View source for List of regions of Japan

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[[File:Regions and Prefectures of Japan no labels.svg|thumb|200px|Map of the regions of [[Japan]] as preferred by the English Wikipedia (for other divisions, see [[#Other regional divisions]]). From northeast to southwest: [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidō]] (red), [[Tōhoku region|Tōhoku]] (yellow), [[Kantō region|Kantō]] (green), [[Chūbu region|Chūbu]] (cyan), [[Kansai region|Kansai]] (indigo), [[Chūgoku region|Chūgoku]] (orange), [[Shikoku]] (purple), and [[Kyushu|Kyūshū]] & [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] (grey).]]

{{Administrative divisions of Japan}}

[[Japan]] is often divided into [[region]]s, each containing one or more of the country's [[Prefectures of Japan|47 prefectures]] at large. Sometimes, they are referred to as {{nihongo|"blocs"|ブロック|burokku}}, or {{nihongo|"regional blocs"|地域ブロック|chiiki burokku}} as opposed to more granular regional divisions. They are not official administrative units, though they have been used by government officials for statistical and other purposes since 1905. They are widely used in, for example, maps, geography textbooks, and weather reports, and many businesses and institutions use their home regions in their names as well, for example [[Kyushu National Museum]], [[Kintetsu Railway|Kinki Nippon Railway]], [[list of banks in Japan|Chūgoku Bank]], and [[Tōhoku University]]. 

One common division groups the prefectures into eight regions. In this arrangement, of the four [[Japanese Archipelago|main islands]] of Japan, [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidō]], [[Honshu]], [[Shikoku]], and [[Kyushu|Kyūshū]], each form their own region, with Kyūshū also including the Satsunan Islands. The largest island, [[Honshu|Honshū]], is split into five regions. [[Okinawa Prefecture]] is usually considered part of Kyūshū, but it is sometimes treated as its own ninth region.

Japan has eight High Courts, but their jurisdictions do not match the typical eight-region geographical division (see [[#Other regional divisions]] and [[Judicial system of Japan]] for details).

==Table==
{{static row numbers}} 
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers static-row-header-text"
|-
! Region !! Population !! Area in km<sup>2</sup><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190226151644/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7309/6877bbd0534110c40c6881b7ae075991557f.pdf Japan's Regional Megamarkets - Semantic Scholar] (PDF)</ref> !! Prefectures contained
|-
| [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidō]] || 5.1 million<ref>[https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/regions/q2.html What special characteristics does Hokkaido have?] from Kids Web Japan</ref> || 83,000 || [[Hokkaido|Hokkaidō]]
|-
| [[Tōhoku region|Tōhoku]] || 8.9 million<ref>[https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/regions/q3.html What special characteristics does the Tohoku region have?] from Kids Web Japan</ref> || 67,000 || [[Akita Prefecture|Akita]], [[Aomori Prefecture|Aomori]], [[Fukushima Prefecture|Fukushima]], [[Iwate Prefecture|Iwate]], [[Miyagi Prefecture|Miyagi]], [[Yamagata Prefecture|Yamagata]]
|-
| [[Kantō region|Kantō]] || 43.3 million<ref>[https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/regions/q4.html What special characteristics does the Kanto region have?] from Kids Web Japan</ref> || 32,000 || [[Chiba Prefecture|Chiba]], [[Gunma Prefecture|Gunma]], [[Ibaraki Prefecture|Ibaraki]], [[Kanagawa Prefecture|Kanagawa]], [[Saitama Prefecture|Saitama]], [[Tochigi Prefecture|Tochigi]], [[Tokyo|Tōkyō]]
|-
| [[Chūbu region|Chūbu]] || 21.4 million<ref>[https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/regions/q5.html What special characteristics does the Chubu region have?] from Kids Web Japan</ref> || 67,000 || [[Aichi Prefecture|Aichi]], [[Fukui Prefecture|Fukui]], [[Gifu Prefecture|Gifu]], [[Ishikawa Prefecture|Ishikawa]], [[Nagano Prefecture|Nagano]],<br/> [[Niigata Prefecture|Niigata]], [[Shizuoka Prefecture|Shizuoka]], [[Toyama Prefecture|Toyama]], [[Yamanashi Prefecture|Yamanashi]]
|-
| [[Kansai region|Kansai]] (also known as Kinki) || 22.5 million<ref>[https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/regions/q6.html What special characteristics does the Kinki region have?] from Kids Web Japan</ref> || 33,000 || [[Hyōgo Prefecture|Hyōgo]], [[Kyoto Prefecture|Kyōto]], [[Mie Prefecture|Mie]], [[Nara Prefecture|Nara]], [[Osaka Prefecture|Ōsaka]], [[Shiga Prefecture|Shiga]], [[Wakayama Prefecture|Wakayama]]
|-
| [[Chūgoku region|Chūgoku]] || 7.3 million<ref>[https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/regions/chugoku.html What special characteristics does the Chugoku region have?] from Kids Web Japan</ref> || 32,000 || [[Hiroshima Prefecture|Hiroshima]], [[Okayama Prefecture|Okayama]], [[Shimane Prefecture|Shimane]], [[Tottori Prefecture|Tottori]], [[Yamaguchi Prefecture|Yamaguchi]]
|-
| [[Shikoku]] || 3.8 million<ref>[https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/regions/q8.html What special characteristics does the Shikoku region have?] from Kids Web Japan</ref> || 19,000 || [[Ehime Prefecture|Ehime]], [[Kagawa Prefecture|Kagawa]], [[Kōchi Prefecture|Kōchi]], [[Tokushima Prefecture|Tokushima]]
|-
| [[Kyushu|Kyūshū]] & [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] || 14.3 million<ref>[https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/regions/q9.html What special characteristics does the Kyushu-Okinawa region have?] from Kids Web Japan</ref> || 44,000 || [[Fukuoka Prefecture|Fukuoka]], [[Kagoshima Prefecture|Kagoshima]], [[Kumamoto Prefecture|Kumamoto]],<br/> [[Miyazaki Prefecture|Miyazaki]], [[Nagasaki Prefecture|Nagasaki]], [[Ōita Prefecture|Ōita]], [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]], [[Saga Prefecture|Saga]]
|}

== Regions and islands ==
This is a list of Japan's major islands, traditional regions, and subregions, going from northeast to southwest.<ref>[http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1001.html Regions of Japan on japan-guide.com]</ref><ref>[http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/regions/ Regions of Japan on web-japan.org]</ref> The eight traditional regions are marked in '''bold'''.

* '''[[Hokkaido|Hokkaidō]]''' (the island and its archipelago)
* [[Honshu|Honshū]]
** '''[[Tōhoku region]]''' (northern part)
** '''[[Kantō region]]''' (eastern part)
*** [[Nanpō Islands]] (part of [[Tokyo Metropolis]])
** '''[[Chūbu region]]''' (central part)
*** [[Hokuriku region]] (northwestern Chūbu)
*** [[Kōshin'etsu region]] (northeastern Chūbu)
*** [[Tōkai region]] (southern Chūbu)
** '''[[Kansai region|Kansai (or Kinki) region]]''' (south-central part)
** '''[[Chūgoku region]]''' (western part)
*** [[San'in region]] (northern Chūgoku)
*** [[San'yō region]] (southern Chūgoku)
* '''[[Shikoku]]'''
* '''[[Kyushu|Kyūshū]]'''
** [[Northern Kyushu|Northern Kyūshū]]
** [[Southern Kyushu|Southern Kyūshū]]
** [[Ryukyu Islands]]
*** [[Satsunan Islands]]
*** [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]]

== Other regional divisions ==

In many contexts in Japan (government, media markets, sports, regional business or trade union confederations), regional groupings are used that digress from the above-mentioned common 8-region geographical division. The 8-region model is frequently regarded as a standard on the English Wikipedia and some other English-language publications. Examples of regional divisions used by other particular institutions include:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+[[National Police Agency (Japan)|National Police Agency]] regional supervisory offices<ref>NPA: [https://www.npa.go.jp/hakusyo/h19/honbun/html/j5500000.html 管区警察局の活動], retrieved September 24, 2021.</ref>
|-
! Region || Prefectures
|-
| – || Hokkaidō (separate liaison office with the National Police Agency)
|-
| Tōhoku || Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
|-
| – || Tokyo (separate liaison office with the National Police Agency)
|-
| Kantō || Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi, Shizuoka
|-
| Chūbu || Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Gifu, Aichi, Mie
|-
| Kinki || Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
|-
| Chūgoku || Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
|-
| Shikoku || Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
|-
| Kyūshū || Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+[[NHK]] broadcasting regions<ref>NHK: [https://www.nhk.or.jp/toppage/zenkoku/ 全国のNHK] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220613172837/https://www.nhk.or.jp/toppage/zenkoku/ |date=2022-06-13 }}, retrieved September 24, 2021.</ref>
|-
! Region || Prefectures
|-
| Hokkaidō || Hokkaidō
|-
| Tōhoku || Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
|-
| Kantō-Kōshin'etsu || Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Nagano, Niigata, Yamanashi
|-
| Tōkai-Hokuriku || Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Shizuoka, Gifu, Aichi, Mie
|-
| Kinki || Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
|-
| Chūgoku || Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
|-
| Shikoku || Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
|-
| Kyūshū || Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+[[MLIT]] regional development offices<ref>MLIT: [https://www.mlit.go.jp/about/chihoseibi.html 地方整備局], retrieved September 24, 2021.</ref>
|-
! Region || Prefectures (Nagano is split)
|-
| – || Hokkaidō (originally had a [[Hokkaidō Development Agency|separate, cabinet-level development agency]], now a separate MLIT department)
|-
| Tōhoku || Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
|-
| Kantō || Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano (northern part)
|-
| Hokuriku || Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa
|-
| Chūbu || Nagano (southern part), Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie
|-
| Kinki || Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama, Fukui
|-
| Chūgoku || Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
|-
| Shikoku || Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
|-
| Kyūshū || Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima
|-
| – || Okinawa (originally had a [[Okinawa Development Agency|separate, cabinet-level development agency]], now a department in the [[Cabinet Office (Japan)|Cabinet Office]])
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+[[Japan Meteorological Agency|JMA]] weather forecast regions<ref>JMA: [http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/kishou/know/yougo_hp/tiikimei.html 天気予報等で用いる用語>地域名], retrieved September 24, 2021.</ref>
|-
! Region || Prefectures
|-
| Hokkaidō || Hokkaidō
|-
| Tōhoku || Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
|-
| Kantō-Kōshin || Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano
|-
| Hokuriku || Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui
|-
| Tōkai || Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie
|-
| Kinki || Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
|-
| Chūgoku || Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima
|-
| Shikoku || Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
|-
| Northern Kyūshū || Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita
|-
| Southern Kyūshū-Amami || Miyazaki, Kagoshima
|-
| Okinawa || Okinawa
|}

[[File:Japanese House of Representatives Proportional Representation Blocks.svg|thumb|Regional proportional representation constituencies for the lower house of the Japanese parliament]]
{| class="wikitable"
|+[[List of districts of the House of Representatives of Japan|Proportional constituencies ("blocks") for elections to the House of Representatives]]
|-
! Constituency || Prefectures
|-
| Hokkaidō || Hokkaidō
|-
| Tōhoku || Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
|-
| Northern Kantō || Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama
|-
| Tokyo || Tokyo
|-
| Southern Kantō || Chiba, Kanagawa, Yamanashi
|-
| Hokuriku-Shin'etsu || Niigata, Nagano, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui
|-
| Tōkai || Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie
|-
| Kinki || Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
|-
| Chūgoku || Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
|-
| Shikoku || Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
|-
| Kyūshū || Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+[[High Court]] jurisdictions
|-
! High court || Prefectures
|-
| [[Sapporo High Court|Sapporo]] || Hokkaidō
|-
| [[Sendai High Court|Sendai]] || Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
|-
| [[Tokyo High Court|Tokyo]] || Tokyo, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano, Shizuoka
|-
| [[Nagoya High Court|Nagoya]] || Aichi, Mie, Gifu, Ishikawa, Fukui, Toyama
|-
| [[Osaka High Court|Osaka]] || Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
|-
| [[Hiroshima High Court|Hiroshima]] || Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
|-
| [[Takamatsu High Court|Takamatsu]] || Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
|-
| [[Fukuoka High Court|Fukuoka]] || Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Regional qualifiers for the "spring Kōshien"<br />([[Japanese High School Baseball Invitational Tournament]])
|-
! Region || Prefectures
|-
| Hokkaidō || Hokkaidō
|-
| Tōhoku || Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
|-
| Kantō || Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Yamanashi
|-
| Tokyo || Tokyo
|-
| Tōkai || Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie
|-
| Hoku-Shin'etsu || Niigata, Nagano, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui
|-
| Kinki || Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
|-
| Chūgoku || Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
|-
| Shikoku || Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
|-
| Kyūshū || Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
|}

[[File:Japanese football regions colored.png|thumb|Football regions of Japan]]
{| class="wikitable"
|+[[Japanese Regional Leagues|Regional football/soccer leagues]]
|-
! Region || Prefectures
|-
| Hokkaidō || Hokkaidō
|-
| Tōhoku || North: Aomori, Iwate, Akita<br />South: Miyagi, Yamagata, Fukushima
|-
| Kantō || Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi
|-
| Tōkai || Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie
|-
| Hoku-Shin'etsu || Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Nagano
|-
| Kansai || Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
|-
| Chūgoku || Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
|-
| Shikoku || Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
|-
| Kyūshū || Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Regions used in the [[Bank of Japan]] regional economical report ("Sakura report")<ref>BoJ: [https://www.boj.or.jp/research/brp/rer/data/rer210705.pdf 地域経済報告 ── さくらレポート ── （2021年7月）], the definition of regions is in the table of contents before p. 1 ([https://www.boj.or.jp/en/research/brp/rer/data/rer210705.pdf Summary in English translation], the definition of regions is in the appendix), retrieved September 24, 2021.</ref>
|-
! Region || Prefectures
|-
| Hokkaidō || Hokkaidō
|-
| Tōhoku || Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima
|-
| Hokuriku || Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui
|-
| Kantō-Kōshin'etsu || Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano
|-
| Tōkai || Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie
|-
| Kinki || Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama
|-
| Chūgoku || Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi
|-
| Shikoku || Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi
|-
| Kyūshū-Okinawa  || Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa
|}

== Regions as administrative units ==
[[File:HiroshimaL&SUniv.jpg|thumb|1945 seat of the Chūgoku governorate-general in [[Hiroshima City]], previously and today a building used by [[Hiroshima University]]]]
In the later stages of World War II, in preparation for an Allied invation of the home islands, regions served as administrative units between the Home Ministry and the governments of prefectures from 1943. Initially, nine "regional administrative joint conferences"  (地方行政協議会, ''chihō gyōsei kyō-kaigi'') were set up, each comprising several prefectural governments under the leadership of one prefectural government. In 1945, they were consolidated into eight centralized "regional governorates-general" (地方総監府, ''chihō sōkan-fu'') with authority of command over the subordinate prefectural governments. The regions corresponded territorially to the military districts (軍管区, ''gunkan-ku'') as used by the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Imperial Army]] in 1945. They were namely:

{| class="wikitable"
! Region<br />''(-chihō)'' || Prefectures<br />''(-to/-chō/-fu/-ken)'' || Seat of the governorate-general || Regional governor-general<br />''(chihō sōkan)''<br /><small>(initially in June 1945)</small> || Corresponding Imperial Army<br />military district<br />''(gunkan-ku)''
|-
| Hokkai || Karafuto, Hokkaidō || Sapporo City || [[Kumagai Ken'ichi]]<br /><small>(concurrent governor of Hokkaidō(-chō))</small> || Hokubu (Northern)
|-
| Tōhoku || Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima || Sendai City || [[Maruyama Tsurukichi]]<br /><small>(previous governor of Miyagi)</small> || Tōhoku (Northeastern)
|-
| Kantō-Shin'etsu || Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Niigata, Nagano || Tokyo || [[Nishio Toshizō]]<br /><small>(concurrent governor of Tokyo)</small> || Tōbu (Eastern)
|-
| Tōkai-Hokuriku || Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie, Toyama, Ishikawa || Nagoya City || [[Obata Tadayoshi]]<br /><small>(previous governor of Aichi)</small> || Tōkai
|-
| Kinki || Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama, Fukui || Osaka City || [[Yasui Eiji]]<br /><small>(previous governor of Osaka)</small> || Chūbu (Central)
|-
| Chūgoku || Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi || Hiroshima City || [[Ōtsuka Isei]]<br /><small>(previous governor of Hiroshima)</small> || Chūgoku
|-
| Shikoku || Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kōchi || Takamatsu City || [[Kimura Masayoshi]]<br /><small>(concurrent governor of Kagawa)</small> || Shikoku
|-
| Kyūshū || Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Ōita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa || Fukuoka City || [[Totsuka Kuichirō]]<br /><small>(previous governor of Fukuoka)</small> || Seibu (Western)
|}

After capitulation, the governorates-general were immediately dissolved by GHQ/SCAP and the (in the Empire: very limited) local autonomy of prefectural governments and their elected assemblies restored to be eventually substantially expanded by the Constitution and the Local Autonomy Law in 1947.

==See also==
*[[Ecoregions of Japan]]
*[[Geography of Japan]]
*[[Prefectures of Japan]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline|Regions of Japan}}
* [https://www.jacar.go.jp/glossary/term1/0090-0010-0030-0030-0020.html 地方行政協議会 ''chihō gyōsei kyōkaigi''] and [https://www.jacar.go.jp/glossary/term1/0090-0010-0030-0030-0030.html 地方総監府''chihō sōkanfu''] in the Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR) glossary, [[National Archives of Japan]], retrieved December 4, 2024

{{Asia topic|List of regions of}}
{{Japan topics}}
{{Regions and administrative divisions of Japan}}

[[Category:Regions of Japan| ]]
[[Category:Lists of subdivisions of Japan|Regions of]]