Regions of 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 example, 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, Chugoku Bank, Tohoku University, etc.). While Japan has eight High Courts, their jurisdictions do not correspond to the eight regions below.

From north to south, they are:

• Hokkaido (the island of Hokkaido and nearby islands, including Sapporo)
• Tohoku region (northern Honshu, including Sendai)
• Kanto region (eastern Honshu, including Tokyo and Yokohama)
• Chubu region (central Honshu, including Mt. Fuji), sometimes divided into:
  • Hokuriku region (northwestern Chubu)
  • Koshin'etsu region (northeastern Chubu, including Nagano)
  • Tokai region (southern Chubu, including Nagoya)
• Kinki region (west-central Honshu, including Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto)
• Chugoku region (western Honshu, including Hiroshima)
• Shikoku (island, including Matsuyama)
• Kyushu (island, including Fukuoka) and Okinawa

Each contains several prefectures, except the Hokkaido region, which covers only Hokkaido Prefecture.

See also

• Ecoregions of Japan
• Prefectures of Japan
• Geography of Japan

See also: Regions of Japan, Chubu region, Chugoku region, Ecoregions of Japan, Fukuoka, Geography of Japan, Hiroshima, Hokkaido Prefecture, Hokuriku region, Honshu