List of regions of Japan

The Regions of Japan are traditional subdivisions of the nation.^[1] The regional divisions are used in many ways. These include maps, geography and weather reports. Regions are used as a basic framework for description and comparison.^[2]

Map of the regions of Japan. From north to south: Hokkaidō (red), Tōhoku (green), Kantō (blue), Chūbu (brown), Kansai (teal), Chūgoku (green-yellow), Shikoku (pink) and Kyūshū (yellow).

Culture

In Japan, the traditional regions are cultural makers.^[3] For example, according to Kunio Kishida in 1940, "The correct tradition of Japanese culture exists today not within the culture of the center, which has developed under the influence of foreign culture; but rather within regional culture."^[4]

Japan's multi-decade "Comprehensive National Development Plan" emphasizes regions in serial studies of patterns of land use and regional society.^[5]

The names of many businesses incorporate a regional name.

List of regions

From north to south, the traditional regions include:

• Hokkaidō region:^[6] It covers the entire northern island of Hokkaidō. The largest city is Sapporo.
• Tōhoku region,^[7] The region is in the northern part of Honshū island. The largest city is Sendai.
• Kantō region:,.^[8] It is in eastern Honshū. The largest city is Tokyo.
• Chūbu region:^[9] It is in central Honshū. Mount Fuji is in this region. The largest city is Nagoya.
  • Hokuriku region^[10] is in northwestern Chūbu. The largest city in the region is Kanazawa.
  • Kōshin'etsu region is in northeastern Chūbu. Its largest city is Niigata.
  • Tōkai region is in southern Chūbu. Nagoya is its largest city.
• Kansai region:^[11] or Kinki region^[12] It is in west-central Honshū. The largest city is Osaka.
• Chūgoku region:^[13] The region is in western Honshū. The largest city is Hiroshima.
• Shikoku region.^[14] The region covers all of the island of Shikoku. Matsuyama is the largest city in the region.
• Kyūshū region:^[15] It covers all of the island of Kyūshū. The largest city is Fukuoka.
• Ryukyu Islands:^[16] The largest city is Naha.
  • Okinawa^[17]

Related pages

• Provinces of Japan
• Prefectures of Japan
• List of islands of Japan
• Gokishichidō

References

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
2. Tames, Richard. (2008). A Traveller's History of Japan, p. 264.
3. Griffis, William Elliot (2007). The Mikado's Empire: A History of Japan from the Age of the Gods to the Meiji Era (660 BC-AD 1872. Stone Bridge Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-933330-18-1.
4. Brandt, Kim (2007). Kingdom of Beauty: Mingei and the Politics of Folk Art in Imperial Japan. Duke University Press. pp. 218–219. ISBN 978-0-8223-8954-5.
5. Shapira, Philip; Masser, Ian; Edgington, David W. (1994). Planning for Cities and Regions in Japan. Liverpool University Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-85323-248-3.
6. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
7. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 971. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
8. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. pp. 478–479. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
9. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
10. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
11. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 477. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
12. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 522. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
13. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
14. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 857. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
15. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 588. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
16. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 801. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
17. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 747. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.

Further reading

• Wigen, Karen (2010). A Malleable Map: Geographies of Restoration in Central Japan, 1600-1912. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25918-8.