Zhou ( Chinese : 州 ; pinyin : zhōu ; lit. 'land') were historical administrative and political divisions of China . Formally established during the Han dynasty , zhou existed continuously for over 2000 years until the 1912 establishment of the Republic of China . Zhou were also once used in Korea ( 주 , ju ), Vietnam ( Vietnamese : châu ) and Japan ( Hepburn : shū ) .
27-558: Yizhou (益州), Yi Province or Yi Prefecture , was a zhou (province) of ancient China . Its capital city was Chengdu . During the Han dynasty , it included the commanderies Hanzhong , Ba , Guanghan , Shu , Wenshan , Jianwei , Zangke , Yuexi , Yizhou and Yongchang . It was bordered in the north by Liang Province and Yong Province . At its greatest extent, Yi covered present-day central and eastern Sichuan , Chongqing , southern Shaanxi and parts of Yunnan and Guizhou . During
54-679: A huge mark on Chinese place names , including the province of Guizhou and the major cities of Guangzhou , Fuzhou , Hangzhou , Lanzhou , and Suzhou , among many others. Likewise, although modern Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese provinces are no longer designated by zhou cognates, the older terms survive in various place names, notably the Japanese islands of Honshu and Kyushu , the Korean province Jeju-do , and Lai Châu in Vietnam. Zhou were first mentioned in ancient Chinese texts, notably
81-714: 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
108-464: A relative of his, but the latter turned against Zhang, conquered most of Yi Province , and proclaimed the Kingdom of Shu . During the subsequent Hanzhong Campaign (217–219), Liu Bei was able to conquer Hanzhong from Cao Cao and thus complete his control over Yi Province. In 221, Liu Bei assumed the title of emperor. Zhou (country subdivision) Zhou is typically rendered by several terms in
135-472: 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
162-608: 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
189-513: 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
216-412: 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
243-519: The Yu Gong or Tribute of Yu , section of the Book of Documents . All agreed on the division of China into nine zhou , though they differed on their names and position. These zhou were geographical concepts, not administrative entities. The Han dynasty was the first to formalize the zhou into actual administrative divisions by establishing 13 zhou all across China. Because these zhou were
270-591: The English language : The Tang dynasty also established fǔ ( 府 , "prefectures"), zhou of special importance such as capitals and other major cities. By the Ming and Qing, fǔ became predominant divisions within Chinese provinces. In Ming and Qing, the word fǔ ( 府 ) was typically attached to the name of each prefecture's capital city, thus both Chinese and Western maps and geographical works would often call
297-543: 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
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#1732765295615324-728: 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
351-533: 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),
378-507: 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, the economy along the northwestern Sea of Japan coast is largely based on fishing and agriculture. The island
405-809: 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 the second-most populous after the Indonesian island of Java . Honshu had a population of 104 million as of 2017 , constituting 81.3% of
432-494: The circuit or dào ( 道 ). Henceforth, zhou were lowered to second-level status, and the word becomes translated into English as "prefecture". Thereafter, zhou continued to survive as second- or third-level political divisions until the Qing dynasty . The Republic of China abolished zhou altogether, leaving the word only in the names of cities such as Guangzhou and Hangzhou. The People's Republic of China recycled
459-670: The First Great Qiang Rebellion (107–118) in Liang Province , unrest also spread to the Hanzhong and Wudu commanderies. In 188, Liu Yan was appointed governor of Yi Province. Upon his death in 194, Yi passed to his son Liu Zhang . In 213, warlord Cao Cao conquered the city of Hanzhong from the Taoist cult leader Zhang Lu , and threatened the rest of Yi. Liu Zhang requested the help of warlord Liu Bei ,
486-608: 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
513-455: 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, the island includes several past Japanese capitals, including Kyōto , Nara , and Kamakura . Much of the island's southern shore forms part of
540-548: The largest divisions of the China at the time, they are usually translated as "provinces". After the Han dynasty, however, the number of zhou began to increase. By the time of the Sui dynasty , there were over a hundred zhou all across China. The Sui and Tang dynasties merged zhou with the next level down, the commanderies or jùn ( 郡 ). The Tang also added another level on top:
567-617: 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
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#1732765295615594-786: 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 ,
621-640: 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
648-741: 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
675-420: The name, using it to refer to the autonomous prefectures granted to various ethnicities. Honshu Honshu ( 本州 , Honshū , pronounced [hoꜜɰ̃ɕɯː] ; lit. ' main island ' ) , historically called Akitsushima ( 秋津島 , lit. ' Dragonfly island ' ) , is the largest and most populous island of Japan . It is located south of Hokkaidō across
702-700: The respective cities Hangzhou -fu, Wenzhou -fu, Wuchang -fu, etc. After the Meiji Restoration , fu was also used in Japanese for the urban prefectures of the most important cities; today, it is still used in the Japanese names for the Osaka and Kyoto Prefectures . In the People's Republic of China , zhou today exists only in the designation " autonomous prefecture " ( Chinese : 自治州 ; pinyin : zìzhìzhōu ), administrative areas for China's designated minorities . However, zhou have left
729-404: 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
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