Misplaced Pages

#372627

28-722: Masuda is located on the western edge of Honshu , facing the Sea of Japan to the north and the Chugoku Mountains to the south and is bordered by Yamaguchi Prefecture to the west and Hiroshima Prefecture to the southwest. The city has the largest geographic area among municipalities in Shimane Prefecture. The urban center is on a narrow floodplain between the Takatsu River and the Masuda River. Parts of

56-714: A quarter of all paddy fields in Japan. Chiba Prefecture is famous for its peanuts, also being the largest producer in Japan. Rare species of the lichen genus Menegazzia are found only in Honshu. Most of Japan's tea and silk is from Honshu. Japan's three largest industrial regions are all located on Honshu: the Keihin region , the Hanshin Industrial Region , and the Chūkyō Industrial Area . Honshu

84-596: Is 1,570.5 mm (61.83 in) with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.6 °C (81.7 °F), and lowest in January, at around 5.5 °C (41.9 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Masuda was 39.3 °C (102.7 °F) on 6 August 2017; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −7.3 °C (18.9 °F) on 26 February 1981. Per Japanese census data,

112-472: Is home to a large portion of Japan's minimal mineral reserves, including small oil and coal deposits. Several coal deposits are located in the northern part of the island, concentrated in Fukushima Prefecture and Niigata Prefecture , though Honshu's coal production is negligible in comparison to Hokkaido and Kyushu . Most of Japan's oil reserves are also located in northern Honshu, along

140-513: Is roughly 1,300 km (810 mi) long and ranges from 50 to 230 km (31 to 143 mi) wide, and its total area is 227,960 km (88,020 sq mi), 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 10,084 kilometres (6,266 mi) of coastline. Mountainous and volcanic, Honshu experiences frequent earthquakes (such as

168-412: Is seismically active, and is home to 40 active volcanoes. In 2011, an earthquake of magnitude 9.0–9.1 occurred off the coast of Honshu, generating tsunami waves up to 40.5 meters (133 ft) high and killing 19,747. It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan , and the fourth most powerful earthquake in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900. The tsunami subsequently led to

196-653: Is the largest and most populous island of Japan . It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait , north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea , and northeast of Kyūshū 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 seventh-largest island in the world, and

224-543: The Great Kantō earthquake , which heavily damaged Tokyo in September 1923; and the earthquake of March 2011 , which moved the northeastern part of the island by varying amounts of as much as 5.3 m (17 ft) while causing devastating tsunamis). The highest peak is the active volcano Mount Fuji at 3,776 m (12,388 ft), which makes Honshu the world's 7th highest island . There are many rivers, including

252-728: 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 Hokkaidō, and the Kanmonkyo Bridge and Kanmon Tunnel connect Honshu with Kyūshū . These are notable flora and fauna of Honshu. Being on the Ring of Fire , the island of Honshu

280-545: The Ogasawara Islands , Sado Island , Izu Ōshima , and Awaji Island . The regions and their prefectures are: Japanese archipelago The Japanese archipelago ( Japanese : 日本列島 , Nihon Rettō ) is an archipelago of 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan . It extends over 3,000 km (1,900 mi) from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China and Philippine seas in

308-533: 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. Honshu has a total population of 104 million people, according to a 2017 estimate, 81.3% of the entire population of Japan. The largest city is Tokyo (population: 13,988,129),

SECTION 10

#1732782974373

336-582: The second-most populous after the Indonesian island of Java . Honshu had a population of 104 million as of 2017 , constituting 81.3% of the entire population of Japan, and 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,

364-540: The capital of Japan and part of the Greater Tokyo Area , the most populous metropolitan area in the world. Honshu is connected to the islands of Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku by tunnels and bridges. Three bridge systems have been built across the islands of the Inland Sea between Honshu and Shikoku ( Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and the Ōnaruto Bridge ; Shin-Onomichi Bridge , Innoshima Bridge , Ikuchi Bridge , Tatara Bridge , Ōmishima Bridge , Hakata–Ōshima Bridge , and

392-709: The city government, and two public high schools operated by the Shimane Prefectural Board of Education. There are also two private high schools, and the prefecture operates one special education school for the handicapped. [REDACTED] JR West (JR West) - San'in Main Line [REDACTED] JR West (JR West) - Yamaguchi Line Honshu Honshu ( 本州 , Honshū , pronounced [hoꜜɰ̃ɕɯː] ; lit.   ' main island ' ) , historically called Akitsushima ( 秋津島 , lit.   ' Dragonfly island ' ) ,

420-719: 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. The island primarily shares two climates, with Northern Honshu having a mainly humid continental climate while the south has a humid subtropical climate . The name of the island, Honshū ( 本州 ) , directly translates to "main province" or "original land" in English. Humans first arrived in Honshu approximately 37,000 years ago, and likely earlier. The first humans to arrive in Honshu were Stone Age hunter-gatherers from Northeast Asia, likely following

448-597: The island includes several past Japanese capitals, including Kyōto , 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. Honshu contains Japan's highest mountain, Mount Fuji, and its largest lake, Lake Biwa . Most of Japan's industry is located in a belt running along Honshu's southern coast, from Tokyo to Nagoya , Kyōto , Osaka , Kobe , and Hiroshima ; by contrast,

476-617: The meltdown of 3 nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant , leading to the Fukushima nuclear disaster . Honshu island generates around US$ 3.5 trillion or more than 80% of Japan's GDP . Fruit, vegetables, grains, rice and cotton make up the main produce grown in Honshu. The Tohoku region, spanning the north-eastern part of the island, is notable for its rice production, with 65% of cultivated land being rice paddy fields – almost

504-786: The migration of ice age megafauna . Surviving artifacts from this period include finely-crafted stone blades, similar to those found in Siberia . Honshu was the target of devastating air raids during the Pacific War of World War II . The first air raid to strike Honshu and the other home islands was the Doolittle Raid . With the introduction of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress , the firebombing of Tokyo culminated in Operation Meetinghouse ,

532-640: The most destructive air raid in human history, which destroyed 16 square miles (41 km ; 10,000 acres) of central Tokyo , leaving an estimated 100,000 civilians dead, and over one million homeless. The war ended with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki shortly before Japan's surrender and signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on September 2, 1945, on board the USS ; Missouri  (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay . The island

560-741: The most heavily used. The San'yō Shinkansen , connects the two largest cities in western Japan, Shin-Osaka in Osaka with Hakata Station in Fukuoka . Both the Tokaido Shinkansen and the Sanyo Shinkansen help form a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt megalopolis. 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

588-672: The population of Masuda in 2020 is 45,003 people. Masuda has been conducting censuses since 1920. The area of Masuda was part of ancient Iwami Province , and corresponds almost exactly with Mino District , which is mentioned from the Nara period onwards. The area was controlled by the Masuda clan from the Kamakura period to the end of the Sengoku period . During the Edo Period , the area

SECTION 20

#1732782974373

616-542: The southern region of the city are within the borders of the Nishi-Chugoku Sanchi Quasi-National Park . Hiroshima Prefecture Shimane Prefecture Yamaguchi Prefecture Masuda has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfa ) with very warm summers and cool winters. Precipitation is abundant throughout the year. The average annual temperature in Masuda is 15.9 °C (60.6 °F). The average annual rainfall

644-994: The southwest along the Pacific coast of the Eurasian continent, and consists of three island arcs from north to south: the Northeastern Japan Arc , the Southwestern Japan Arc, and the Ryukyu Island Arc . The Daitō Islands , the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc , the Kuril Islands , and the Nanpō Islands neighbor the archipelago . Japan is the largest island country in East Asia and the fourth-largest island country in

672-404: The west coast, spanning Niigata, Yamagata , and Akita Prefectures. Most of Japan's copper, lead, zinc and chromite is located on Honshu, along with smaller, scattered deposits of gold, silver, arsenic, sulfur and pyrite . The Tokaido Shinkansen , opened in 1964 between Tokyo and Shin-Ōsaka , is Japan's first high-speed rail line. It is the world's oldest high-speed rail line and one of

700-455: The world with 377,975.24 km (145,937.06 sq mi). It has an exclusive economic zone of 4,470,000 km (1,730,000 sq mi). 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 of Hokkaido , Honshu , Kyushu , and Shikoku . From 1943 until the end of the Pacific War , Karafuto Prefecture (south Sakhalin )

728-413: 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 used at the end of World War II to define the area where Japanese sovereignty and constitutional rule of its emperor would be restricted. The term is also commonly used today to distinguish

756-769: Was dissolved as a result of this merger. Masuda has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 22 members. Masuda contributes three members to the Shimane Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Shimane 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan . The main industries in Masuda are agriculture and commercial fishing . Manufacturing includes textiles and electronic components. Masuda has 15 public elementary school and ten public junior high schools operated by

784-480: Was divided between the holdings of Tsuwano Domain and Hamada Domain . After the Meiji restoration , the town of Masuda was established on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. The city was founded on August 1, 1952 by the merger of Masuda with seven neighbouring villages. On November 1, 2004, the towns of Mito and Hikimi (both from Mino District ) were merged into Masuda. Mino District

#372627