Honshu
Honshu is the largest island of the Japanese archipelago, its area is about 60% of the area of the entire country. The length of the island is 1300 kilometers, the width ranges from 230 to 50 kilometers. The length of the coastline is 5450 km. The island of Honshu is slightly smaller than the island of Great Britain (British Isles).
More than 100,000,000 people permanently live on Honshu, which is about 80% of the state's residents. It is the most populous of Japan's four main islands. Major Japanese cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Yokohama are located here.
The island of Honshu also has other names - Hondo and Nippon, which are now rarely used.
The island's terrain is mountainous, with many volcanoes among the mountains. The largest of them is Mount Fuji (3.776 m), which is a symbol of Japan. Thanks to her, Honshu ranks 7th among the highest islands in the world. The island experiences frequent earthquakes as it lies at the junction of 3 formation plates.
The climate of Honshu is very diverse - from continental in the north to subtropical in the south. There are very noticeable differences in the climate of the southeastern (Pacific Ocean) and northwestern (Sea of Japan) parts of the island. This is explained by the fact that they are separated from each other by mountains.
Islands of Japan
Konnichiwa, dear friends!
Today the topic of our conversation will be the Japanese islands.
Without a doubt, Japan is an island state. It has more than 3000 islands. Among them there are both large and many small ones scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean.
I would like to start, of course, with the largest ones. There are four of them: Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku.
There is a funny rhyme with which you can easily remember these names: Dear Hokkaido, I love you Honshu. For your Shikoku I love you Kyushu. I hope you smiled 
The largest of the islands of Japan
Honshu is the largest in size of the four. It occupies about 60% of the entire territory of Japan. Previously, the island was called differently: Hondo, Nippon.
It is on the island of Honshu that the most famous and largest Japanese cities are located: Tokyo, Kyoto, Yokohama, Osaka. Also located here is Mount Fuji, widely known outside Japan. Mount Fuji is a symbol of both Japan and the religious life of the Japanese.
About 100,000,000 people live on the island.
The coldest island in Japan
Hokkaido is a much smaller island in comparison to Honshu both in size and in number of inhabitants - about 5,500,000 people live there.
Ancient names of Hokkaido: Ezo, Matsumae, Ieddo, Yesso. Famous cities on the island of Hokkaido are Sapporo, Wakkanai, Chitose.
An interesting fact is that Hokkaido has a rather harsh climate compared to the rest of the islands of Japan, and the Japanese themselves consider Hokkaido to be the “north”.
However, there are many beautiful places in Hokkaido. For example, Lake Shikotsu, which does not freeze in winter. Or the Furano district, where you can see huge fields of lavender and daffodils.
Tourists in Hokkaido are attracted by the many pristine natural landscapes and ski resorts. The most famous ski resort is Niseko on Mount Annupuri.
The island of Hokkaido is also famous for its local cuisine, which stands out for its cooking methods using numerous dairy products.
The most ancient island of Japan
Next, let's look at the next major island of Japan - Kyushu .
About 12,000,000 people live here. The following famous and large cities are located in Kyushu: Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Hirado, Fukuoka.
It is believed that Japanese civilization originated on the island of Kyushu.
Unlike Hokkaido, Kyushu has a comfortable and warm climate. Hot spring resorts are also located here.
The city of Nagasaki is also interesting, where the Peace Park was built in memory of the Second World War and the atomic bomb dropped on the city.
The smallest of the major islands of Japan
The last of the large islands is Shikoku.
The population of this island is 4,000,000 people. The cities here are Matsuyama, Takamatsu, Kochi, Tokushima.
There are many pilgrimage temples on the island of Shikoku. This is what he is so famous for.
Recently, there has been a noticeable migration of young people from the island of Shikoku to the large cities of Honshu - Tokyo and Osaka. This results in a large percentage of elderly people on the island.
After we looked at the large Japanese islands, I wanted to turn to the smaller ones and talk about the most interesting of them.
The island located in the very east of Japan is Minamitori , translated from Japanese as Southern Bird Island. This island is very small, its area is only 1.2 kilometers square. Interestingly, almost no one lives on it. This is due to the lack of fresh water on the island. Mostly, military personnel and scientists study its geology on Minamitori Island.
The island is also visited by lovers of extreme sports and recreation.
Another unusual small Japanese island is Okunoshima , or “Rabbit Island”. Its name refers to the many wild animals that live here. There are especially many rabbits on the island, which are not at all afraid of people.
During World War II, a chemical weapons plant was located on Okunoshima. This was a strictly classified production, which is why the island was even removed from various maps. Now on the island the Museum of Toxic Substances reminds of that time.
There is a version that the huge number of rabbits is connected precisely with the testing of chemical weapons on them. Today, any visitor to the island can stay in a tourist hotel for sightseeing, as well as feed the rabbits.
There is an island on a volcano in Japan - Aogashima . Despite the present danger of an eruption, people here live comfortably and calmly. The nature here is incredibly beautiful, and the climate is very mild and warm.
So, we have briefly shared with you information about the most interesting and fascinating islands of Japan. A whole large article could be written about each of them, but that’s for next time.
You can start exploring mysterious Japan and learning Japanese now! Our main course, Japanese for beginners, will help you with this in three steps!
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Hokkaido
Hokkaido Island is the second largest island of Japan. It is separated from Honshu by the Sangar Strait. The Seikan Tunnel is built under the seabed between these islands.
The island of Hokkaido was in the past known as Ezo, in the old Russian transcription Ieddo, Iesso. Until 1859, it was also called Matsumae (in the old Russian transcription - Matsmay, Matsmay) after the surname of the ruling feudal clan, which owned the castle town of Matsumae.
In total, about 5.5 million people live on the island; famous cities in Japan include Sapporo, Chitose, and Wakkanai.
The largest city of Hokkaido and the administrative center of the prefecture of the same name is Sapporo.
The territory of Hokkaido is almost equally divided between mountains and plains. Moreover, the mountains are located in the center of the island and stretch in ridges from north to south. The highest peak is Mount Asahi (2290 m).
The easternmost point of Japan is located on the island - Cape Nosappu-Saki.
The climate on this island is noticeably colder than in other areas of Japan. Due to the proximity of the Pacific Ocean, the island experiences an average of only 17 full sunny days per year, with an average of 149 rainy days in summer and 123 snowy days in winter. The average annual temperature in Hokkaido is only +8 °C. And although geographically most of the settlements are located south of Paris, the climate is very different from European.
The island of Hokkaido is mostly covered with forests. Coniferous forests of spruce and fir predominate, with dense thickets of bamboo in the undergrowth. At the heights there are forests of cedar and birch, and there are heathlands with shrubs. In the south of the island, the forests consist of broad-leaved trees.
In the forests you can find brown bear, fox, sable, ermine, and weasel.
Japanese Prime Minister called the Kuril Islands issue a subject of negotiations with Russia
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, speaking on October 13 at a hearing in the upper house of parliament, said that the issue of ownership of the four islands of the Kuril chain is the subject of negotiations with Russia on the issue of a peace treaty.
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And what tasks do the future head of the country face internally and externally?
“The sovereignty of our country extends to the northern territories. The government has made no changes to this position. The subject of negotiations on concluding a peace treaty [with Russia] is the issue of ownership of the four islands (Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and Habomai - Ed.) - this is Japan’s consistent position,” the prime minister said, the meeting is broadcast by Japanese television channels.
Kishida also stressed that the issue of a peace treaty cannot be postponed to the future. Japan will build on previous bilateral agreements, including those in Singapore in 2018, the prime minister concluded.
On October 12, Kishida also stated that Tokyo’s sovereignty extends to the islands of the southern Kuril chain.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Kishida’s words, said that the islands are Russian territory. He also recalled that the Russian Federation has repeatedly confirmed its desire to continue dialogue with Japan on a peace treaty, but does not agree with Tokyo’s position on the islands.
In turn, Alexey Chepa, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, told Izvestia that Kishida’s speech was intended for an internal audience, not an external one. He stressed that Russia will respond to such statements in accordance with the Basic Law of the country.
In 2021, in Singapore, then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Russia and Japan agreed to speed up the negotiation process for a peace treaty based on the 1956 Joint Soviet-Japanese Declaration. Prior to this, Japan's official position was to demand the return of the four islands and only then conclude a peace treaty.
Following the Second World War, Russia and Japan never signed a peace treaty. The main snag in reaching agreements is Tokyo's claims to the South Kuril Islands. Japan still calls the islands of Kunashir, Iturup and a number of territories of the Lesser Kuril Ridge its northern territories, although after the Second World War they were transferred to the USSR.
On September 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the absence of a peace treaty with Japan nonsense. At the same time, he recalled the amendment to the Constitution, which noted that the Southern Kuril Islands are forever part of Russia. However, this does not change Moscow’s interest in concluding a peace treaty following the Second World War, Putin emphasized.
Kyushu
Kyushu Island is the third largest island in Japan. The area is approximately 35.6 thousand km². Population: about 15 million people. According to some sources, it is considered the birthplace of Japanese civilization. In the old Russian transcription it was called Kiu-Shiu or Kiu-Siu.
Major Japanese cities such as Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Hirado, Kagoshima, Oita and Kumamoto are located here.
Kyushu Island is connected to Honshu Island by the Kammon Tunnel (road and rail), built under the Shimonoseki Strait (Kammon Strait).
The terrain is mountainous (plains are common only in the west and north-west of Kyushu). The highest point is the inactive Kuju volcano (1788 m).
Kyushu Island is classified as a seismic zone. One of the most active Japanese volcanoes, Aso (1592 m), is located here; The volcanoes Sakurajima and Kirishima are also active. There are numerous thermal springs on the island.
The shores of Kyushu are heavily indented (except for the eastern ones). The climate is subtropical, monsoon; typhoons are frequent. Kyushu is washed by two warm currents - the Kuroshio and the Tsushima. In the south there are tropical monsoon forests dominated by palms and ferns.
Northern Territories Day in Japan
The legal title of Russian sovereignty over the Kuril Islands stems from the right of discovery and development. The process of annexing the Kuril Islands to Russia lasted several decades. The first (from the north) islands of the Kuril ridge were annexed to Russia in 1711, the last (southern) - in 1778. The first map (“drawing”) of the Kuril Islands was made by the Cossack navigator Ivan Kozyrevsky (1711). On the first and subsequent maps, the Kuril Islands were designated as a single geographical object without dividing them into the Greater and Lesser Kuril ridges.
The indigenous inhabitants of the Kuril Islands, the Ainu, did not have their own statehood; before the arrival of the Russians they considered themselves independent.
The annexation of the Kuril Islands to Russia was carried out on behalf of the supreme power of Russia and in accordance with the norms of international law of that time.
From 1855 to 1945, the state border within Sakhalin and the islands of the Kuril archipelago changed four times.
The first diplomatic and trade agreement between Japan and Russia was the Shimoda Treaty of February 7, 1855. The agreement defined the line of the Russian-Japanese border between the islands of Iturup and Urup. During the negotiations, the Russian side proceeded from the principle of the historical belonging of the South Kuril ridge to Russia, but due to the unfavorable international situation caused by Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War, the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands went to Japan. Sakhalin was declared an undivided demilitarized zone.
According to the St. Petersburg Territory Exchange Treaty of 1875, Sakhalin Island was completely transferred to the ownership of the Russian Empire in exchange for 18 Kuril Islands (Shumshu, Alaid, Paramushir, Makanrushi, Onekotan, Kharimkotan, Ekarma, Shiashkotan, Mussir, Raikoke, Matua, Rastua , islets of Sredneva and Ushisir, Ketoy, Simusir, Broughton, islets of Cherpoy and Brat Cherpoev, Urup).
The St. Petersburg Treaty remained in force until 1905, when, following the Russian-Japanese War, the Portsmouth Peace Treaty was signed, according to which Russia ceded all the Kuril Islands and southern Sakhalin (up to the 50th parallel) to victorious Japan.
In 1931, Japan, having occupied Manchuria, violated the Portsmouth Peace Treaty. After the defeat of Japan in World War II and its surrender on September 2, 1945, the Treaty of Portsmouth became invalid.
According to the Agreement of the Three Great Powers on the Far East adopted at the Crimean Conference in 1945, in exchange for the participation of Soviet troops in the war against Japan, all the Kuril Islands and the southern part of Sakhalin with all the adjacent islands were transferred to the Soviet Union.
One of the clauses of the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan proclaimed Tokyo’s renunciation of “all rights, title and claims to the Kuril Islands and to that part of Sakhalin Island and the adjacent islands over which Japan acquired sovereignty under the Portsmouth Peace Treaty of September 5 1905."
The fact that the USSR did not sign the San Francisco Peace Treaty does not negate the provisions of the document regarding the Kuril Islands.
Tokyo made the return of the islands a condition for concluding a peace treaty with Russia, which was never signed at the end of World War II.
Moscow's position is that the southern Kuril Islands became part of the USSR following the Second World War, and that Russian sovereignty over them, which has the appropriate international legal framework, is beyond doubt.
In November 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Kunashir Island for the first time in history. After Dmitry Medvedev, Russian government officials made repeated trips to the Kuril Islands.
Japan's claim to the four islands is based on the Treaty of Shimoda on Trade and Boundaries of February 7, 1855. On Northern Territories Day, far-right organizations hold rallies and demonstrations near the Russian Embassy in Japan.
Repeatedly, high-ranking Japanese politicians tried to challenge the legal ownership of the southern Kuril Islands to Russia.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Shikoku
Shikoku Island is the fourth largest island in Japan and is home to about 4 million people. Throughout the world, Shikoku is known for its 88 pilgrimage temples, the appearance of which is associated with the activities of the legendary Buddhist monk Kukai.
Most of the major cities and population are concentrated in the northern part of Shikoku. Among the most famous cities are Matsuyama, Tokushima, Takamatsu, Kochi.
On the island of Shikoku, the problem of population aging is more pressing than anywhere else in Japan, since young people are actively leaving for Tokyo, Osaka and other major cities in Japan.
In ancient times it was called Iyo-no-futana-shima, Iyo-shima and Futana-shima. In the old Russian spelling, the modern name of the island sounded like Shikok, Shikoku, Shi-Koku.
The island regularly hosts the Shikoku EV Rallye. Shikoku is connected to the island of Honshu by a highway that includes the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge.
Small islands
Japan's acquisition of the Kuril Islands is US interest
October 13, 2021, 16:33 - Public news service - OSN Tokyo again decided to escalate the degree of conflict in Russian-Japanese relations. Thus, the recently elected Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida immediately outlined his geopolitical position and stated that his country’s sovereignty extends to the southern part of the Kuril Islands.
The Japanese leader also accompanied his own words with a vivid quote: “We must resolve this issue without leaving it to the next generations. The government is determined to conclude a peace treaty with Russia, resolving the problem of ownership of these islands.”
Thus, the official authorities of Japan, by analogy with Ukraine, clearly signaled to both Russia and the world community that they do not consider the issue of the territorial affiliation of the islands closed and intend to discuss this topic in both the near and somewhat distant future.
It is difficult to imagine that Japan would implement such political tactics without the consent of its main military partner, the United States.
Indeed, after the end of World War II, Washington managed to bring Japan's military-political self-determination under control. Power control began to be exercised through the creation of large military bases, and political control - with the help of social technologists closely associated with the American intelligence services.
The control process went so deep that it affected, among other things, the humanitarian sphere. In particular, information specialists were able to retouch in the memory of Japanese society the circumstances of the atomic bombings that occurred in 1945.
Over the past years, Japan has been able to take significant steps regarding the development of its own armed forces and military-industrial complex, and currently the country is already discussing the issue of transforming the national defense forces into a combat-ready army.
Southern Islands
The Southern Islands of Japan usually include the Ryukyu Islands, located to the southwest of the main part of the country, the Bonin Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean, at a distance of 1000 km from Tokyo, and the most remote island of Minamitori.
The Ryukyu Islands are a group of 98 islands in the East China Sea, stretching 1,200 kilometers from Kyushu to Taiwan. The total number of inhabitants is 1.6 million people, the total area is 4700 square meters. km. 90% of the islands' inhabitants live on the largest island, Okinawa. Currently, only 47 islands have a permanent population. The most developed sectors of the economy are fishing, agriculture and tourism.
The Bonin Islands are a group of 41 islands located south of Tokyo between the Mariana Islands and Japan. The total population is about 2,500 people, the total area does not exceed 104 square kilometers.
Minamitori is the easternmost island that belonged to Japan. It is located 1848 km southeast of Tokyo and 1267 km east of the nearest Japanese island. Minamitori has an area of 1.2 square kilometers and has no permanent population. Despite this, the island is of extreme strategic importance, allowing Japan to claim 428,875 km² in surrounding waters.
Japan intends to conduct a dialogue with Russia based on existing agreements - Kishida
The Japanese government intends to negotiate a peace treaty with Russia based on existing agreements, including those reached in Singapore in 2021. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced this on Wednesday during parliamentary debates, TASS reports today, October 13.
“Japan will deal with [this issue] on the basis of existing bilateral agreements, including those reached in Singapore,” he said.
Kishida recalled that Japan's position is that its sovereignty extends to the islands of the southern Kuril Islands.
“The government is determined to conclude a peace treaty with Russia, resolving the problem of ownership of these islands,” the Japanese prime minister added.
On Tuesday, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia does not agree with Tokyo's assertions regarding sovereignty over the southern part of the Kuril Islands, emphasizing that it is Russian territory.
Moscow and Tokyo have been holding consultations for many decades with the aim of developing a peace treaty following the Second World War. The main obstacle to this remains disagreements over the rights to the southern part of the Kuril Islands. After the end of the war, the entire archipelago was included in the Soviet Union, but Japan disputes the ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a group of adjacent small uninhabited islands. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly emphasized that Russian sovereignty over these territories, which has the appropriate international legal framework, is beyond doubt.
In November 2021, at a meeting in Singapore, Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to intensify negotiations on a peace treaty based on the Soviet-Japanese joint declaration of October 19, 1956. It ended the state of war between the two countries and restored diplomatic and consular relations between them.
In the declaration, the USSR expressed its readiness to transfer to Japan the island of Shikotan and a number of adjacent small uninhabited islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge, with the condition that their actual transfer to the control of Tokyo would take place after the conclusion of a peace treaty.
The Declaration was ratified by the parliaments of both countries on December 8, 1956. As the Russian side has repeatedly stated, this document clearly states that consideration of the issue of border demarcation is possible only after the conclusion of a peace treaty.
