 Kantō region (関東地方, Kantō-chihō) - A
geographical area of Honshū, the largest island of Japan.
The region encompasses seven prefectures which overlaps the
Greater Tokyo Area: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo,
Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more
than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō plain. The
rest consists of the hills and mountains that form the land
borders.
The heartland of feudal power during the Kamakura period and
again in the Edo period, the Kantō became the center of
modern development. Within the Greater Tokyo Area and
especially the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area, the Kantō
houses not only Japan's seat of government but also the
largest group of universities and cultural institutions, the
greatest population, and a large industrial zone. Although
most of the Kantō plain is used for residential, commercial,
or industrial construction, it is still farmed. Rice is the
principal crop, although the zone around Tokyo and Yokohama
has been landscaped to grow garden produce for the
metropolitan market.
A watershed moment of Japan's modern history took place in
the late Taisho period: The Great Kantō earthquake of 1923.
The quake, which claimed more than 100,000 lives and ravaged
the Tokyo and Yokohama areas, occurred at a time when Japan
was still reeling from the economic recession in reaction to
the high-flying years during World War I.
Operation Coronet, the proposed Allied invasion of Japan
during World War II was scheduled to land at the Kantō
plain. Most of the United States military bases on the
island of Honshū are situated on the Kantō plain. These
include Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Yokota Air Base, Yokosuka
Naval Base, and Camp Zama.
The name Kantō literally means "East of the Barrier." The
name Kantō is nowadays generally considered to mean the
region east (東) of the Hakone checkpoint (関所).
Subdivisions
North and South
The most often used subdivision of the region is dividing it
to "North Kantō" (北関東, Kita Kantō) consisting of Ibaraki,
Tochigi, and Gunma Prefectures and "South Kantō" (南関東,
Minami-Kantō) consisting of Saitama (sometimes classified
North), Chiba, the Tokyo Metropolis (sometimes singulated)
and Kanagawa Prefectures. South Kantō is often regarded as
synonymous with the Greater Tokyo Area.
The Japanese House of Representatives' divides it into the
North Kantō (北関東, Kita Kantō) electorate which consists of
Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Saitama Prefectures, Tokyo
electorate, and the South Kantō (南関東, Minami Kantō)
electorate which consists of Chiba, Kanagawa and Yamanashi
Prefectures. (Note that Yamanashi is out of Kantō region in
the orthodox definition.)
East and West
This division is not often but sometimes used.
East Kantō (東関東, Higashi-Kantō): Ibaraki, Tochigi and Chiba
Prefectures.
West Kantō (西関東, Nishi-Kantō): Gunma, Saitama, Tokyo,
Kanagawa (and sometimes Yamanashi) Prefectures.
Inland and Coastal
This division is sometimes used in economics and geography.
The border can be modified if the topography is taken for
prefectural boundaries.
Inland Kantō (関東内陸部, Kantō nairiku-bu): Tochigi, Gunma,
Saitama (and sometimes Yamanashi) Prefectures.
Coastal Kantō (関東沿岸部, Kantō engan-bu): Ibaraki, Chiba,
Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefectures.
Greater Kantō
Due to influence from Tokyo and partly Nagoya's remoteness
from Yamanashi, Nagano and Niigata Prefectures of Kō-shin-etsu
subregion and Shizuoka Prefecture in Chūbu region some
organisations define multiple versions of "greater Kantō"
with their own names for their convenience. The Japanese
national government defines the National Capital Region
(首都圏, Shuto-ken) as Kantō region plus Yamanashi Prefecture.
Japan's national public broadcaster NHK uses Kantō-kō-shin-etsu
(関東甲信越, Kantō-kō-shin-etsu) involving Yamanashi, Nagano and
Niigata Prefectures for regional programming and
administration.
The Kantō region is the most highly developed, urbanized,
and industrialized part of Japan. Tokyo and Yokohama form a
single industrial complex with a concentration of light and
heavy industry along Tokyo Bay. Other major cities in the
area include Kawasaki (in Kanagawa Prefecture); Saitama (in
Saitama Prefecture); and Chiba (in Chiba Prefecture).
Smaller cities, farther away from the coast, house
substantial light and automotive industries. The average
population density reached 1,192 persons per square
kilometre in 1991.
Information source: “Kantō region.” wikipedia.org. Article
date: 3 Mar. 2008. Retrieved: Wikipedia. 4 Mar. 2008 <Kantō region>. |
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