The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-09-17
JAPANS
MAIN ISLAND IN
SIZE, IMPORTANCE

|
can occupation forces are tatin.
over IN Honshu, Japan's Mug
valuable territorial possess l'os'
Honshu, or Main-as the nsn,a 0!''
literally translated-is the lar9o.s
and most populous of the natieus.
nome islands. Honshu can be con n
pared to southern New Fnglonl
and the Middle Atlantic S Sial.a
in the United States, or to Eng ts,es
in the Scotland-England-Walauu
makeup of Great Britain, II con
talns the seat of government mos.
OF the industrial centers, the leaS
ing ports, and once-important so.
and air bases, says the Nation.,
Geographic Society.
On this island is the arc;0,,.
capital of Old Japan, Kyoto nom
sometimes called the wester r
capital. Between it and the mod.
ern capital, Tokyo, lies Jsnan,,
Sacred Mountain" the volcano
uJl' 10 whose summit japanese
pilgrims have long faithfully as.
cended, and into whose cratsr
thousands of fanatical suicides
have flung themselves.
1t was to Uraga harbor. an
Honshu, at the entrance to Tokvn
Bay. that Commodore Perry csms
in 1858 to open the way for
communications between self.iso.
lated Japan and the outside world
Stretching like a ragged arr
between Hokaido and Kyusbu
islands, Honshu is nearly 800 miles
long. Because of its elongated
character and deep indentatiops
it has an extremely long shore.
line.
Like most of Japan, Honshu is
rugged and mountainous, with
limited open acreas for cultivation,
Its ranges, running generally
northeast and southwest and met
by innumerable cross ridges and
side branches, have forced com.
munication routes to follow chief.
ly the coasts, making cross con.
1ections through available valleys
by way of winding, many tunneled
lines. Japan's first railway was
built in 1872 on Honshu island,
an 18-mile link between Tokvo
and Yokohama.
With an area close to $4,000
square miles, counting offshore
islets, Honshu is about the same
size as Tennessee and Mississippi
combined. 1t holds, however, more
than 48,000,000 people, compared
with only a little over 100000
for the two American states. More
than two-thirds of all the inhabi-
tants of the Jap home islands
live on Honshu. OF these 6,77S,-
804 were reported in Tokyo in
1910.
The northern third of Honshu,
less favored by harbors, soil, and
and climate, is comparatively
developed. It is in the remaining
portion of the island that Japans
major big cities-prewar trade
and industrial centers, and wa.
time sources of much Of the coun.
try's military strength-are situat'
ed.
Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoy, Kyoto,
Yokohama, and Kobe, Japans
leading six cities in terms of popu'
lation, are all found within the
/, southern two-thirds of Honshu.
Furthermore they are all within
less than 300 airline miles Of one
another, significant factor in the
air attacks directed against war
production of the country. Tokyo,
Yokohama, Nagoya, and Koke were
hit in the first dramatic air raid
over Japan in April, 1912. On
smaller Hiroshima, facing the In
land Sea from the southwest coast
of Honshu, the first atomic Dono
was dropped.
Tokyo is not only by far the
largest city of Japan, but, normal,
ly, third in rank among word
cities after London and New Yock'
1t also has long been one Of the
nations chief manufacturing cen
tors specialiZine in peaceume
foodstuffs, metal goods, textiles
chemicals; and in war essentials
such as steel, ships, and planes,
Nearby Yokohama, deep-Ses
foreign-trade port for Tokyo ana
an outstanding industrial city IN
it's own right, has been importan!
also in the production OF ships anu
steel, as well as chemicals
machine tools, tanks and tractors
1t accounted for the refining OF
large share OF Japans petroleum
products.
On the other big four among
Jap cities, Nagoya and Osaka nave
been reported also prominent III
the output of steel, ships, anu
planes; Kobe in s,eel and shlpS'
Kyoto in planes. Prewa9 Osaha
was known as the Manchester "
Japan because of its huge col.on
textile industry. The six melv
polises were regarded as the mos
westernized of japanese cities
with emphasis on American S'yt''
Sagoya and Kyo,o (the latter 20
pans capital for more thdn ~
thousand years. had retalneu'
however, much of the old Japan
along with modern developTnTIhS
Besides its urban centefS' H.
shu holds the largest and only ca
tensiye plain of Japan propei, -,
productive area highly lnpol'a14a'
IN this mountainous hard-to-cuil