(Redirected from List of regions in Japan)
The '
regions of
Japan' are not official administrative units, but have been traditionally used as the regional division of Japan in a number of contexts. For instance, maps and geography textbooks divide Japan into the eight regions, weather reports usually give the weather by region, and many businesses and institutions use their home region as part of their name (
Kinki Nippon Railway,
Chūgoku Bank,
Tohoku University, etc.). While Japan has eight High Courts, their jurisdictions do not correspond to the eight regions below.
From north to south, the traditional regions are:
★
HokkaidÅ (the island of HokkaidÅ and nearby islands, largest city
Sapporo)
★
TÅhoku region (northern
Honshū, largest city
Sendai)
★
KantŠregion (eastern Honshū, largest cities
Tokyo and
Yokohama)
★
Chūbu region (central Honshū, including
Mt. Fuji), sometimes divided into:
★
★
Hokuriku region (northwestern Chūbu)
★
★
Koshin'etsu region (northeastern Chūbu, largest city
Nagano)
★
★
TÅkai region (southern ChÅ«bu, largest city
Nagoya,
Hamamatsu, and
Shizuoka)
★
★
ChūkyŠregion (southwestern Chūbu, largest city Nagoya,
Gifu,and
Yokkaichi)
★
Kansai or Kinki region (west-central Honshū, largest cities
Osaka,
Kobe, and
Kyoto)
★
Chūgoku region (western Honshū, largest city
Hiroshima, and
Okayama)
★
Shikoku (island, largest city
Matsuyama, and
Takamatsu)
★
Kyūshū (island, largest city
Fukuoka) which includes:
★
★
Ryukyu Islands, including
Okinawa
Each contains several
prefectures, except the HokkaidÅ region, which covers only
HokkaidÅ.
See also
★
Ecoregions of Japan
★
Prefectures of Japan
★
Geography of Japan