01 Land

17

LocationJapan is a long, narrow chain of islands stretching 3,300 kilometers north to south.

Its northernmost point (in the Russian-occupied Northern Territories) is located at

45˚33' north latitude, and its southernmost point is at 20˚25' north latitude. The four

islands that constitute the main part of Japan lie almost at the latitudinal center of the

Northern Hemisphere. Japan's capital, Tokyo, lies at 35˚41' north latitude and

139˚46' east longitude, almost the same latitude as Tehran, Athens, and Los

Angeles.

Cities with Similar Latitudes

north 45˚33'

north 20˚25'

Rome

Athens

Tokyo Los Angeles

New York

BeijingTehran

Washington D.C.

Deviation from Japan Standard Time

Wellington

Sydney

Seoul

Beijing

Singapore

Source: National Astronomical Observatory, Rika nenpyo (Chronological Scientific Tables).

+ 3.0

+ 1.0

0.0

– 1.0

– 1.0

Tehran

Moscow

Nairobi

Cairo

Berlin

– 13.0

– 14.0

– 15.0

– 15.0

– 16.0

Bangkok – 2.0 Paris – 17.0

New Delhi – 3.5 London – 18.0

Kabul – 4.5 Buenos Aires

– 5.5

– 6.0

– 6.0

– 7.0

– 8.0

– 8.0

– 9.0

– 12.0 – 19.0

Santiago

New York

Chicago

Mexico City

Denver

Los Angeles

Anchorage

Honolulu

(hours)

Size and Regional DivisionsJapan comprises four major islands– Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu– and

6,848 adjacent smaller islands. Their combined area as of 2006 is 377,921 square

kilometers– slightly more than that of Germany (357,022 square kilometers) or

Malaysia (329,847) and slightly less than that of Morocco (446,550) or Sweden

(449,964). Administratively, the country is divided into 47 prefectures.

Land

01

18

1

HOKKAIDO1 Hokkaido/Sapporo

TOHOKU REGION2 Aomori/Aomori3 Akita/Akita4 Iwate/Morioka5 Yamagata/Yamagata6 Miyagi/Sendai7 Fukushima/Fukushima

KANTO REGION 8 Ibaraki/Mito 9 Tochigi/Utsunomiya10 Gunma/Maebashi11 Saitama/Saitama12 Chiba/Chiba13 Tokyo/Tokyo14 Kanagawa/Yokohama

OKINAWA47 Okinawa/Naha

CHUBU REGION15 Shizuoka/Shizuoka16 Yamanashi/Kofu17 Nagano/Nagano18 Niigata/Niigata19 Toyama/Toyama20 Ishikawa/Kanazawa21 Fukui/Fukui22 Gifu/Gifu23 Aichi/Nagoya

KINKI REGION24 Mie/Tsu25 Shiga/Otsu26 Kyoto/Kyoto27 Nara/Nara28 Osaka/Osaka29 Wakayama/Wakayama30 Hyogo/Kobe

SHIKOKU REGION36 Kagawa/Takamatsu37 Tokushima/Tokushima38 Kochi/Kochi39 Ehime/Matsuyama

CHUGOKU REGION31 Tottori/Tottori32 Okayama/Okayama33 Hiroshima/Hiroshima34 Shimane/Matsue35 Yamaguchi/Yamaguchi

KYUSHU REGION40 Fukuoka/Fukuoka41 Saga/Saga42 Nagasaki/Nagasaki43 Kumamoto/Kumamoto44 Oita/Oita45 Miyazaki/Miyazaki46 Kagoshima/Kagoshima

2

4

5 6

7

8

9

10

11

1213

14

15

16

17

22

18

1920

21

23

24

2526

2728

29

30

31

3234

3536

37

3839

4041

42

43

44

45

46

33

3

47

Names of Prefectures and Prefectural Capitals

19

Current Land Use

Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Tochi hakusho (White Paper on Land), 2006.Note: Figures are for 2004.

Agricultural land481 (12.7%)

Water area133 (3.5%)

Roads131 (3.5%)

Dwelling and industrial area183 (4.8%)

Others316 (8.4%)

(10,000 ha)

Forests and fields 2,536 (67.1%)

Temperature and Precipitation

Source: Japan Meteorological Agency.Note: Updates every 10 years. Figures are for 1970–2000.

0

100

200

300

– 5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Dec. 105 –1.0

Nov. 103 4.6

Oct. 124 11.3

Sept. 138 17.6

Aug. 137 22.0

July 67

20.5

June 51

16.3

May 55

12.1

Apr.61 6.7

Mar.80 0.1

Feb.96

–3.5

Jan.111–4.1

Dec. 40 8.4

Nov. 93

13.0

Oct. 163 18.2

Sept. 209 23.5

Aug. 155 27.1

July 162 25.4

June 165 21.8

May 128 18.7

Apr. 130 14.4

Mar. 115 8.9

Feb. 60 6.1

Jan. 49 5.8

0

100

200

300

– 5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Dec. 38 8.3

Nov. 66

13.2

Oct. 109 18.7

Sept. 175 24.4

Aug. 99

28.4

July 155 27.2

June 201 23.2

May 140 19.4

Apr. 121 14.8

Mar. 100 9.0

Feb. 59 5.9

Jan. 44 5.8

0

100

200

300

– 5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Dec. 101 18.4

Nov. 124 21.7

Oct. 163 24.9

Sept. 200 27.2

Aug. 247 28.2

July 176 28.5

June212 26.6

May 234 23.8

Apr. 181 21.3

Mar. 160 18.6

Feb. 125 16.6

Jan. 115 16.6

temperatureprecipitation

Sapporo Tokyo

Osaka Naha

0

100

200

300

– 5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

(left-hand scale) (right-hand scale)

(mm) (˚C) (mm) (˚C)

(mm) (˚C) (mm) (˚C)

Land

01

20

National Parks and World Heritage Sites in Japan

Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Shiretoko (2005)

Kushiro ShitsugenDaisetsuzan

Shikotsu-Toya

Towada-Hachimantai

Rikuchu Kaigan

Bandai Asahi

Joshinetsu Kogen

Chubu Sangaku

Hakusan

Fuji-Hakone-Izu

Ogasawara

Minami Alps

Ise-Shima

Ashizuri-UwakaiAso-Kuju

Kirishima-Yaku

Unzen-Amakusa

Saikai

Sanin Kaigan

Yoshino-Kumano

Iriomote

Daisen-Oki

Setonaikai

Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu

Akan

Chichibu-Tama- Kai

Shrines and Temples of Nikko (1999)

Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara (1998)

Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range (2004)

Yakushima (1993)

Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area (1993)Himeji-jo (1993)

Hiroshima Peace Memorial (1996)

Itsukushima Shinto Shrine (1996)

Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of theKingdom of Ryukyu (2000)

Nikko

Shirakami-Sanchi (1993)

National ParkWorld Heritage Site / Year of Registration

Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (1994)

Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama (1995)

21

Natural DisastersSeveral tectonic plates converge beneath the Japanese archipelago, giving rise to

frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The country also sees a fair number of

meteorological disasters, such as typhoons and storms. Some major natural disas-

ters in recent years include the July 1990 eruption of Mt. Unzen in Kyushu that

resulted in 43 dead or missing, the July 1993 earthquake off the southwestern coast

of Hokkaido and the resultant tsunami that left 230 dead or missing, and the January

1995 Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake that killed more than 6,400 people and

destroyed urban infrastructure, including homes, office buildings, roads, railroad

tracks, and port facilities, in and around Kobe. Mt. Usu in southwestern Hokkaido

erupted in March 2000, for the first time since 1977. Mt. Oyama on Miyake Island,

one of the Izu Islands, also resumed volcanic activity in July 2000, and the island’s

residents were forced to take refuge on the mainland in Tokyo.

The year 2004 will be remembered for a series of natural disasters. An all-time

high of 10 typhoons made landfall in Japan, and typhoon No. 23, which hit Japan in

October, left 94 persons dead or missing. Heavy rainfall and flooding in July in

Niigata, Fukushima, and Fukui Prefectures killed 20 people and damaged over

28,000 dwellings. In October a powerful earthquake hit central Niigata Prefecture,

and 67 people were killed, over 4,800 injured, and more than 100,000 residents

evacuated. It also caused the derailment of a Shinkansen bullet train for the first time

in the line’s 40-year history. In March 2005 a big earthquake hit Fukuoka Prefecture,

killing one person and injuring over 1,000 people, and another big earthquake hit

Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture in March 2007, killing one person and injuring

more than 300 people.

Destruction Caused by Natural Disasters

1985

1990

1995

Source: National Police Agency.a. Swept away, buried, or water-covered.

105

Human casualties Housing (no. of units) Farmlanda

(ha)

97

6,449

Dead ormissing Injured

487

425

43,949

200

Totallydestroyed

447

93,312

542

Partiallydestroyed

931

108,654

4,153

Flooded

26,972

3,147

2004 263 7,773 4,112 28,046 42,897

Earthquakes,volcanoes 1 1,265 138 318 0

Storm surges 0 0 0 0 2

Gales 0 38 0 5 0

38,064

20,066

2005 45 1,543 1,334 4,001 6,570 13,697

2000 15 351 537 3,343 24,357 7,478

21

0

0

Rainstorms

Typhoons

13 27 9 5 2,057

31 213 1,187 3,673 4,511

1,187

12,489

48,908

7,349

Breakdown for 2005

Land

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22

Major Earthquake Disasters Since the Great Kanto Earthquake

09/01/1923

01/15/1924

03/07/1927

11/26/1930

03/03/1933

09/10/1943 Tottori Eq.

Name of earthquakeDate

Great Kanto Earthquake

Tanzawa Sanroku Eq.

Kita Tango Eq.

Kita Izu Eq.

Off Sanriku Eq.

7.9

7.2

Destroyedstructures

7.3

7.3

7.3

8.1

576,262

7,736

FatalitiesMagnitude

1,298

16,295

2,240

7,479

12/07/1944 Higashi Nankai Eq. 7.9 29,189

12/21/1946 Nankai Eq. 8.0 15,640

06/28/1948 Fukui Eq. 7.1 40,035

03/04/1952

06/16/1964

Off Tokachi Eq. 8.2 906

142,807

1,083

998

1,443

3,769

33

05/23/1960 Tsunami caused by Chile Eq. 8.5 2,830 139

19

2,925

272

3,008

05/16/1968 Off Tokachi Eq.

Niigata Eq.

7.9

7.5

691

2,250

01/14/1978 Izu Oshima Near Sea Eq. 7.0 94

06/12/1978 Off Miyagi Pref. Eq. 7.4 1,383

03/21/1982 Off Urakawa Eq. 7.1 13

05/26/1983 Japan Sea Eq. 7.7 1,584

52

25

28

0

104

26

01/15/1993 Off Kushiro Eq. 7.5 53

07/12/1993 Off Southwest of Hokkaido Eq. 7.8 601

10/04/1994 Off East Hokkaido Eq. 8.2 61

12/28/1994

01/17/1995

Far Off Sanriku Eq.

Great Hanshin Awaji Eq.a7.6 72

2

230

0

3

7.3 111,942 6,437

10/06/2000 Western Tottori Pref. Eq. 7.3 435 0

09/26/2003 Off Tokachi Eq. 8.0 116 2

Source: Fire Defense Agency.Note: Missing persons are included in fatalities. The magnitude of earthquakes in 1923–24 is cited from the Chronological Table of Science(edited by the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory); that of earthquakes in 1927–60 has been recalculated bythe Japan Meteorological Agency.a. As of May 19, 2006.b. As of September 22, 2006.c. As of May 12, 2005.d. As of April 13, 2007.

05/26/2003 Off Miyagi Eq. 7.1 2 0

10/23/2004 Niigata Chuetsu Eq.b 6.8 3,175 6703/20/2005 Off Western Fukuoka Eq.c 7.0 133 1

08/16/2005 Off Miyagi Eq. 7.2 1 0

03/25/2007 Noto Peninsula Eq.d 6.9 561 1