Basic Facts

Japan is a country off the east coast of Asia. It is actually made up of four large islands and many smaller ones. The four large islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku.

Honshu is the largest island and most of the Japanese live there. Tokyo, the capitol of Japan, is found on Honshu. Mount Fuji or Fujiyama is also found there. It is the tallest mountain in Japan. Mount Fuji used to be an active volcano.

The second largest island of Japan is Hokkaido. Many of the people who live there are dairy farmers and fishermen. The island also attracts tourists.

Japan is a land of incredible natural beauty. Seventy percent of Japan is covered in mountains and hills. The country also has sixty volcanoes that may erupt at any given moment. Many volcanoes are on the Island of Kyushu. Kyusho is the second most populated island after Honshu. The smallest of Japan’s main four islands is Shikoku.
 
Japan has about 1,500 earthquakes per year. Once every few years, Japan is hit with a severe earthquake. Sometimes underwater earthquakes, called tsunamis (tsoo-NAH-me), create huge waves that can destroy homes and buildings on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

Japan has almost 128 million people. That makes it one of the world’s most populated countries. Ninety percent of the people live in only 20 percent of the country’s area. This area is the coastal plains where Japan’s biggest cities are located.

Plant and Animal Species of Japan 

Japan is home to about 5,600 species of plants. About one third of these species are unique to Japan. A wide variety of plants and trees live in Japan because of its wide range of climates. In Japan, you can find subtropical forests, coniferous forests, and broad leaved evergreen forests. In the highest mountains you can find arctic alpine plants such as the Siberian dwarf pine. Up to 500 different species of bamboo grow in Japan.

Many crops like rice have been brought to Japan from the Asian mainland. Other plants were brought to Japan from Europe and North America.

There are about 130 species of mammals living in Japan. The largest of these mammals are the brown bear and the Asiatic black bear. Some smaller predators are the red fox, the raccoon dog, and the Japanese marten. One of country’s most well known mammals is the Japanese macaque.

Over 600 species of birds live in Japan including the Japanese woodpecker, the copper pheasant, and Japan’s national bird—the green pheasant.

Japan has about 73 species of reptiles including the mamushi, sea turtles, and sea snakes.

About 3,000 types of fish live in Japan including the common carp, the red sea bream, and the crucian carp.

 Human Impacts on Biodiversity

The biggest threat to Japan’s biodiversity is its very large population.

Only about 20 percent of Japan’s original trees and plants are still left. After World War II much of the coniferous forests were replaced with Japanese timber species such as sugi and kara matsu.

Logging is not currently a big problem to Japan’s remaining forests. Tourism is the biggest problem. Forests are being cut down for recreational purposes such as golf and skiing. More roads are being built so tourists can travel away from the cities.

Road building, along with agriculture and river channelization is threatening costal regions and wetlands. The red crowned cranes are threatened because of the loss of wetlands on Hokkaido.

Timber plantations and expanding cities threaten natural habitats on smaller islands as well. Nearly all the original subtropical forests on the Ogasawaras have been cleared.

Plants and animals that are not native to Japan are also destroying many species. The Indian grey mongoose, the Javan mongoose, and the Siberian weasel were brought to Japan to get rid of snakes. However, these animals also caused many native birds and small mammals to die out. The large mouth bass is threatening native fish. Goats brought to several islands are now a problem, as well.

How Japan Protects Its Biodiversity

There are 29 national parks and 56 quasi-national parks currently in Japan. The Japanese people consider their forests, islands, mountains, and other places of natural beauty sacred. Japan’s two most popular religions, Buddhism and Shintoism, stress living harmoniously with nature and all living things. To protect Japan’s mountains, the Japanese government established the nation’s first national park in 1934.

Because Japan is one of the world’s most densely populated countries, there’s not much space left for national parks. Japan’s answer to this problem is to include privately owned land in national parks. The government and landowners work together to preserve the environment. About one fourth of Japan’s national parks are privately owned.

Even though Japan has many protected areas, there are a number of gaps in the system. In the Ryukyus most forests are not properly protected. For example, Yanbaru is unprotected even though it is home to six of the 32 critically endangered and endangered species in Japan.

However, Japan is very concerned about the environment. It is a member of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund which provides $125 million over five years for conservation for endangered places.