Kantō region

The  is one of Japan's regions.  The Japanese conventions of geography and history divide the nation into eight regions, including the Kantō region.  These have been used since 1905 as basic units for description and comparison and as cultural markers.

The regions of Japan are a fusion of historical divisions and modern administrative needs".  The significance of the region in Japan is geographical, cultural and administrative.

## History

In the late 7th century, the _Tōkaidō_ region were identified as one of the eight largest administrative areas of the Imperial system (_ritsuryo seido_).

_Gokishichidō_ is an ancient system of names for parts of the country, including _Tōkaidō_.  _Kantō_ covers an east-central area of the island of Honshū in roughly the same area as the traditional _Tōkaidō_.

The region of Kantō covers the east-central part of the island of Honshū.

In the Meiji period, the modern regional system was made by Imperial decree.  Japan was divided into regions (_chihō _), including the Kantō region. A regional council  (_chihō gyōsei kyōgisai_) was headed by the governor of the most powerful prefecture in the regional grouping.  The council also included regional chiefs of central government ministries.

### Table: Kanto Region

|Province|Province capital|Pre-modern regions|Prefecture|Prefecture capital|Regions today|Notes|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Awa|Minamibōsō|bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Chiba; Ibaraki|Chiba; Mito|bgcolor=#79FF76|Kantō|created in 718 from Kazusa, then rejoined back in 741, later re-split in 781|
|Hitachi|near Ishioka|bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Ibaraki|Mito|bgcolor=#79FF76|Kantō||
|Iga|Ueno|bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Mie|Tsu|bgcolor=#7272FF|Kansai|created in 680 from Ise|
|Ise|Uji-Yamada|bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Mie|Tsu|bgcolor=#7272FF|Kansai||
|Izu||bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Shizuoka; Tokyo|Shizuoka; Tokyo|bgcolor=#79FF76|Kantō|created in 680 from Suruga|
|Kai||bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Yamanashi|Kōfu|bgcolor=#8BFFE8|Chūbu||
|Kazusa|near Ichihara|bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Chiba|Chiba|bgcolor=#79FF76|Kantō|created from Fusa in the 7th centur|
|Mikawa||bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Aichi|Nagoya|bgcolor=#8BFFE8|Chūbu||
|Musashi|near Fuchu|bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Kanagawa; Tokyo; Saitama|Yokohama; Tokyo; Saitama|bgcolor=#79FF76|Kantō|transferred in 771 from Tōsandō|
|Owari|near Inazawa|bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Aichi|Nagoya|bgcolor=#8BFFE8|Chūbu||
|Sagami|near Hiratsuka|bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Kanagawa|Yokohama|bgcolor=#79FF76|Kantō||
|Shima||bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Mie|Tsu|bgcolor=#7272FF|Kansai|created at the beginning of the 8th century from Ise|
|Shimōsa||bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Chiba; Ibaraki|Chiba; Mito|bgcolor=#79FF76|Kantō|created from Fusa in the 7th century|
|Suruga||bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Shizuoka|Shizuoka|bgcolor=#8BFFE8|Chūbu||
|Tōtōmi||bgcolor=#FF9D9D|Tōkaidō|Shizuoka|Shizuoka|bgcolor=#8BFFE8|Chūbu||

Over time, Kantō developed its own regional dialects, customs and unique traditional culture.

### Timeline

- **1923** (_Taishō 12_): Great Kantō earthquake has its epicenter near Tokyo and Yokohama.

## Geography

The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area.  The Kantō covers seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa.

### Subdivisions

North and South subdivisions are sometimes used:
- covering Ibaraki, Tochigi, and Gunma.
- covering Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo and Kanagawa. South Kantō is often used as synonymous with the Greater Tokyo Area.

East and West subdivisions are sometimes used:
- : Ibaraki, Tochigi and Chiba.
- : Gunma, Saitama, Tokyo, Kanagawa (and Yamanashi Prefecture may be included).

Inland and Coastal subdivisions are sometimes used:
- : Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama (and Yamanashi may be included).
- : Ibaraki, Chiba, Tokyo and Kanagawa.

### Greater Kantō

The Japanese national government defines the  as the Kantō region plus Yamanashi Prefecture.

Japan's national public broadcaster NHK defines the  which includes Yamanashi, Nagano and Niigata Prefectures for regional programming.

## Related pages

- Provinces of Japan
- Prefectures of Japan
- List of regions of Japan
- List of islands of Japan

## Other websites

- Murdoch's map of provinces, 1903

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Kanto region
- **native name**: 関東地方
- **native name lang**: ja
- **settlement type**: List of regions of Japan, Region
- **image skyline**: Kanto Region in Japan.svg
- **image alt**: Map showing location of Kanto region within Japan
- **image caption**: The Kanto region in comparison to the rest of Japan
- **image map**: Mapofkanto.png
- **map alt**: Closeup map showing the areas within the Kanto region of Japan
- **map caption**: Closeup map of the areas within the Kanto region
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 32423.90
- **population total**: 42607376
- **population as of**: October 1, 2010
- **population density km2**: auto
- **timezone1**: Japan Standard Time, JST
- **utc offset1**: +9
- **demographics type1**: GDP
- **demographics1 footnotes**:  (nominal; 2020)
- **demographics1 title1**: Total
- **demographics1 info1**: $2.1 trillion
- **demographics1 title2**: Per capita
- **demographics1 info2**: $50,000