List of islands of Japan explained

Japan is an island country of 14,125 islands, of which approximately 260 are inhabited.[1] [2] Japan is the fourth-largest island country in the world, behind Indonesia, Madagascar, and Papua New Guinea.[3] Japan is also the second-most-populous island country in the world, only behind Indonesia.

According to a survey conducted by the Japan Coast Guard in 1987, the number of islands in Japan was 6,852. At that time, the survey only counted islands with coastlines of 100 meters or more that were shown on paper maps.On February 28, 2023, the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan announced that the number of islands had been updated to 14,125 through a recount using digital maps. Since there is no international standard for counting islands, only islands with a coastline of 100 meters or more were counted, as in the past. According to the GSI, advances in surveying technology and the detailed representation of topographic features through digital mapping contributed to this announcement.[4] [1]

Japanese archipelago

See main article: Japanese archipelago.

Main islands

The four main islands of Japan are:[5] [6]

Hokkaido prefecture

Islands of Honshu in the Sea of Japan

Nanpō Islands (Nanpō Shotō)

Other Japanese islands

Islands around Kyushu

Most of these are located in the East China Sea.

Islands around Shikoku

Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shotō)

Satsunan Islands

The northern half is administratively part of Kagoshima Prefecture and Kyushu.

The North-Eastern Group:

The North-Western Group:

The Shichi-tō:

Ryukyu Islands (Ryūkyū-shotō)

The Southern Half, Okinawa Prefecture

The Central Group or Ryukyu proper:

Also known as the Further Isles:

Seto Inland Sea islands

Islands in lakes

Other artificial islands

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.[18]

Others

Former

Largest islands of Japan

See 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 Honshu227960km2
2 83424.31km2
3 36782km2
4 18800km2
5 1207km2 Ryukyu Islands
6 855.26km2
7 712.35km2 Amami Islands
8 708.7km2
9 592.17km2 Seto Inland Sea islands
10 574.01km2
11 504.88km2 Ōsumi Islands
12 444.99km2 Ōsumi Islands
13 326.43km2 Gotō Islands
14 289.27km2
15 247.8km2 Amami Islands
16 241.58km2 Oki Islands
17 225.32km2 Amakusa islands
18 222.5km2
19 183km2
20 168.34km2 Gotō Islands
21 163.42km2
22 158.87km2
23 153.3km2
24 142.97km2
25 138.46km2
26 128.31km2
27 93.63km2 Amami Islands
28 91.32km2
29 91.06km2 Izu Islands
30 90.62km2
31 80km2
32 77.39km2 Amami Islands
33 69.46km2
34 66.12km2
35 66.12km2
36 62.52km2
37 59.11km2 Okinawa Islands
38 56.93km2 Amami Islands
39 55.98km2
40 55.44km2
41 46.78km2
42 45.08km2
43 41.87km2
44 38.27km2
45 38.04km2
46 37.23km2
47 35.03km2
48 34.47km2 Tokara Islands
49 33.16km2
50 32.21km2 Oki Islands

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Japan has more than 14,000 islands, digital mapping reveals . https://web.archive.org/web/20230221010537/https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14840218 . Hirotaka . Kojo. February 15, 2023 . February 21, 2023. The Asahi Shimbun.
  2. News: Japan sees its number of islands double after recount . https://web.archive.org/web/20230301154105/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/16/japan-sees-its-number-of-islands-double-after-recount . Justin. McCurry . February 16, 2023 . March 1, 2023. The Guardian.
  3. Web site: Island Countries Of The World . WorldAtlas.com . 2019-08-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171207094959/http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-are-the-island-countries-of-the-world.html . 2017-12-07.
  4. News: 我が国の島を一定の条件のもと数えました。その結果、14,125島となりましたので、お知らせいたします。. https://web.archive.org/web/20230302180055/https://www.gsi.go.jp/kihonjohochousa/pressrelease20230228.html . February 28, 2023 . March 2, 2023. Geospatial Information Authority of Japan.
  5. Web site: 離島とは(島の基礎知識) (what is a remote island?) . . MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) . 22 August 2015 . 9 August 2019 . ja . website . MILT classification 6,852 islands(main islands: 5 islands, remote islands: 6,847 islands) . https://web.archive.org/web/20071113053915/http://www.mlit.go.jp/crd/chirit/ritoutoha.html . 2007-11-13.
  6. Imperial Japanese Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. (1903). Japan in the Beginning of the 20th century (Haruki Yamawaki, editor), p. 2.
  7. [Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]
  8. [Richard Ponsonby-Fane|Ponsonby-Fane, Richard]
  9. Ponsonby-Fane, p. 331.
  10. Nussbaum, "Izu Shotō" at p. 412.
  11. 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.
  12. Nussbaum, p. 412; Ponsonby-Fane, p. 332.
  13. Nussbaum, "Ōshima" at p. 761.
  14. Nussbaum, "Torishima" at p. 987.
  15. Nussbaum, "Ogasawara Guntō" at p. 737.
  16. Nussbaum, "Hashima" at p. 294.
  17. Io-Torishima. 282020. 2022-03-16.
  18. Imperial Japanese Commission, p. 3.

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