Honshu

is the largest and most populous main island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Straits. The island separates the Sea of Japan, which lies to its north and west, from the North Pacific Ocean to the south and east. It is the 7th largest island in the world, and the 2nd most populous after the Indonesian island of Java.

Honshu had a population of 104 million , mostly concentrated in the coastal areas and plains. Approximately 30% of the total population resides in the Greater Tokyo Area on the Kantō Plain. As the historical center of Japanese cultural and political power, the island includes several past Japanese capitals, including Kyoto, Nara and Kamakura. Much of the island's southern shore forms part of the Taiheiyō Belt, a megalopolis that spans several of the Japanese islands.

Most of Japan's industry is located in a belt running along Honshu's southern coast, from Tokyo to Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, and Hiroshima; by contrast, the economy along the northwestern Sea of Japan coast is largely based on fishing and agriculture. The island is linked to the other three major Japanese islands by a number of bridges and tunnels. Its climate is humid and mild.

Geography

The island is roughly  long and ranges from  wide, and its total area is , making it slightly larger than the island of Great Britain . Its land area has been increasing with land reclamation and coastal uplift in the north due to plate tectonics with a convergent boundary. Honshu has  of coastline.

Mountainous and volcanic, Honshu experiences frequent earthquakes (the Great Kantō earthquake heavily damaged Tokyo in September 1923, and the earthquake of March 2011 moved the northeastern part of the island by varying amounts of as much as  while causing devastating tsunamis). The highest peak is the active volcano Mount Fuji at , which makes Honshu the world's 7th highest island. There are many rivers, including the Shinano River, Japan's longest. The Japanese Alps span the width of Honshu, from the 'Sea of Japan' coast to  the Pacific shore. The climate is generally humid subtropical in western Japan and humid continental in the north.

Extreme points

Bridges and tunnels
Honshu is connected to the islands of Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku by tunnels and bridges. Three bridge systems have been built across the islands of the Inland Sea between Honshu and Shikoku (Akashi Kaikyō Bridge and the Ōnaruto Bridge; Shin-Onomichi Bridge, Innoshima Bridge, Ikuchi Bridge, Tatara Bridge, Ōmishima Bridge, Hakata–Ōshima Bridge, and the Kurushima-Kaikyō Bridge; Shimotsui-Seto Bridge, Hitsuishijima Bridge, Iwakurojima Bridge, Yoshima Bridge, Kita Bisan-Seto Bridge, and the Minami Bisan-Seto Bridge), the Seikan Tunnel connects Honshu with Hokkaido, and the Kanmonkyo Bridge and Kanmon Tunnel connects Honshu with Kyushu.

Population
Its population was 104 million people, according to a 2017 estimate. This represents 81.3 percent of the entire population of Japan.

Administrative regions and prefectures
The island is divided into five nominal regions and contains 34 prefectures, including metropolitan Tokyo. Administratively, some smaller islands are included within these prefectures, notably including the Ogasawara Islands, Sado Island, Izu Ōshima, and Awaji Island.

The regions and its prefectures are:

Tōhoku region consists of six prefectures.
 

Kantō region consists of seven prefectures, including the capital of Japan which is the Tokyo Metropolis.

 

Chūbu region consists of nine prefectures.

 

Kansai region consists of seven prefectures.

Chūgoku region consists of five prefectures.

Natural features

Agriculture 
Most of Japan's tea and silk is from Honshu. Fruits, vegetables, grains, rice and cotton are grown in Honshu. Niigata is noted as an important producer of rice. The Kantō and Nōbi plains produce rice and vegetables. Yamanashi is a major fruit-growing area, and Aomori is famous for its apples. Rare species of the lichen genus Menegazzia are found only in Honshu.

Minerals 
Yields of zinc, copper, and oil have been found on Honshu.

Gallery

See also

 Japanese archipelago
 Geography of Japan
 Hokkaido
 Kyushu
 Shikoku
 Okinawa

References

 
Category:Islands of Japan
Category:Japanese archipelago