JapanCorner - The Benihana Guide to Japan

Japan is an island nation lying just to the east of the Asian mainland comprised of over 3,500 islands. The four main islands are Hokkaido in the north; Honshu where Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto are located; Shikoku nestled in the Inland Sea and Kyushu to the south. The entire archipelago extends 3,800 kilometers (app. 2,300 miles) from north (45°33 north latitude) to south (20°25 north latitude.) Japans total land area is 377,818 square kilometers (app.145,876 square miles) which is approximately 4% of the size of the United States and it is slightly smaller than the State of California which is 163,707 square miles. Japan is about 1-1/2 times the size of Great Britain.

The Japanese archipelago is located where the Pacific submarine plate and the Asian continental plate meet and it is believed that about two million years ago activity along this plate-line separated Japan from the continent. The associated volcanic activity is believed to have created the mountain chain which runs throughout the length of the archipelago. To this day related subterranean unrest continues to cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions throughout the country.

Nearly 75% of Japans total land area is mountainous and of that 67% is forest. The majority of Japans population of 127 million people resides in the coastal plain areas which comprise just over the remaining 25% of the land area. Japans central mountain chain extends along the length of the archipelago separating it into two sides - one which faces the Pacific Ocean in the east and the other facing the Sea of Japan in the west. There are over 200 volcanoes throughout Japan including one-tenth of the worlds active ones. Located to the southwest of Tokyo, Mt. Fuji is one of the most famous volcanoes in the world rising to a height of over 3,776 meters (12,388 feet.) It has been the subject of many works of art over the centuries and has become a symbol of Japan.

Many swift flowing rivers are found throughout Japans mountainous and volcanic regions which flow down from the mountains creating a number of distinctive lakes. The coastline of Japan is jagged and is as complex as its terrain is varied. The total distance around Japans coastline is 29,000 kilometers (app. 18,000 miles) which is about 75% of the total distance around the earth at the equator.