List of islands of Japan

Japanese islands outlined

Japan is an island country of 14,125 islands, of which approximately 260 are inhabited.^[1][2] Japan is the fourth-largest island country in the world, behind Australia, Indonesia, and Madagascar.^[3] Japan is also the second-most-populous island country in the world, only behind Indonesia.

According to a survey conducted by the Japan Coast Guard in 1987, the number of islands in Japan was 6,852. At that time, the survey only counted islands with coastlines of 100 meters or more that were shown on paper maps. On February 28, 2023, the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan announced that the number of islands had been updated to 14,125 through a recount using digital maps. Since there is no international standard for counting islands, only islands with a coastline of 100 meters or more were counted, as in the past. According to the GSI, advances in surveying technology and the detailed representation of topographic features through digital mapping contributed to this announcement.^[4][1]

Japanese archipelago

Main article: Japanese archipelago

Main islands

Hokkaido

Honshu

Kyushu

Shikoku

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The main islands of Japan

The four main islands of Japan are:^[5][6]

• Hokkaido – the northernmost and second largest main island, third most populous.
• Honshu – the largest and most populous island, with the capital Tokyo. Honshu is connected to the other three main islands by bridges and tunnels.
• Kyushu – the third largest main island, second most populous and the nearest to the Asian continent.
• Shikoku – the smallest and least populous main island, located between Honshu and Kyushu.

Hokkaido prefecture

• Ōshima
• Okushiri Island
• Teuri Island
• Rebun Island
• Rishiri Island^[7]
• Yagishiri Island
• Kamome island

Islands of Honshu in the Sea of Japan

• Awashima Island, Niigata
• Kanmurijima
• Kutsujima, Kyoto
• Mitsukejima
• Nanatsujima archipelago
• Notojima
• Oki Islands^[8]
  • Dōgo
  • Nakanoshima
  • Nishinoshima
  • Chiburijima
• Oomijima [ja]
• Sado^[9]
• Takashima, Shimane
• Tobishima (Yamagata)
  • Oshakujima [ja]
• Tsunoshima
• Umashima, Shimane

Islands in Tokyo Bay

• Dream Island (Yume No Shima)
• Odaiba (artificial island)
• Sarushima (natural)
• Jonan Island [ja]
• Heiwa Island [ja]
• Showa Island [ja]
• Keihin Island [ja]
• Tokyo International Airport (artificial island)
• Katsushima  [ja]
• Hakkeijima [ja]
• Higashi Ogijima [ja]
• Wakasu
• Oogishima [ja]
• Ukishima [ja]

Islands in Osaka Bay

• Maishima
• Yumeshima
• Sakishima [ja]
• Kansai International Airport (artificial island)
• Kobe Airport (artificial island)
• Port Island
• Rokkō Island
• Minami Ashiyahama [ja]
• Wakayama Marina City
• Nishinomiyahama [ja]

Islands in Ise Bay

• Chūbu Centrair International Airport (artificial island)
• Kami-shima
• Kashiko Island
• Kozukumi Island
• Mikimoto Pearl Island

Islands in Mutsu Bay

• Ōshima
• Taijima

Nanpō Islands (Nanpō Shotō)

Izu Islands

• Izu Islands^[10]
  • Aogashima^[11]
  • Hachijō^[12]
  • Izu Ōshima^[13]
  • Kōzu^[10]
  • Miyake-jima^[10]
  • Mikura-jima^[10]
  • Nii-jima^[10]
  • Shikine^[10]
  • Toshima^[10]
  • Tori-shima^[14]
  • Udonejima^[10]
• Ogasawara Islands (Bonin Islands)^[15]

Ogasawara Islands

• • Mukojima Rettō
  • Chichijima^[15]
  • Hahajima^[15]
  • Mukojima
• Kazan Rettō (Volcano Islands)
  • Nishinoshima
  • Kita Iwo Jima (North Iwo Jima)
  • Iwo Jima^[15]
  • Minami Iwo Jima (South Iwo Jima)

Other Japanese islands

• Minami Torishima (Marcus Island)
• Enoshima
• Okino Torishima (Parece Vela)

Islands around Kyushu

Most of these are located in the East China Sea.

• Amakusa
  • Shimoshima Island, Amakusa
  • Kamishima Island, Amakusa
• Nagashima Island, Kagoshima
• Aoshima
• Gotō Islands^[9]
• Danjo Islands
• Hizentorishima [ja]
• Hashima^[16]
• Hirado^[8]
• Iki
• Koshikijima Islands
  • Shimokoshiki-jima
  • Kamikoshiki-jima
• Tsushima^[9]
• Ukushima

Islands around Shikoku

• Kuro-shima (Ehime)
• Nii Ōshima

Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shotō)

Ryukyu Islands

Satsunan Islands

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

Ōsumi Islands

The North-Eastern Group:

• Tanegashima^[9]
• Yakushima
• Kuchinoerabujima
• Mageshima

The North-Western Group:

• Iōjima
• Shōwa Iōjima
• Kuroshima
• Takeshima

Tokara Islands

The Shichi-tō:

• Kuchinoshima
• Nakanoshima (Kagoshima)
• Gajajima
• Suwanosejima
• Akusekijima
• Tairajima
• Kodakarajima
• Takarajima

Amami Islands

• Amami Ōshima
• Kikaijima
• Kakeromajima
• Yoroshima
• Ukeshima
• Tokunoshima
• Okinoerabujima
• Yoronjima

Ryukyu Islands (Ryūkyū-shotō)

The Southern Half, Okinawa Prefecture

Okinawa Islands

The Central Group or Ryukyu proper:

• Okinawa Island^[8]
• Kumejima
• Iheyajima
• Izenajima
• Agunijima
• Iejima
• Iōtorishima^[17]
• Kerama Islands
  • Tokashikijima
  • Zamamijima
  • Akajima
  • Gerumajima
• Daitō Islands
  • Kitadaitojima
  • Minamidaitōjima
  • Okidaitōjima

Sakishima Islands

Also known as the Further Isles:

• Miyako Islands
  • Miyako-jima
  • Ikema
  • Ogami
  • Irabu Island
  • Shimoji
  • Kurima-jima
  • Minna
  • Tarama
• Yaeyama Islands
  • Iriomote
  • Ishigaki
  • Taketomi
  • Kohama
  • Kuroshima
  • Aragusuku
  • Hatoma
  • Yubujima
  • Hateruma
  • Yonaguni
• Senkaku Islands - controlled by Japan, disputed by China and Taiwan.
  • Uotsurijima
  • Kuba Jima
  • Taisho Jima
  • Kita Kojima
  • Minami Kojima

Seto Inland Sea islands

Seto Inland Sea

• Kasaoka Islands
  • Takashima Island (Okayama) 高島 (岡山県笠岡市)
  • Shiraishi Island
  • Kitagi Island, 北木島
  • Obishi Island, 大飛島
  • Kobi Island, 小飛島
  • Manabeshima, 真鍋島
  • Mushima Island (Okayama), 六島 (岡山県)
• Shiwaku Islands
• Awaji^[9]
• Etajima
• Kurahashi-jima
• Inujima
• Itsukushima (popularly known as "Miyajima")
• Shōdoshima
• Naoshima Islands
• Suō-Ōshima, Yamaguchi
• Himeshima, Ōita
• Aoshima, Ehime
• Hashira Island
• Okamura Island
• Ōshima (Ehime)
• Mukaishima Island, Hiroshima
• Ōmishima Island, Ehime
• Ōkunoshima (often called "Rabbit Island")

Islands in lakes

• Daikon-island
• Bentenjima in Lake Tōya
• Bentenjima in Lake Hamana

Other artificial islands

• Chūbu Centrair International Airport
• Dejima^[8]
• New Kitakyushu Airport
• Midori No Shima [ja], off Hakodate (artificial)
• Malimpia Okinosu [ja] (artificial)
• Wakaejima (artificial)
• Island City, Fukuoka (artificial)

Claims but does not control

Kuril islands and the Northern Territories

The Northern Territories

There are four disputed Kuril Islands that are controlled by Russia and claimed by Japan. These islands are called the Chishima Islands.^[18]

• 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

• Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima) - controlled by South Korea, disputed by Japan. North Korea also claims Dokdo belongs to North Korea, and blasts Japan for its claim over Dokdo.^[19]

Former

• South Seas Mandate (1919–1947) - part of the Japanese colonial empire until its defeat in 1945. Formally revoked by the United Nations in 1947. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands later became a U.S. territory.
• Taiwan and Penghu (1895–1952) - part of the Japanese colonial empire until its defeat in 1945. Returned to the Republic of China in 1945 but unrecognized by the Allies. All claims relinquished by the Treaty of San Francisco signed in 1951.
• Karafuto (1905–1949) - the southern half of the island of Sakhalin, controlled by Japan after the Russo-Japanese War. Japan lost control of Karafuto after its invasion by the Soviet Union during World War II. Formally abolished as a legal entity by Japan in 1949. Japan in addition controlled the northern half of Sakhalin between 1920 and 1925, during and after the Russian Civil War.
• Jeju Island (1910–1945) - part of Korea, annexed by Japanese colonial empire until its defeat in 1945.

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.

Rank	Island name	Area (km^2)	Area (sq mi)	Island group
1	Honshu	227,960	88,020
2	Hokkaido	83,424.31	32,210.31
3	Kyushu	36,782	14,202
4	Shikoku	18,800	7,300
5	Okinawa Island	1,207	466	Ryukyu Islands
6	Sado Island	855.26	330.22
7	Amami Ōshima	712.35	275.04	Amami Islands
8	Tsushima Island	708.7	273.6
9	Awaji Island	592.17	228.64	Seto Inland Sea islands
10	Shimoshima Island, Amakusa	574.01	221.63
11	Yakushima	504.88	194.94	Ōsumi Islands
12	Tanegashima	444.99	171.81	Ōsumi Islands
13	Fukue Island	326.43	126.04	Gotō Islands
14	Iriomote Island	289.27	111.69
15	Tokunoshima	247.8	95.7	Amami Islands
16	Dōgojima	241.58	93.27	Oki Islands
17	Kamishima Island, Amakusa	225.32	87.00	Amakusa islands
18	Ishigaki Island	222.5	85.9
19	Rishiri Island	183	71
20	Nakadōri Island	168.34	65.00	Gotō Islands
21	Hirado Island	163.42	63.10
22	Miyako-jima	158.87	61.34
23	Shōdoshima	153.30	59.19
24	Okushiri Island	142.97	55.20
25	Iki Island	138.46	53.46
26	Suō-Ōshima	128.31	49.54
27	Okinoerabujima	93.63	36.15	Amami Islands
28	Etajima	91.32	35.26
29	Izu Ōshima	91.06	35.16	Izu Islands
30	Nagashima Island, Kagoshima	90.62	34.99
31	Rebun Island	80	31
32	Kakeromajima	77.39	29.88	Amami Islands
33	Kurahashi-jima	69.46	26.82
34	Shimokoshiki-jima	66.12	25.53
35	Ōmishima Island, Ehime	66.12	25.53
36	Hachijō-jima	62.52	24.14
37	Kume Island	59.11	22.82	Okinawa Islands
38	Kikaijima	56.93	21.98	Amami Islands
39	Nishinoshima	55.98	21.61
40	Miyake-jima	55.44	21.41
41	Notojima	46.78	18.06
42	Kamikoshiki-jima	45.08	17.41
43	Ōshima (Ehime)	41.87	16.17
44	Ōsakikamijima	38.27	14.78
45	Kuchinoerabu-jima	38.04	14.69
46	Hisaka	37.23	14.37
47	Innoshima	35.03	13.53
48	Nakanoshima (in Kagoshima)	34.47	13.31	Tokara Islands
49	Hario Island	33.16	12.80
50	Nakanoshima (in Shimane)	32.21	12.44	Oki Islands

See also

• Geography of Japan
• Japanese archipelago
• List of islands of Japan by area
• List of islands
• Names of Japan

References

1. Kojo, Hirotaka (February 15, 2023). "Japan has more than 14,000 islands, digital mapping reveals". The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023.
2. McCurry, Justin (February 16, 2023). "Japan sees its number of islands double after recount". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023.
3. "Island Countries Of The World". WorldAtlas.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
4. "我が国の島を一定の条件のもと数えました。その結果、14,125島となりましたので、お知らせいたします。". Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. February 28, 2023. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023.
5. "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 2007-11-13. Retrieved 9 August 2019. MILT classification 6,852 islands(main islands: 5 islands, remote islands: 6,847 islands)
6. Imperial Japanese Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. (1903). Japan in the Beginning of the 20th century (Haruki Yamawaki, editor), p. 2.
7. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Rishiri-tō" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 791.
8. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). Sovereign and Subject, p. 332.
9. Ponsonby-Fane, p. 331.
10. Nussbaum, "Izu Shotō" at p. 412.
11. 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.
12. Nussbaum, p. 412; Ponsonby-Fane, p. 332.
13. Nussbaum, "Ōshima" at p. 761.
14. Nussbaum, "Torishima" at p. 987.
15. Nussbaum, "Ogasawara Guntō" at p. 737.
16. Nussbaum, "Hashima" at p. 294.
17. "Io-Torishima". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
18. Imperial Japanese Commission, p. 3.
19. "North Korea blasts Japan over claim to Dokdo". koreatimes. 2021-07-17. Retrieved 2024-09-08.