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]
The four main islands of Japan are: [5] [6]
Most of these are located in the East China Sea.
The northern half is administratively part of Kagoshima Prefecture and Kyushu.
The North-Eastern Group:
The North-Western Group:
The Shichi-tō:
The Southern Half, Okinawa Prefecture
The Central Group or Ryukyu proper:
Also known as the Further Isles:
There are four disputed Kuril Islands that are controlled by Russia and claimed by Japan. These islands are called the Chishima Islands. [18]
These are the 50 largest islands of Japan. It excludes the disputed Kuril islands known as the northern territories.
Japan is an archipelagic country comprising a stratovolcanic archipelago over 3,000 km (1,900 mi) along the Pacific coast of East Asia. It consists of 14,125 islands. The five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Okinawa. The other 14,120 islands are classified as "remote islands" by the Japanese government. The Ryukyu Islands and Nanpō Islands are south and east of the main islands.
Iwo Jima, now officially romanized Iōtō, is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although 1,200 km (750 mi) south of Tokyo on Honshu, Iwo Jima is administered as part of the Ogasawara Subprefecture of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
The Volcano Islands or Iwo Islands are a group of three Japanese-governed islands in Micronesia. They lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and belong to the municipality of Ogasawara, Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The islands are all active volcanoes lying atop the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc that stretches south to the Marianas. They have an area of 32.55 square kilometres (12.57 sq mi), and a population of 380. The island of Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands lies about 1,240 kilometres southeast of Miyazaki.
Ogasawara is a village in Ogasawara Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan, that governs the Bonin Islands, Volcano Islands, and three remote islands.
The Japanese archipelago is an archipelago of 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over 3,000 km (1,900 mi) from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China and Philippine seas in the southwest along the Pacific coast of the Eurasian continent, and consists of three island arcs from north to south: the Northeastern Japan Arc, the Southwestern Japan Arc, and the Ryukyu Island Arc. The Daitō Islands, the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc, the Kuril Islands, and the Nanpō Islands neighbor the archipelago.
The Izu Islands are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east from the Izu Peninsula of Honshū, Japan. Administratively, they form two towns and six villages; all part of Tokyo Prefecture. The largest is Izu Ōshima, usually called simply Ōshima.
Nii-jima (新島) is a volcanic Japanese island administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. It is one of the Izu Seven Islands group of the seven northern islands of the Izu archipelago, and is located approximately 163 kilometres (101 mi) south of Tōkyō and 36 kilometres (22 mi) south of Shimoda Shizuoka Prefecture. The island is the larger inhabited component of the village of Niijima Village, Ōshima Subprefecture of Tokyo Metropolis, which also contains the neighboring island of Shikine-jima and the smaller, uninhabited Jinai-tō. Nii-jima is also within the boundaries of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.
Kōzu-shima (神津島) is a volcanic Japanese island in the Philippine Sea. The island is administered by Tōkyō and is located approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of the Miyake-jima and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) southwest of the Nii-jima. It is one of the Izu Seven Islands group of the seven northern islands of the Izu archipelago. Kōzushima is administratively part of Kōzushima Village under Ōshima Subprefecture of Tokyo Metropolis. As of 2017, the island's population was 1,952. Kōzushima is also within the boundaries of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.
Miyake-jima is a volcanic island in the Izu archipelago in the Philippine Sea approximately 180 kilometers (110 mi) southeast of Tokyo, Japan. As with the other islands in the Izu Island group, Miyake-jima forms part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.
Izu Ōshima is an inhabited volcanic island in the Izu archipelago in the Philippine Sea, off the coast of Honshu, Japan, 22 km (14 mi) east of the Izu Peninsula and 36 km (22 mi) southwest of Bōsō Peninsula. As with the other islands in the Izu Island group, Izu Ōshima forms part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Izu Ōshima, at 91.06 km2 (35.16 sq mi) is the largest and closest of Tokyo's outlying islands, which also include the Ogasawara Islands.
Toshima is a village located in Ōshima Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The village comprises the whole of To-shima Island.
Tori-shima 'Bird Island', or Izu-Torishima 'Bird Island of Izu Province') is an uninhabited Japanese island in the Pacific Ocean. The volcanic island is part of the Izu Islands.
Niijima is a village located in Ōshima Subprefecture, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. As of 1 October 2020, the village had an estimated population of 2,441, and a population density of 88.6 persons per km2. Its total area is 27.54 square kilometres (10.63 sq mi).
Torishima, Tori-shima or Tori Shima, is a Japanese toponym or personal surname. Most versions of the name have the meaning Bird Island, with some exceptions.
The geography and administrative subdivisions of Japan have evolved and changed during the course of its history. These were sometimes grouped according to geographic position.
The Satsunan Islands is a geopolitical name for a group of islands that forms the northern part of the Ryukyu Islands. The whole island group belongs to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.
Shimoshima is the largest island in the Amakusa archipelago. Its coasts are washed by Ariake Sea, Amakusa-nada sea, East China Sea and Yatsushiro Sea. Most of Shimoshima Island is administered as part of Amakusa city, with 67 km2 patch on north-west coast belonging to the town of Reihoku. The island's highest peak is Mount Tenjiku 538.4 m (1,766 ft).
Kamishima is the second largest island in the Amakusa archipelago of Japan. Its coasts are washed by Yatsushiro Sea and Shimabara Bay of Ariake Sea, both being the part of East China Sea. The western part of Kamishima Island is administered as part of Amakusa city, while eastern part is administered as part of Kami-Amakusa city. The island's highest peak is Mount Kuratake 682 m (2,238 ft).
The Geiyo Islands are a group of islands in the Seto Inland Sea, under the administration of Hiroshima Prefecture and Ehime Prefecture. Some of the largest islands in archipelago are connected by the Nishiseto Expressway bridge system connecting Honshu and Shikoku.
The Northern Izu Archipelagodialects are dialects of Japanese spoken on the inhabited islands north of Mikura-jima in the Izu Archipelago, part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. The various dialects are classified as Eastern Japanese, and are most similar to the Izu dialect of mainland Honshū, but as islands have also developed unique traits which can vary considerably from island to island. On islands with large numbers of migrants from the mainland, such as To-shima, there is increasing standardisation of speech towards the common standard.
MILT classification 6,852 islands(main islands: 5 islands, remote islands: 6,847 islands)