Question: What is the size of Japan by area?

Geography of Japan



Japan is an island nation comprising a stratovolcanic archipelago over 3,000km (1,900mi) along East Asia's Pacific coast.[5] It consists of 6,852 islands.[6] The main islands are Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Hokkaido. The Ryukyu Islands and Nanpō Islands are south of the main islands. The territory extends 377,973.89km2 (145,936.53sqmi).[1] It is the largest island country in East Asia and fourth largest island country in the world. Japan has the sixth longest coastline 29,751km (18,486mi) and the eight largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 4,470,000km2 (1,730,000sqmi) in the world.[7]
The terrain is mostly rugged and mountainous with 66% forest.[8] The population is clustered in urban areas on the coast, plains and valleys.[9] Japan is located in the northwestern Ring of Fire on multiple tectonic plates.[10] East of the Japanese archipelago are three oceanic trenches. The Japan Trench is created as the oceanic Pacific Plate subducts beneath the continental Okhotsk Plate.[11] The continuous subduction process causes frequent earthquakes, tsunami and stratovolcanoes.[12] The islands are also affected by typhoons. The subduction plates have pulled the Japanese archipelago eastward, created the Sea of Japan and separated it from the Asian continent by back-arc spreading 15 million years ago.[10]
The climate of the Japanese archipelago varies from humid continental in the north (Hokkaido) to humid subtropical and tropical rainforest in the south (Okinawa Prefecture). These differences in climate and landscape have allowed the development of a diverse flora and fauna, with some rare endemic species, especially in the Ogasawara Islands.
Japan extends from 20° to 45° north longitude (Okinotorishima to Benten-jima) and from 122° to 153° east latitude (Yonaguni to Minami Torishima).[13] Japan is surrounded by sea. To the north the Sea of Okhotsk separates it from the Russian Far East, to the west the Sea of Japan separates it from the Korean Peninsula, to the southwest the East China Sea separates the Ryukyu Islands from China and Taiwan, to the east is the Pacific Ocean.
Overview


The Japanese archipelago is over 3,000km (1,900mi) long in a north-to-southwardly direction from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Philippine Sea in the Pacific Ocean.[5] The major islands, sometimes called the "Home Islands", are (from east to west) Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku and Kyushu. There are 6,852 islands in total,[6] including the Nansei Islands, the Nanpō Islands and islets, with 430 islands being inhabited and others uninhabited. In total, as of 2018, Japan's territory is 377,973.89km2 (145,936.53sqmi), of which 364,543.89km2 (140,751.18sqmi) is land and 13,430km2 (5,190sqmi) water.[1] Japan has the sixth longest coastline in the world (29,751km (18,486mi)). It is the largest island country in East Asia and fourth largest island country in the world. There are a wide range of climatic zones and ecosystems.
Due to Japan's many far-flung outlying islands and long coastline, the country has extensive marine resources. The Exclusive Economic Zone of Japan covers 4,470,000km2 (1,730,000sqmi) and is the eighth largest in the world. It is more than 11 times the land area of the country.[7]
Japan has a population of 126,672,000 in 2016.[14] It is the tenth most populous country in the world and second most populous island country. 81% of the population lives on Honshu, 10% on Kyushu, 4.2% on Hokkaido, 3% on Shikoku, 1.1% in Okinawa Prefecture and 0.7% on other Japanese islands such as the Nanpō Islands.
Area
total: 377,973.89km2 (145,936.53sqmi) [1]
land: 364,543.89km2 (140,751.18sqmi)
water: 13,430km2 (5,190sqmi)
notes: Includes the Bonin Islands, Daitō Islands, Minami-Tori-shima, Okinotorishima, the Ryukyu Islands, and the Volcano Islands. This includes the Senkaku Islands which are owned by Japan and disputed by the PRC. It excludes the disputed Northern Territories (Kuril islands) and Liancourt Rocks (Japanese:Takeshima, Korean:Dokdo).
Location: Japan is a long island chain between the Sea of Okhotsk, the Sea of Japan and the Philippine Sea. It is in the Pacific Ocean, East Asia and North East Asia. Japan is east of Siberia, the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan.
Map references: Asia, East Asia, North East Asia, Pacific Ocean
Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous with about 70% mountainous land (comparable to Norway).
Land boundaries: the ocean, no land borders.
Coastline: 29,751km (18,486mi)
Population: 126,672,000 (2016)
Maritime territory
Territorial sea: 12nmi (22.2km; 13.8mi); between 3 and 12nmi (5.6 and 22.2km; 3.5 and 13.8mi) in the international straits—La Pérouse (or Sōya Strait), Tsugaru Strait, Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait.
Exclusive economic zone of Japan: 4,470,000km2 (1,730,000sqmi). It stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles (nmi) from its coast.
Contiguous zone: 24nmi (44.4km; 27.6mi)
Climate: varies from humid continental climate in the north (Hokkaido) to humid subtropical and tropical rainforest climate in the south (Okinawa Prefecture) of the Japanese archipelago.
Natural resources: small deposits of coal, oil, iron and minerals. There is a major fishing industry and untapped marine resources in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Japan.
Land use
arable land: 11.65%
permanent crops: 0.83%
other: 87.52% (2012)
Irrigated land: 25,000km2 (9,700sqmi) (2010)
Total renewable water resources: 430km3 (100cumi) (2011)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 90.04km3 (21.60cumi) per year (20%/18%/62%)
per capita: 714.3m3 (25,230cuft)  per year (2007)
Regions


Japan is informally divided into eight regions from north to south:[15]
Hokkaidō
Tōhoku region
Kantō region
Chūbu region
Kansai (or Kinki) region
Chūgoku region
Shikoku
Kyūshū
Each contains several prefectures, except the Hokkaido region, which covers only Hokkaido Prefecture.
The regions are not official administrative units, but have been traditionally used as the regional division of Japan in a number of contexts. For example, maps and geography textbooks divide Japan into the eight regions, weather reports usually give the weather by region, and many businesses and institutions use their home region as part of their name (Kinki Nippon Railway, Chūgoku Bank, Tohoku University, etc.). While Japan has eight High Courts, their jurisdictions do not correspond with the eight regions.
Composition, topography and geography

About 73% of Japan is mountainous, with a mountain range running through each of the main islands. Japan's highest mountain is Mount Fuji, with an elevation of 3,776m (12,388ft). Japan's forest cover rate is 68.55% since the mountains are heavily forested. The only other developed nations with such a high forest cover percentage are Finland and Sweden.[8]
Since there is little level ground, many hills and mountainsides at lower elevations around towns and cities are often cultivated. As Japan is situated in a volcanic zone along the Pacific deeps, frequent low-intensity earth tremors and occasional volcanic activity are felt throughout the islands. Destructive earthquakes occur several times a century. Hot springs are numerous and have been exploited as an economic capital by the leisure industry.
The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan measures Japan's territory annually in order to continuously grasp the state of the national land. As of January 31, 2018 (Heisei 30) Japan's territory is 377,973.89 square kilometres (145,936.53sqmi). It increased in area due to the volcanic eruption activity of Nishinoshima (西之島) and the natural expansion of the island.[1]
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, this is the “Trends and Actual Condition of Land Use in Japan” in 2002 (Heisei 14). Japan's territory was 377,900km2 (145,900sqmi) in 2002.[16]

Mountains and volcanoes

The mountainous islands of the Japanese archipelago form a crescent off the eastern coast of Asia. They are separated from the mainland by the Sea of Japan, which historically served as a protective barrier. The country consists of four major islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu; with more than 6,500 adjacent smaller islands and islets ("island" defined as land more than 100 m in circumference),[17] including the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands in the Nanpō Islands, and the Satsunan Islands, Okinawa Islands, and Sakishima Islands of the Ryukyu Islands.
The national territory also includes the Volcano Islands (Kazan Retto) such as Iwo Jima, located some 1,200 kilometers south of mainland Tokyo. A territorial dispute with Russia, dating from the end of World War II, over the two southernmost of the Kuril Islands, Etorofu and Kunashiri, and the smaller Shikotan Island and Habomai Islands northeast of Hokkaido remains a sensitive spot in Japanese–Russian relations (as of 2005). Excluding disputed territory, the archipelago covers about 378,000 square kilometers. No point in Japan is more than 150 kilometers from the sea.
The four major islands are separated by narrow straits and form a natural entity. The Ryukyu Islands curve 970 kilometers southward from Kyūshū.
The distance between Japan and the Korean Peninsula, the nearest point on the Asian continent, is about 200 kilometers at the Korea Strait. Japan has always been linked with the continent through trade routes, stretching in the north toward Siberia, in the west through the Tsushima Islands to the Korean Peninsula, and in the south to the ports on the south China coast.
The Japanese islands are the summits of mountain ridges uplifted near the outer edge of the continental shelf. About 73 percent of Japan's area is mountainous, and scattered plains and intermontane basins (in which the population is concentrated) cover only about 27 percent. A long chain of mountains runs down the middle of the archipelago, dividing it into two halves, the "face", fronting on the Pacific Ocean, and the "back", toward the Sea of Japan. On the Pacific side are steep mountains 1,500 to 3,000 meters high, with deep valleys and gorges.
Central Japan is marked by the convergence of the three mountain chains—the Hida, Kiso, and Akaishi mountains—that form the Japanese Alps (Nihon Arupusu), several of whose peaks are higher than 3,000 meters. The highest point in the Japanese Alps is Mount Kita at 3,193 meters. The highest point in the country is Mount Fuji (Fujisan, also erroneously called Fujiyama), a volcano dormant since 1707 that rises to 3,776m (12,388ft) above sea level in Shizuoka Prefecture. On the Sea of Japan side are plateaus and low mountain districts, with altitudes of 500 to 1,500 meters.
The populated plains or mountain basins are not extensive in area. The largest, the Kantō Plain, where Tokyo is situated, covers only 13,000 square kilometers. Other important plains are the Nōbi Plain surrounding Nagoya, the Kinai Plain in the Osaka–Kyoto area, the Sendai Plain around the city of Sendai in northeastern Honshū, and the Ishikari Plain on Hokkaidō. Many of these plains are along the coast, and their areas have been increased by land reclamation throughout recorded history.
Rivers, lakes and coasts


Rivers are generally steep and swift, and few are suitable for navigation except in their lower reaches. Although most rivers are less than 300 kilometers in length, their rapid flow from the mountains provides a valuable, renewable resource: hydroelectric power generation. Japan's hydroelectric power potential has been exploited almost to capacity. Seasonal variations in flow have led to extensive development of flood control measures. Most of the rivers are relatively short. The longest, the Shinano River, which winds through Nagano Prefecture to Niigata Prefecture and flows into the Sea of Japan, is 367km (228mi) long. The largest freshwater lake is Lake Biwa 671km2 (259sqmi), northeast of Kyoto.
Extensive coastal shipping, especially around the Seto Inland Sea (Seto Naikai), compensates for the lack of navigable rivers. The Pacific coastline south of Tokyo is characterized by long, narrow, gradually shallowing inlets produced by sedimentation, which has created many natural harbors. The Pacific coastline north of Tokyo, the coast of Hokkaidō, and the Sea of Japan coast are generally unindented, with few natural harbors.
In November 2008, Japan filed a request to expand its claimed continental shelf.[18] In April 2012, the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf recognized around 310,000 square kilometres (120,000sqmi) of seabed around Okinotorishima, giving Japan priority over access to seabed resources in nearby areas. According to U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, the approved expansion is equal to about 82% of Japan's total land area.[18] The People's Republic of China and South Korea have opposed Japan's claim because they view Okinotorishima not as an island, but as a group of rocks.

Land reclamation

The Japanese archipelago is mainly rugged and mountainous (73%) so the relatively small amount of habitable land has prompted significant terrain modification by humans over many centuries. 
Approximately 0.5% of Japan’s total area is reclaimed land (umetatechi). It began in the 12th century. Land was reclaimed from the sea and from river deltas by building dikes and drainage and rice paddies on terraces carved into mountainsides. The majority of land reclamation projects occurred after World War II during Japan's economic miracle with high economic growth. Reclamation of 80% to 90% of all the tidal flatland was done. Big land reclamation projects with landfill were done in coastal areas for maritime and industrial factories. Such as Higashi Ogishima in Kawasaki, Osaka Bay and Nagasaki Airport. Port Island, Rokko Island and Kobe Airport were built in Kobe. Late 20th and early 21st century projects include artificial islands such as Chubu Centrair International Airport in Ise Bay, Kansai International Airport in the middle of Osaka Bay, Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise and Wakayama Marina City.[19]
The village of Ogata in Akita, Japan, was established on land reclaimed from Lake Hachirogata (Japan's second largest lake at the time) starting in 1957. By 1977, the amount of land reclaimed totaled 172.03 square kilometres (66.42sqmi).[20]
Examples of land reclamation in Japan:
Kyogashima, Kobe - first man-made island built by Tairano Kyomori in 1173[19]
The Hibiya Inlet, Tokyo - first large scale reclamation project started in 1592[19]
Dejima, Nagasaki -  built during Japan’s national isolation period in 1634. It was the sole trading post in Japan during the Sakoku period and was originally inhabited by Portuguese and then Dutch traders.[19]
Tokyo Bay, Japan – 249 square kilometres (96sqmi)[21] artificial island (2007). 
This includes the entirety of Odaiba, a series of island forts constructed to protect Tokyo from sea attacks (1853).[19]
Kobe, Japan – 23 square kilometres (8.9sqmi) (1995).[19]
Isahaya Bay in the Ariake Sea - approximately 35 square kilometres (14sqmi) is reclaimed with tide embankment and sluice gates (2018).
Composition
Much reclaimed land is made up of landfill from waste materials, dredged earth, sand, sediment, sluge and soil removed from construction sites. It is used to build man-made islands in harbors and embankments in inland areas.[19]
From November 8, 2011, Tokyo City began accepting rubble and waste from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami region. This rubble was processed and when it had the appropriate radiation levels it was used as landfill to build new artificial islands in Tokyo Bay. Yamashita Park in Yokohama City was made with rubble from the great Kantō earthquake in 1923.[19]
There is a risk of contamination on artificial islands with landfill and reclaimed land if there was industry that spilled (toxic) chemicals into the ground. For example the artificial island Toyosu was once occupied by a Tokyo Gas factory. Toxic substances were discovered in the soil and groundwater at Toyosu. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government spent an additional 3.8 billion yen ($33.5 million) to pump out groundwater by digging hundreds of wells.[22] In June 2017, plans to move the Tsukiji fish market were restarted.[23] but delayed in July to the autumn of 2018.[24] After the new site was declared safe following a cleanup operation, the opening date of Toyosu Market was set for 11 October 2018.[25]
Geology



Tectonic plates
The islands of Japan were created by tectonic plate movements over several 100 millions of years from the mid-Silurian (443.8 Mya) to the Pleistocene (11,700 years ago).
Tohoku (upper half of Honshu), Hokkaido, Kuril islands and Sakhalin (Karafuto) are located on the Okhotsk Plate. This is a minor tectonic plate bounded to the north by the North American Plate.[26][27] The Okhotsk Plate is bounded on the east by the Pacific Plate at the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench and the Japan Trench. It is bounded on the south by the Philippine Sea Plate at the Nankai Trough. On the west its bounded by the Eurasian Plate, and possibly on the southwest by the Amurian Plate. The north-eastern boundary is a left-lateral moving transform fault (Ulakhan Fault). [28]
The southern half of Honshu, Shikoku and most of Kyushu are located on the Amurian Plate.
The southern tip of Kyushu and the Ryukyu islands are located on the Okinawa Plate.
The Nanpo Islands are on the Philippine Plate
The Pacific Plate and Philippine Plate are subduction plates. They are deeper than the Eurasian plate. The Philippine Sea Plate moves beneath the continental Amurian Plate and Okinawa Plate to the south. The Pacific Plate moves under the Okhotsk Plate to the north. These subduction plates have pulled Japan eastward and opened the Sea of Japan by back-arc spreading around 15 million years ago.[10] The Strait of Tartary and the Korea Strait opened much later. La Pérouse Strait formed about 60,000 to 11,000 years ago closing the path used by mammoths which had earlier moved to northern Hokkaido.[29]
The subduction zone is where the oceanic crust slides beneath the continental crust or other oceanic plates. This is because the oceanic plate's litosphere has a higher density.Subduction zones are sites that usually have a high rate of volcanism and earthquakes.[30] Additionally, subduction zones develop belts of deformation[31] The subduction zones on the east side of the Japanese archipelago cause frequent low intensity earth tremors. Major earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis occur several times per century. It is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.[10] Northeastern Japan, north of Tanakura fault had high volcanic activity 14-17million years before present.[32]
Median Tectonic Line

The Japan Median Tectonic Line(中央構造線,Chūō Kōzō Sen) (aka Median Tectonic Line or MTL), is Japan's longest fault system.[33][34] The MTL begins near Ibaraki Prefecture, where it connects with the Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line (ISTL) and the Fossa Magna. It runs parallel to Japan's volcanic arc, passing through central Honshū to near Nagoya, through Mikawa Bay, then through the Inland Sea from the Kii Channel and Naruto Strait to Shikoku along the Sadamisaki Peninsula and the Bungo Channel and Hōyo Strait to Kyūshū.[34]
The Japan Median Tectonic Line moves right-lateral strike-slip, at about 5–10 millimeter per year.[35] The sense of motion is consistent with the direction of the Nankai Trough's oblique convergence. The rate of motion on the MTL is much less than the rate of convergence at the plate boundary. This makes it difficult to distinguish the motion on the MTL from interseismic elastic straining in GPS data.[36]
Oceanic trenches

East of the Japanese archipelago are three oceanic trenches in the Pacific Ring of Fire.
The Kuril–Kamchatka Trench is in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It lies off the southeast coast of Kamchatka and parallels the Kuril Island chain to meet the Japan Trench east of Hokkaido.[37]
The Japan Trench extends 8,000km (5,000mi) from the Kuril Islands to the northern end of the Izu Islands. Its deepest part is 8,046m (5.000mi).[38]
The Izu-Ogasawara Trench is south of the Japan Trench in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of the Izu Trench (at the north) and the Bonin Trench (at the south, west of the Ogasawara Plateau).[39] It stretches to the northern most section of the Mariana Trench.[40] The Izu-Ogasawara Trench is an extension of the Japan Trench. There the Pacific Plate is being subducted beneath the Philippine Sea Plate, creating the Izu Islands and Bonin Islands on the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc system.[41]
The Japan Trench is created as the oceanic Pacific Plate subducts beneath the continental Okhotsk Plate. The subduction process causes bending of the down going plate, creating a deep trench. Continuous movement on the subduction zone associated with the Japan Trench is one of the main causes of tsunamis and earthquakes in northern Japan, including the megathrust 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The rate of subduction associated with the Japan Trench has been recorded at about 7.9-9.2cm/yr.[11]
The Japanese archipelago is the result of several generations of subducting tectonic plates. Approximately 15,000km (9,300mi) of oceanic floor has passed under the Japanese archipelago in the last 450 million years, with most being fully subducted. It is considered a mature island arc.[10]
Composition
The Japanese islands are formed of the mentioned geological units parallel to the subduction front. The parts of islands facing the Pacific Ocean's Plate are typically younger and display a larger proportion of volcanic products, while island parts facing the Sea of Japan are mostly heavily faulted and folded sedimentary deposits. In north-west Japan are thick Quaternary deposits. This makes determination of the geological history and composition difficult and it is not yet fully understood.[42]
Growing Archipelago
The Japanese Archipelago grows due to perpetual tectonic plate movements, earthquakes, stratovolcanoes and land reclamation in the Ring of Fire.
For example during the twentieth century several new volcanoes emerged, including Shōwa-shinzan on Hokkaido and Myōjin-shō off the Bayonnaise Rocks in the Pacific.[12] The 1914 Sakurajima eruption produced lava flows which connected the former island with the Osumi Peninsula in Kyushu.[43] It is the most active volcano in Japan.[44] The subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Philippine Sea Plate created the Izu Islands and Bonin Islands on the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc system.[41]
During the 2013 eruption southeast of Nishinoshima, a new unnamed volcanic island emerged from the sea.[45] Due to erosion and shifting sands, the new island merged with Nishinoshima and ceased to be a separate entity.[46][47] A 1911 survey determined the caldera was 107m (351ft) at its deepest.[48] This land formed naturally and increased the size of Japan.[1]
The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami caused portions of northeastern Japan to shift by 2.4 metres (7ft 10in) closer to North America,[49]. This made some sections of Japan's landmass wider than before.[50] The areas of Japan closest to the epicenter experienced the largest shifts.[50] A 400-kilometre (250mi) stretch of coastline dropped vertically by 0.6 metres (2ft 0in), allowing the tsunami to travel farther and faster onto land.[50] On 6 April the Japanese coast guard said that the earthquake shifted the seabed near the epicenter 24 metres (79ft) and elevated the seabed off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture by 3 metres (9.8ft).[51] A report by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, published in Science on 2 December 2011, concluded that the seabed in the area between the epicenter and the Japan Trench moved 50 metres (160ft) east-southeast and rose about 7 metres (23ft) as a result of the quake. The report also stated that the quake caused several major landslides on the seabed in the affected area.[52]
Sea of Japan


History
During the Pleistocene (2.58 million years BCE) glacial cycles, the Japanese islands may have occasionally been connected to the Eurasian Continent via the Korea Strait and the Korean Peninsula or Sakhalin (Karafuto). The Sea of Japan was considered to be a frozen inner lake due to the lack of warm Tsushima Current. Various plants and large animals, such as the Palaeoloxodon naumanni migrated into  the Japan archipelago.[53]
The Sea of Japan was a landlocked sea when the land bridge of East Asia existed circa 18,000 BCE. During the glacial maximum the marine elevation was 200 meters lower than 2018 CE. Thus Tsushima island in the Korea Strait was a land bridge that connected Kyushu and the southern tip of Honshu with the Korean peninsula. There was still several kilometers of sea to the west of the Ryukyu islands and most of the Sea of Japan was open sea due it having a mean depth of 1,752m (5,748ft). Comparatively, most of the Yellow Sea (Yellow Plane) had a Semi-arid climate (dry steppe), due it being relatively shallow with a mean depth of 44m (144ft). The Korean Peninsula was landlocked on the entire west and south side in the Yellow Plane.[54] The onset of formation of the Japan Arc was in the Early Miocene (23 million years ago).[55] The Early Miocene period was when the Sea of Japan started to open, and the northern and southern parts of the Japanese archipelago separated from each other.[55] The Sea of Japan expanded during the Miocene.[55]
The northern part of the Japanese archipelago was further fragmented until orogenesis of the northeastern Japanese archipelago began in the Late Miocene. The orogenesis of the high mountain ranges in northeastern Japan started in the Late Miocene and lasted in the Pliocene.[55] The south part of the Japanese archipelago remained as a relatively large landmass. The land area expanded northward during the Miocene.[55]

During the advance of the last Ice Age (115,000 BCE till 9682 BCE) the world sea level dropped. This dried and closed the exit straits of the Sea of Japan one by one. The deepest, and thus the last to close, is the western channel of the Korea Strait. There is controversy as to whether or not the Sea of Japan became a huge cold inland lake.[56] The Japanese archipelago's Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, the Ryukyu islands and Nanpō Islands had a taiga biome (open boreal woodlands). It was characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces and larches. Hokkaido, Karafuto (Sakhalin) and the Kuril islands had mammoth steppe biome (steppe-tundra). The vegetation was dominated by palatable high-productivity grasses, herbs and willow shrubs.
Present
The Sea of Japan has a surface area of 978,000km2 (378,000sqmi), a mean depth of 1,752m (5,748ft) and a maximum depth of 3,742m (12,277ft). It has a carrot-like shape, with the major axis extending from southwest to northeast and a wide southern part narrowing toward the north. The coastal length is about 7,600km (4,700mi) with the largest part (3,240km or 2,010mi) belonging to Russia. The sea extends from north to south for more than 2,255km (1,401mi) and has a maximum width of about 1,070km (660mi).[57]
There are three major basins: the Yamato Basin in the southeast, the Japan Basin in the north and the Tsushima Basin in the southwest.[29] The Japan Basin has an oceanic crust and it's the deepest part of the sea, whereas the Tsushima Basin is the shallowest with depths below 2,300m (7,500ft). The Yamato Basin and Tsushima Basin have thick ocean crusts.[57] The continental shelves of the sea are wide on the eastern shores along Japan. On the western shores, they are narrow particularly along the Korean and Russian coast, averaging about 30km (19mi).
The geographical location of the Japanese archipelago has defined the Sea of Japan for millions of years. Without the Japanese archipelago it would just be the Pacific Ocean. The term has been the international standard since at least the early 19th century.[58] The International Hydrographic Organization, the international governing body for the naming bodies of water around the world, in 2012 recognized the term "Sea of Japan" as the only title for the sea.[59]
Ocean currents

The Japanese archipelago is surrounded by 8 ocean currents. These are 1. Kuroshio 2. Kuroshio extension 3. Kuroshio countercurrent 4. Tsushima Current 5. Tsugaru Current 6. Sōya Current 7. Oyashio 8. Liman Current. 
The Kuroshio(黒潮,, "くろしお",  "Black Tide") is a warm north-flowing ocean current on the west side of the Ryukyu Islands and along the east coast of Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu. It is a strong western boundary current and part of the North Pacific ocean gyre. 
The Kuroshio Current starts in the east coast of Luzon, Philippines, Taiwan and flows northeastward past Japan, where it merges with the easterly drift of the North Pacific Current.[60] It transports warm, tropical water northward toward the polar region. The Kuroshio extension is a northward continuation of the Kuroshio Current in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The Kuroshio countercurrent flows southward to the east of the Kuroshio current in the Pacific Ocean and Philippine Sea.
The winter spawning Japanese Flying Squid are associated with the Kuroshio Current. The eggs and larvae develop during winter in the East China Sea and the adults travel with minimum energy via the Kuroshio Current to the rich northern feeding grounds near northwestern Honshu and Hokkaido.[61]
The Tsushima Current(対馬海流,Tsushima Kairyū) is a branch of the Kuroshio Current. It flows along the west coast of Kyushu and Honshu into the Sea of Japan.
The Oyashio(親潮, "Parental Tide") current is a cold subarctic ocean current that flows southward and circulates counterclockwise along the east coast of Hokkaido and northeastern Honshu in the western North Pacific Ocean. The waters of the Oyashio Current originate in the Arctic Ocean and flow southward via the Bering Sea, passing through the Bering Strait and transporting cold water from the Arctic Sea into the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk.  It collides with the Kuroshio Current off the eastern shore of Japan to form the North Pacific Current. The nutrient-rich Oyashio is named for its metaphorical role as the parent(親,oya) that provides for and nurtures marine organisms.[62][63]
The Liman Current is a southward flowing cold ocean current that flows from the Strait of Tartary along the Asian continent in the Sea of Japan.[64]
The Tsugaru Current(津軽暖流, "Tsugaru Kairyū") originates when the Tsushima Current is divided in two as it flows through the west entrance of the Tsugaru Strait and along the La Perouse Strait it becomes the Sōya Current(宗谷暖流, "Sōya Kairyū") at the north coast of Hokkaido. The flow rate is 1 to 3 knots. There is a relatively stronger flow in the summer than in the winter.[65]
Natural resources

Japan is scarce in critical natural resources and has long been heavily dependent on imported energy and raw materials.[66][2] The oil crisis in 1973 encouraged the efficient use of energy.[67] Japan has therefore aimed to diversify its sources and maintain high levels of energy efficiency.[68]
There are small deposits of coal, oil, iron and minerals in the Japanese archipelago.[2] There is a major fishing industry due to Japan's large maritime territory. There are major untapped marine resources in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Japan. Most of these underwater resources at the seabed have not been exploited yet. As of 2018 there is not much deep sea mining to retrieve minerals or deepwater drilling on the ocean floor in Japan's EEZ.
Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch (2014).[69] In 2005, Japan ranked sixth in the world in tonnage of fish caught.[70] Japan captured 4,074,580 metric tons of fish in 2005, down from 4,987,703 tons in 2000 and 9,864,422 tons in 1980.[71] In 2003, the total aquaculture production was predicted at 1,301,437 tonnes.[72] In 2010, Japan's total fisheries production was 4,762,469 fish.[73] Offshore fisheries accounted for an average of 50% of the nation's total fish catches in the late 1980s although they experienced repeated ups and downs during that period.
As of 2011, 46.1% of energy in Japan was produced from petroleum, 21.3% from coal, 21.4% from natural gas, 4.0% from nuclear power and 3.3% from hydropower. Nuclear power is a major domestic source of energy and produced 9.2 percent of Japan's electricity, as of 2011, down from 24.9 percent the previous year.[74] Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disaster in 2011, the nuclear reactors were shut down. Thus Japan's industrial sector became even more dependent than before on imported fossil fuels. By May 2012 all of the country's nuclear power plants were taken offline because of ongoing public opposition following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March 2011, though government officials continued to try to sway public opinion in favor of returning at least some of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors to service.[75] Shinzo Abe’s government seeks to restart the nuclear power plants that meet strict new safety standards and is emphasizing nuclear energy’s importance as a base-load electricity source.[2] As of November 2014, two reactors at Sendai are likely to restart in early 2015.[76] In August 2015, Japan successfully restarted one nuclear reactor at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Kagoshima prefecture, and several other reactors around the country have since resumed operations. Opposition from local governments has delayed several restarts that remain pending. 
Reforms of the electricity and gas sectors, including full liberalization of Japan’s energy market in April 2016 and gas market in April 2017, constitute an important part of Prime Minister Abe’s economic program.[2]
On 3 July 2018, Japan's government pledged to increase renewable energy sources from 15% to 22-24% including wind and solar by 2030. Nuclear energy will provide 20% of the country's energy needs as an emissions-free energy source. This will help Japan meet climate change commitments.[77]
Climate






Most regions of Japan, such as much of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, belong to the temperate zone with humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) characterized by four distinct seasons. However, its climate varies from cool humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) in the north such as northern Hokkaido, to warm tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification Af) in the south such as Ishigaki in the Yaeyama Islands.
Climate zones
Japan's varied geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones.
Hokkaido(北海道,Hokkaidō): Belonging to the humid continental climate, Hokkaido has long, cold winters and cool summers. Precipitation is not great.
Sea of Japan(日本海,Nihonkai): The northwest seasonal wind in winter gives heavy snowfall, which south of Tohoku mostly melts before the beginning of spring. In summer it is a little less rainy than the Pacific area but sometimes experiences extreme high temperatures due to the foehn wind phenomenon.
Central Highland(中央高地,Chūō-kōchi): A typical inland climate gives large temperature variations between summers and winters and between days and nights. Precipitation is lower than on the coast due to rain shadow effects.
Seto Inland Sea(瀬戸内海,Setonaikai): The mountains in the Chūgoku and Shikoku regions block the seasonal winds and bring mild climate and many fine days throughout the year.
Pacific Ocean(太平洋,Taiheiyō): The climate varies greatly between the north and the south but generally winters are significantly milder and sunnier than those of the side that faces the Sea of Japan. Summers are hot due to the southeast seasonal wind. Precipitation is very heavy in the south, and heavy in the summer in the north. The climate of the Ogasawara Island chain in the Pacific Ocean ranges from a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) to tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw) with temperatures being warm to hot all year round.
Ryukyu Islands(南西諸島,Nansei-shotō): The climate of these islands ranges from humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) in the north to tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification Af) in the south with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very high, and is especially affected by the rainy season and typhoons.
Temperature and rainfall
As an island nation, Japan has the 6th longest coastline in the world.[78][79] A few prefectures are landlocked: Gunma, Tochigi, Saitama, Nagano, Yamanashi, Gifu, Shiga, and Nara. As Mt. Fuji and the coastal Japanese Alps provide a rain shadow, Nagano and Yamanashi Prefectures receive the least precipitation in Honshu, though it still exceeds 900 millimetres (35in) annually. A similar effect is found in Hokkaido, where Okhotsk Subprefecture receives as little as 750 millimetres (30in) per year. All other prefectures have coasts on the Pacific Ocean, Sea of Japan, Seto Inland Sea or have a body of salt water connected to them. Two prefectures—Hokkaido and Okinawa—are composed entirely of islands.
Japan is generally a rainy country with high humidity. Because of its wide range of latitude, seasonal winds and different types of ocean currents, Japan has a variety of climates, with a latitude range of the inhabited islands from 24° to 46° north, which is comparable to the range between Nova Scotia and The Bahamas in the east coast of North America. Tokyo is at about 35 degrees north latitude, comparable to that of Tehran, Athens, or Las Vegas.
Regional climatic variations range from humid continental in the northern island of Hokkaido extending down through northern Japan to the Central Highland, then blending with and eventually changing to a humid subtropical climate on the Pacific Coast and ultimately reaching tropical rainforest climate on the Yaeyama Islands of the Ryukyu Islands. Climate also varies dramatically with altitude and with location on the Pacific Ocean or on the Sea of Japan.
Northern Japan has warm summers but long, cold winters with heavy snow. Central Japan in its elevated position, has hot summers and moderate to short winters with some areas having very heavy snow, and southwestern Japan has long hot summer and short mild winters. The generally temperate climate exhibits marked seasonal variation such as the blooming of the spring cherry blossoms, the calls of the summer cicada and fall foliage colors that are celebrated in art and literature.
The hottest temperature ever measured in Japan, 41.1°C (106.0°F), occurred in Kumagaya on 23 July 2018.[80] and the coldest was −41.0°C (−41.8°F) recorded at Asahikawa, Hokkaidō on 25 January 1902.
Summer
The climate from June to September is marked by hot, wet weather brought by tropical airflows from the Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia. These airflows are full of moisture and deposit substantial amounts of rain when they reach land. There is a marked rainy season, beginning in early June and continuing for about a month. It is followed by hot, sticky weather. Five or six typhoons pass over or near Japan every year from early August to early October, sometimes resulting in significant damage. Annual precipitation averages between 1,000 and 2,500mm (40 and 100in) except for the areas such as Kii Peninsula and Yakushima Island which is Japan's wettest place[81] with the annual precipitation being one of the world's highest at 4,000 to 10,000mm.[82]
Maximum precipitation, like the rest of East Asia, occurs in the summer months except on the Sea of Japan coast where strong northerly winds produce a maximum in late autumn and early winter. Except for a few sheltered inland valleys during December and January, precipitation in Japan is above 25 millimetres (1in) of rainfall equivalent in all months of the year, and in the wettest coastal areas it is above 100 millimetres (4in) per month throughout the year.
Mid June to mid July is generally the rainy season in Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, excluding Hokkaidō since the seasonal rain front or baiu zensen(梅雨前線) dissipates in northern Honshu before reaching Hokkaido. In Okinawa, the rainy season starts early in May and continues until mid June. Unlike the rainy season in mainland Japan, it rains neither everyday nor all day long during the rainy season in Okinawa. Between July and October, typhoons, grown from tropical depressions generated near the equator, can attack Japan with furious rainstorms.
Winter
In winter, the Siberian High develops over the Eurasian land mass and the Aleutian Low develops over the northern Pacific Ocean. The result is a flow of cold air southeastward across Japan that brings freezing temperatures and heavy snowfalls to the central mountain ranges facing the Sea of Japan, but clear skies to areas fronting on the Pacific.
The warmest winter temperatures are found in the Nanpō and Bonin Islands, which enjoy a tropical climate due to the combination of latitude, distance from the Asian mainland, and warming effect of winds from the Kuroshio, as well as the Volcano Islands (at the latitude of the southernmost of the Ryukyu Islands, 24° N). The coolest summer temperatures are found on the northeastern coast of Hokkaidō in Kushiro and Nemuro Subprefectures.
Sunshine
Sunshine, in accordance with Japan’s uniformly heavy rainfall, is generally modest in quantity, though no part of Japan receives the consistently gloomy fogs that envelope the Sichuan Basin or Taipei. Amounts range from about six hours per day in the Inland Sea coast and sheltered parts of the Pacific Coast and Kantō Plain to four hours per day on the Sea of Japan coast of Hokkaidō. In December there is a very pronounced sunshine gradient between the Sea of Japan and Pacific coasts, as the former side can receive less than 30 hours and the Pacific side as much as 180 hours. In summer, however, sunshine hours are lowest on exposed parts of the Pacific coast where fogs from the Oyashio current create persistent cloud cover similar to that found on the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin.
Extreme temperature records
The highest recorded temperature in Japan was 41.1 °C (106.0 °F) on 23 July 2018, An unverified record of 42.7 degrees was taken in Adachi on 20 July 2004. and the lowest was -41.0 °C (-41.8 °F) in Asahikawa on 25 January 1902. But an unoffical -41.5 was taken in Bifuka on 27 January 1931, Mount Fuji broke the Japanese record lows for each month except January, February, March, and December. Record lows for any month were taken as recent as 1984



Population distribution


Japan has a population of 126,672,000 in 2016.[83] It is the tenth most populous country and second most populous island country in the world. 
The terrain of Japan is mostly rugged and mountainous with 66% forest.[8] This caused the population to be clustered in urban areas on the coast, plains and valleys.[84] In 2010, 90.7% of the total Japanese population lived in cities.[85] Japan is an urban society with about only 5% of the labor force working in agriculture. About 80 million of the urban population is heavily concentrated on the Pacific coast of Honshu.[86]
81% of the population lives on Honshu, 10% on Kyushu, 4.2% on Hokkaido, 3% on Shikoku, 1.1% in Okinawa Prefecture and 0.7% on other Japanese islands such as the Nanpō Islands. Nearly 1 in 3 Japanese people live in the Greater Tokyo Area.
Honshu
Honshū(本州) is the largest island of Japan. It has a population of 104,000,000 with a population density of 447km2 (173sqmi) (2010) [87]. Honshu is roughly 1,300km (810mi) long and ranges from 50 to 230km (31 to 143mi) wide, and its total area is 225,800km2 (87,200sqmi). This makes it slightly larger than the island of Great Britain 209,331km2 (80,823sqmi).[88]
The Greater Tokyo Area on Honshu is the biggest metropolitan area (megacity) in the world with 38,140,000 people (2016).[89][90] The area is 13,500km2 (5,200sqmi)[91] and has a population density of 2,642 square kilometres (1,020sqmi).
Kyushu
Kyushu(九州) is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of the four main islands.[92] As of 2016, Kyushu has a population of 12,970,479 and covers 36,782km2 (14,202sqmi).[93] It has the second highest population density of 307.13km2 (118.58sqmi) (2016).
Shikoku
Shikoku(四国) is the smallest of the four main islands, 18,800km2 (7,300sqmi). It is located south of Honshu and north east of Kyushu. It has the smallest population of 3,845,534 million (2015)[94] and the third highest population density of 204.55km2 (78.98sqmi).
Hokkaido
Hokkaido(北海道) is the second largest island of Japan, and the largest and northernmost prefecture. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu.[95]. It has the third largest population of the four main islands with 5,383,579 (2015)[87] and the lowest population density with just 64.5km2 (24.9sqmi) (2016). The island area ranks 21st in the world by area. It is 3.6% smaller than the island of Ireland.
Okinawa Prefecture
Okinawa Prefecture(沖縄県) is the southernmost prefecture of Japan.[96] It encompasses two thirds of the Ryukyu Islands over 1,000 kilometres (620mi) long. It has a population of 1,445,812 (2017) and a density of 622km2 (240sqmi).
Nanpo Islands
Nanpō Islands(南方諸島) are the groups of islands that are located to the south of the main islands of the Japanese archipelago. They extend from the Izu Peninsula west of Tokyo Bay southward for about 1,200 kilometres (750mi), to within 500 kilometres (310mi) of the Mariana Islands. The Nanpō Islands are all administered by Tokyo Metropolis. Approximately 0.7% of the Japanese population lives there.
Taiheiyō Belt

The Taiheiyō Belt is a megalopolis that includes the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihanshin megapoles. It's almost 1,200km (750mi) long from Ibaraki Prefecture in the northeast to Fukuoka Prefecture in the southwest. Satellite images at night show a dense and continuous strip of light (demarcating urban zones) that delineates the region with overlapping metropolitan areas in Japan.[97] It has a total population of approximately 81,859,345 (2016).
Taiheiyō Belt – includes Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, Gifu, Mie, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Wakayama, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, and Ōita. (81,859,345 people)[98][99]
Greater Tokyo Area - Part of the larger Kantō region, broadly includes Tokyo and Yokohama. (38,000,000 people)[100]
Keihanshin - Part of the larger Kansai region, includes Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe. (19,341,976 people)[101]


































vt Largest cities or towns in Japan
RankNamePrefecturePop.RankNamePrefecturePop.
Tokyo

Yokohama1TokyoTokyo13,843,40311HiroshimaHiroshima1,199,252
Osaka

Nagoya2YokohamaKanagawa3,740,17212SendaiMiyagi1,088,6693OsakaOsaka2,725,00613ChibaChiba977,2474NagoyaAichi2,320,36114KitakyushuFukuoka945,5955SapporoHokkaido1,966,41615SakaiOsaka831,0176FukuokaFukuoka1,579,45016NiigataNiigata800,5827KobeHyōgo1,527,40717HamamatsuShizuoka794,0258KawasakiKanagawa1,516,48318KumamotoKumamoto739,5569KyotoKyoto1,468,98019SagamiharaKanagawa723,01210SaitamaSaitama1,295,60720ShizuokaShizuoka695,416
Extreme points



Japan extends from 20° to 45° north longitude (Okinotorishima to Benten-jima) and from 122° to 153° east latitude (Yonaguni to Minami Torishima).[13] These are the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location in Japan.

Japan's main islands
The four main islands of Japan are Hokkaidō, Honshū, Kyūshū and Shikoku.  All of these points are accessible to the public.

Extreme altitudes

Natural hazards

Geological hazards
Earthquakes and tsunami

Japan is substantially prone to earthquakes, tsunami and volcanoes due to its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire.[106] It has the 15th highest natural disaster risk as measured in the 2013 World Risk Index.[107]
As many as 1,500 earthquakes are recorded yearly, and magnitudes of 4 to 7 are common. Minor tremors occur almost daily in one part of the country or another, causing slight shaking of buildings. Major earthquakes occur infrequently; the most famous in the twentieth century was the great Kantō earthquake of 1923, in which 130,000 people died. Undersea earthquakes also expose the Japanese coastline to danger from tsunamis(津波). 
Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur several times each century.[12] The 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people.[108] More recent major quakes are the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, a 9.1-magnitude[109] quake which hit Japan on March 11, 2011. It triggered a large tsunami and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, one of the worst disasters in the history of nuclear power.[110]
The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake was the largest ever recorded in Japan and is the world's fourth largest earthquake to strike since 1900, according to the U.S. Geological Service. It struck offshore about 371 kilometres (231mi) northeast of Tokyo and 130 kilometres (81mi) east of the city of Sendai, and created a massive tsunami that devastated Japan's northeastern coastal areas. At least 100 aftershocks registering a 6.0 magnitude or higher have followed the main shock. At least 15,000 people died as a result.
Reclaimed land and man-made islands are particularly susceptible to liquefaction during an earthquake. As a result, there are specific earthquake resistance standards and ground reform work that applies to all construction in these areas. In an area that was possibly reclaimed in the past, old maps and land condition drawings are checked and drilling is carried out to determine the strength of the ground. However this can be very costly, so for a private residential block of land, a swedish weight sounding test is more common.[19]
Japan has become a world leader in research on causes and prediction of earthquakes. The development of advanced technology has permitted the construction of skyscrapers even in earthquake-prone areas. Extensive civil defence efforts focus on training in protection against earthquakes, in particular against accompanying fire, which represents the greatest danger.
Volcanic eruptions


Japan has 108 active volcanoes. That's 10% of all active volcanoes in the world. Japan has stratovolcanoes near the subduction zones of the tectonic plates. During the twentieth century several new volcanoes emerged, including Shōwa-shinzan on Hokkaido and Myōjin-shō off the Bayonnaise Rocks in the Pacific.[12]  In 1991, Japan's Unzen Volcano on Kyushu about 40km (25mi) east of Nagasaki, awakened from its 200-year slumber to produce a new lava dome at its summit. Beginning in June, repeated collapse of this erupting dome generated ash flows that swept down the mountain's slopes at speeds as high as 200km/h (120mph). Unzen erupted in 1792 and killed more than 15,000 people. It is the worst volcanic disaster in the country's recorded history.[111]
Mount Fuji is a dormant stratovolcano that last erupted on 16 December 1707 till about 1 January 1708.[112][113] The Hōei eruption of Mount Fuji didn't have a lava flow, but it did release some 800million cubic metres (28×10^9cuft) of volcanic ash. It spread over vast areas around the volcano and reached Edo almost 100 kilometres (60mi) away. Cinders and ash fell like rain in Izu, Kai, Sagami, and Musashi provinces.[114] In Edo, the volcanic ash was several centimeters thick.[115] The eruption is rated a 5 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.[116] The eruption is rated a 5 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.[117]
Supervolcano

There is one supervolcano in the Kikai Caldera (鬼界カルデラ) . It is a massive, mostly submerged caldera up to 19 kilometres (12 mi) in diameter in the Ōsumi Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. It is the remains of the ancient eruption of a gigantic volcano. Its geographic coordinates are: Latitude (dd.) 30.79 and Longitude (dd.) 130.31[118] Kikai Caldera was the source of the Akahoya eruption, one of the largest eruptions during the Holocene (10,000years ago to present). About 6,300years ago or 4,300 BC, pyroclastic flows from that eruption reached the coast of southern Kyūshū up to 100km (62mi) away, and ash fell as far as Hokkaidō. The eruption produced about 150km³ of tephra,[119] giving it a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 7[120]
During a volcanic eruption the volcano spews large quantities of hot ash. The volcanic ash consists of tiny fragments of volcanic glass, minerals and jagged rock. This ash is deadly when inhaled by humans. The surface would be covered with several centimeters of thick ash. The clouds of ash can block sunlight from reaching the surface. This could change global surface temperatures for centuries. The potential exists for tens of millions or maybe all humans and living creatures on Earth to die during a supervolcano eruption.
For example the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE shows the danger of a volcanic eruption. It took only 18 to 20 hours for the city of Pompeii to be covered in 2.8m (9.2ft) of pulverized pumice and hot ash that Mount Vesuvius ejected at 1.5 million tons per second. The first pyroclastic surge that hit Pompeii reached temperatures of 300°C (572°F).[121]. The people in Pompeii were burried by two pyroclastic surges which burned and asphyxiated any living beings.[122][123]
There are currently no protective measures such as structures to cover the Kikai Caldera to minimize the millions of tons of deadly hot ash from spreading during a supervolcano eruption. The flow of molten rock cannot be controlled. NASA has a theoretical plan to prevent a volcanic eruption by pumping large quantities of cold water down a borehole into the hydrothermal system of a supervolcano. The water would cool the huge body of magma in the chambers below the volcano so that the liquid magma becomes semi-solid. Thus enough heat could be extracted to prevent an eruption. The heat could be used by a geothermal plant to generate geothermal energy and electricity.[124]

Meteorological hazards
Typhoons
Another common hazard are several typhoons that reach Japan from the Pacific every year. Heavy snowfall during the winter in the snow country regions, cause landslides, flooding, and avalanches.
Environmental issues

Environment
Current issues
In the 2006 environment annual report,[126] the Ministry of Environment reported that current major issues are: global warming and preservation of the ozone layer, conservation of the atmospheric environment, water and soil, waste management and recycling, measures for chemical substances, conservation of the natural environment and the participation in the international cooperation.
International agreements
Party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes (Basel Convention), Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection (Montreal Protocol), Ship Pollution (MARPOL 73/78), Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands (Ramsar Convention), Whaling 

Signed and ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
See also
Geology of Japan
List of islands of Japan
List of lakes of Japan
List of mountains and hills of Japan by height
List of national parks of Japan
List of peninsulas of Japan
List of rivers of Japan
Japanese addressing system


All Geography of Japan information taken from the .
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studiesdocument .


 a map from 1855
 - GJI Maps(Geospatial Information Authority of Japan)