Time (UTC+09)
- Extreme points of Japan
  - High: Mount Fuji 37760NaN0
  - Low: Hachirōgata -40NaN0
- Land boundaries: none
- Coastline:
Population of Japan: 125,950,000 people - 11th most populous country
Area of Japan: 377873km2 - 62nd largest country
Atlas of Japan
Addressing system in Japan
Historic provinces of Japan
Japan Standard Time

Environment of Japan

See main article: Environment of Japan.

Climate of Japan
- Climate change in Japan
Environmental issues in Japan
Ecoregions in Japan
Energy in Japan
Geology of Japan
National parks of Japan
Tsunami
Wildlife of Japan
- Flora of Japan
- Fauna of Japan
  - Birds of Japan
  - Mammals of Japan

Geographic features of Japan

Regions of Japan

See main article: Islands of Japan and Regions of Japan.

The four main islands of Japan are:

Major regions of Japan include:

Hokkaido (the island of Hokkaido and nearby islands, largest city Sapporo)
Tōhoku region (northern Honshu, largest city Sendai)
Kantō region (eastern Honshu, largest cities Tokyo and Yokohama)
- Nanpō Islands: part of Tokyo Metropolis
Chūbu region (central Honshu, including Mount Fuji), sometimes divided into:
- Hokuriku region (northwestern Chūbu)
- Kōshin'etsu region (northeastern Chūbu, largest city Nagano)
- Tōkai region (southern Chūbu, largest city Nagoya, Hamamatsu, and Shizuoka)
Kansai or Kinki region (west-central Honshu, largest cities Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto)
Chūgoku region (western Honshu, largest city Hiroshima, and Okayama)
Shikoku (island, largest city Matsuyama, and Takamatsu)
Kyushu (island, largest city Fukuoka) which includes:
- Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa

Ecoregions of Japan

See main article: Ecoregions of Japan.

Administrative divisions of Japan

Administrative division types
- Regions of Japan (unofficial)
  - Prefectures of Japan
    - Subprefectures of Japan
      - Districts of Japan
        Municipalities of Japan
        Wards of Japan

Prefectures of Japan

See main article: Prefectures of Japan. From north to south (numbering in order), the prefectures of Japan and their commonly associated regions are:

----1. Hokkaido----2. Aomori3. Iwate4. Miyagi5. Akita6. Yamagata7. Fukushima----8. Ibaraki9. Tochigi10. Gunma11. Saitama12. Chiba13. Tokyo14. Kanagawa

----15. Niigata16. Toyama17. Ishikawa18. Fukui19. Yamanashi20. Nagano21. Gifu22. Shizuoka23. Aichi----24. Mie25. Shiga26. Kyoto27. Osaka28. Hyōgo29. Nara30. Wakayama

----31. Tottori32. Shimane33. Okayama34. Hiroshima35. Yamaguchi----36. Tokushima37. Kagawa38. Ehime39. Kōchi----40. Fukuoka41. Saga42. Nagasaki43. Kumamoto44. Ōita45. Miyazaki46. Kagoshima47. Okinawa

Karafuto, a portion of the island of Sakhalin north of Hokkaido (not shown on the map), was part of Japan from 1907 until World War II. The entire island is now governed by Russia.