List of islands of Japan

Japan has 6,852 islands. Approximately 430 are inhabited.[1][2] Japan is the largest island country in East Asia and the fourth largest island country in the world.[3]

Main islands
The five main islands of Japan

The five main islands of Japan are:[4][5]

  • Hokkaido - the northernmost and second largest main island.
  • Honshu - the largest and most populous island with the capital Tokyo.
  • Kyushu - the third largest main island and nearest to the Asian continent.
  • Shikoku - the second smallest main island after Okinawa. It is between Honshu and Kyushu.
  • Okinawa - the smallest and southernmost of the main islands.

Remote islands of Japan

Aside from the five main islands, there are 6,847 smaller islands called 'remote islands'.[4] These are notable remote islands of Japan.

Hokkaido prefecture

Islands of Honshu in the Sea of Japan

Islands in Tokyo Bay (artificial islands)

Islands in Osaka Bay (artificial islands)

Islands in Ise Bay

Islands in Mutsu Bay

Nanpō Islands (Nanpō Shotō)

Other Japanese islands

Islands around Kyushu

Most of these are located in the East China Sea.

Islands around Shikoku

Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shotō)

Satsunan Islands

The northern half is administratively part of Kagoshima Prefecture and Kyushu.

Ōsumi Islands

The North-Eastern Group:

The North-Western Group:

Tokara Islands

The Shichi-tō:

Amami Islands

Ryukyu Islands (Ryūkyū-shotō)

The Southern Half, Okinawa Prefecture

Okinawa Islands

The Central Group or Ryukyu proper:

Sakishima Islands

Also known as the Further Isles:

Seto Inland Sea islands

Islands in lakes

Other artificial islands

Claims but does not control

The Northern Territories

There are four disputed Kuril Islands that are claimed by Japan. These islands are called the Chishima Islands.[17]

  • Iturup - Etorofu (択捉島, Etorofu-tō)
  • Kunashir - Kunashiri (国後島, Kunashiri-tō)
  • Shikotan - Shikotan (色丹島, Shikotan-tō)
  • Habomai Islands - Habomai (歯舞群島, Habomai guntō)

Others

Largest islands of Japan
Main article: List of islands of Japan by area

These are the 50 largest islands of Japan. It excludes the disputed Kuril islands known as the northern territories.

RankIsland nameArea
(km2)		Area
(sq mi)		Island group
1Honshu227,96088,020
2Hokkaido83,424.3132,210.31
3Kyushu36,78214,202
4Shikoku18,8007,300
5Okinawa Island1,207466Ryukyu Islands
6Sado Island855.26330.22
7Amami Ōshima712.35275.04Amami Islands
8Tsushima Island708.7273.6
9Awaji Island592.17228.64
10Shimoshima Island, Amakusa574.01221.63
11Yakushima504.88194.94Ōsumi Islands
12Tanegashima444.99171.81Ōsumi Islands
13Fukue Island326.43126.04Gotō Islands
14Iriomote Island289.27111.69
15Tokunoshima247.895.7Amami Islands
16Dōgojima241.5893.27Oki Islands
17Kamishima Island, Amakusa225.3287.00Amakusa islands
18Ishigaki Island222.585.9
19Rishiri Island18371
20Nakadori Island168.3465.00Gotō Islands
21Hirado Island163.4263.10
22Miyako-jima158.8761.34
23Shōdoshima153.3059.19
24Okushiri Island142.9755.20
25Iki Island138.4653.46
26Suō-Ōshima128.3149.54
27Okinoerabujima93.6336.15Amami Islands
28Etajima91.3235.26
29Izu Ōshima91.0635.16Izu Islands
30Nagashima Island, Kagoshima90.6234.99
31Rebun Island8031
32Kakeromajima77.3929.88Amami Islands
33Kurahashi-jima69.4626.82
34Shimokoshiki-jima66.1225.53
35Ōmishima Island, Ehime66.1225.53
36Hachijō-jima62.5224.14
37Kume Island59.1122.82Okinawa Islands
38Kikaijima56.9321.98Amami Islands
39Nishinoshima55.9821.61
40Miyake-jima55.4421.41
41Notojima46.7818.06
42Kamikoshiki-jima45.0817.41
43Ōshima (Ehime)41.8716.17
44Ōsakikamijima38.2714.78
45Kuchinoerabu-jima38.0414.69
46Hisaka37.2314.37
47Innoshima35.0313.53
48Nakanoshima (in Kagoshima)34.4713.31Tokara Islands
49Hario Island33.1612.80
50Nakanoshima (in Shimane)32.2112.44Oki Islands

See also

References
  1. Look Japan, Vol. 43, Issues 493-504, p. 35; retrieved 2013-3-2.
  2. "離島とは(島の基礎知識)" (in Japanese). Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Archived from the original (website) on November 13, 2007. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  3. "Island Countries Of The World". WorldAtlas.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
  4. "離島とは(島の基礎知識) (what is a remote island?)". MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) (in Japanese). Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. 22 August 2015. Archived from the original (website) on 2007-07-13. Retrieved 9 August 2019. MILT classification 6,852 islands（main islands: 5 islands, remote islands: 6,847 islands)
  5. Imperial Japanese Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. (1903). Japan in the Beginning of the 20th century (Haruki Yamawaki, editor), p. 2.
  6. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Rishiri-tō" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 791.
  7. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). Sovereign and Subject, p. 332.
  8. Ponsonby-Fane, p. 331.
  9. Nussbaum, "Izu Shotō" at p. 412.
  10. Gotoh, H. et al. (2010). "Infrastructure Maintenance and Disaster Prevention Measures on Isolated Islands: the Case of the Izu Islands near Tokyo" in Island Sustainability (Favro, S., editor), p. 187.
  11. Nussbaum, p. 412; Ponsonby-Fane, p. 332.
  12. Nussbaum, "Ōshima" at p. 761.
  13. Nussbaum, "Torishima" at p. 987.
  14. Nussbaum, "Ogasawara Guntō" at p. 737.
  15. Nussbaum, "Hashima" at p. 294.
  17. Imperial Japanese Commission, p. 3.
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