 Honshū (本州,
ほんしゅう, literally "Main Land") or Honshu
- The largest island of Japan, called the Mainland; it is
south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of
Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū
across the Kanmon Strait. It is the seventh largest island,
and the second most populous island in the world after Java.
The island is roughly 1,300 km long and ranges from 50 to
230 km wide, and its total area is 230,500 km², around 60%
of the total area of Japan. It is larger than the island of
Great Britain, and slightly larger than the state of
Minnesota. Honshū has 5,450 km of coastline.
Mountainous and volcanic, Honshū has frequent earthquakes
(the Great Kantō earthquake heavily damaged Tokyo in
September 1923); the highest peak is the active volcano
Mount Fuji at 3,776 m, which makes it the world's 7th
highest island. There are many rivers, including the Shinano
River, Japan's longest. The climate is temperate, but has
marked difference between the eastern or southern (Pacific
or Inland Sea coast) side, and the western or northern (Sea
of Japan coast) side. A mountain range runs along the length
of Honshū from end to end. In addition to Mt. Fuji, the
Japanese Alps are features of Honshū.
It has a population of 98,352,000 (as of 1990; in 1975 it
was 89,101,702), mostly concentrated in the available
lowlands, notably in the Kantō plain where 25% of the total
population reside in the Greater Tokyo Area, which includes
Tokyo and Yokohama, Kawasaki, Saitama and Chiba cities. Most
of the nation's industry is located along the belt running
from Tokyo along Honshu's southern coastal cities, including
Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe, and Hiroshima.
The economy along the northwestern coast by the Sea of Japan
is largely fishing and agriculture; Niigata is noted as an
important producer of rice. The Kantō and Nōbi plains
produce rice and vegetables. Yamanashi is a major
fruit-growing area, and Aomori is famous for its apples.
Eminent historical centers include Kyoto, Nara, and
Kamakura.
The island is nominally divided into five regions and
contains 34 prefectures, including metropolitan Tokyo. The
regions are Chūgoku (western), Kansai (southern, east of
Chūgoku), Chūbu (central), Kantō (eastern), and Tōhoku
(northern).
The prefectures are:
Chūgoku region — Hiroshima-ken,
Okayama-ken, Shimane-ken, Tottori-ken, Yamaguchi-ken.
Kansai — Hyōgo-ken, Kyoto-fu, Mie-ken,
Nara-ken, Osaka-fu, Shiga-ken, Wakayama-ken.
Chūbu — Aichi-ken, Fukui-ken, Gifu-ken,
Ishikawa-ken, Nagano-ken, Niigata-ken, Toyama-ken,
Shizuoka-ken, Yamanashi-ken.
Kantō — Chiba-ken, Gunma-ken, Ibaraki-ken,
Kanagawa-ken, Saitama-ken, Tochigi-ken, Tokyo-to.
Tōhoku — Akita-ken, Aomori-ken,
Fukushima-ken, Iwate-ken, Miyagi-ken, Yamagata-ken.
Honshū is connected to the islands of Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and
Shikoku by tunnels or bridges. Three new bridge systems have
been built across the islands of the Inland Sea between
Honshū and Shikoku (Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge and the Ohnaruto
Bridge; Shin-Onomichi Bridge, Innoshima Bridge, Ikuchi
Bridge, Tatara Bridge, Ohmishima Bridge, Hakata-Ohshima
Bridges, and the Kurushima-Kaikyo Bridge; Shimotsui-Seto
Bridge, Hitsuishijima Bridge, Iwakurojima Bridge, Yoshima
Bridge, Kita Bisan-Seto Bridge, and the Minami Bisan-Seto
Bridge), and the Seikan Tunnel connects Honshū with
Hokkaidō.
The northernmost point on Honshū is the tip of the Shimokita
Peninsula in Ōma, Aomori. At the southern extreme lies Cape
Kure in Kushimoto, Wakayama. The island is bounded on the
east by Todogasaki in Miyako, Iwate and on the west by
Bishanohana in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi. It spans more than
eight degrees of latitude and 11 degrees of longitude.
Information source: “Honshū.” wikipedia.org. Article date:
28 Jan. 2008. Retrieved: Wikipedia. 2 Feb. 2008 <Honshū>. |
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