Location

Japan is a long archipelago (island chain) consisting of over 3,900 islands, located off the coast of northeast Asia between the Sea of Japan and the North Pacific Ocean.

Japan formed millions years ago as a result of the collision of four tectonic plates. As the meeting point of the four plates smushed and formed itself, it rose from the oceans to become what we now call Japan. The four main islands of Japan: Hokkaido, Kyushu, Honshu and Shikoku, make up over 95% of Japan's land area. The other islands are the tips of underwater mountains. Only about 600 islands are actually inhabited.

Japan is part of the Pacific Rim, an imaginary circle of land surrounding the Pacific Ocean. It includes the Philippines, Australia, Chile and California.

Climate

If you moved Japan straight west to the Atlantic Ocean, it would span the area from about Montreal to the Gulf of Mexico. Therefore you can imagine what the climate is like. Hokkaido, the island farthest to the north, is as cold as Canada. Honshu has a moderate climate whereas southern Shikoku and southern Kyushu are quite warm. The island chains farther south have similar climates to the Caribbean islands.

Size

The total area that this island nation covers is about 380,000 square kilometers or about 150,000 square miles. It's almost as big as California but most of Japan's inhabitants (total population: 126 million people- roughly half the population of the US) only occupies about 20% of the land. Honshu is the largest of Japan's main islands, followed by Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku.

Terrain

Though Japan is viewed as a very densely populated country, most of Japan is sparsely inhabited because of the number of mountains in the country. Eighty-five percent of Japan's land is made up of mountain chains and only 15% is flat enought to be used for farming or building. A large mountain chain that winds down the middle of the country divides Japan into 2 zones. The outer zone faces the Pacific Ocean and gets the majority of tropical storms and disasters. The inner zone faces the mainland of China, has a more even coastline and gets less typhoons.

Natural Disasters

To the east of Japan, there are deep ocean trenches which are the cause of many of the natural disasters that Japan is known for including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.

Volcanos

Japan has over 250 volcanoes and several are active. Mount Unzen, on Kyushu, has had two notable eruptions. The first in 1792 caused 15,000 people to die. The second in 1991 was less severe but thirty people still died.

Earthquakes

Japanese schools regularly have earthquake drills since not a day passes without even a slight earthquake-like distrubance happening somewhere in Japan.

In 1923, the Kanto Earthquake killed almost 150,000 people. Japanese folklore predicts that major earthquakes occur every 70 years and that prediction was almost exactly on for the 1995 Kobe history which only lasted one minute but killed 5500 people and devastated the city. Not only was the earthquake devastating though, but in addition to the earthquake, there were a number of fires, landslides and tsunamis. That just goes to show you how dangerous living in Japan can be. Read more about the Kanto Earthquake here.

Geographic Trivia

On a clear day you can see Mount Fuji from Tokyo, 70 miles (113 km) away.

The Highest Elevation Point is at Mount Fuji (Fujiyama) at 3, 776 meters. The Lowest Elevation Point(s) is Hachiro-gata at a mere 4 meters or sea-level.

Mount Fuji aka Fuji-san, Fujiyama is Japan's highest peak at almost 13,000 feet. It was once an active volacano but last erupted in 1707.

Fujiyama has a cone shape due to falling volcanic ash.

Between the climbing season occuring during July and August, over one million people climb Mount Fuji.