The term "Mainland Japan" is used to distinguish the large islands of the Japanese archipelago from the remote, smaller islands; it refers to the main islands ofHokkaido,Honshu,Kyushu, andShikoku.[7] From 1943 until the end of thePacific War,Karafuto Prefecture (southSakhalin) was designated part of the mainland. Geographically speaking the term "mainland" is somewhat inaccurate, as this refers to an expanse of territory that is attached to a continental landmass.
The term "home islands" was anexonym used at the end of World War II to define the area where Japanese sovereignty and constitutional rule of itsemperor would be restricted.[citation needed] The term is also commonly used today to distinguish the archipelago from Japan's colonies and other territories.[8]
The archipelago consists of 14,125 islands[2] (here defined as land more than 100 m in circumference), of which 430 are inhabited.[9] The five main islands, from north to south, areHokkaido,Honshu,Shikoku,Kyushu, andOkinawa.[7] Honshu is the largest and is referred to as theJapanese mainland.[10]
The topography is divided as:
Hokkaido, Honshu, and Shikoku and its surrounding islands;
Kyushu and theRyukyu arc, which is composed of the Ryukyu Islands and other surrounding islands;
^"日本の領海等概念図". 海上保安庁海洋情報部. Archived fromthe original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved12 August 2018.
^ab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 fromthe original(website) on 2007-11-13. Retrieved9 August 2019.MILT classification 6,852 islands(main islands: 5 islands, remote islands: 6,847 islands)
