Kantō region

File:Geofeatures map of Kanto Japan ja.svg

Geofeatures map of Kantō

The is a geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, and Tokyo. Slightly more than 45 percent of the land area within its boundaries is the Kantō Plain. The rest consists of the hills and mountains that form land borders with other regions of Japan.

As the Kantō region contains Tokyo, the capital and largest city of Japan, the region is considered the center of Japan's politics and economy. According to the official census on October 1, 2010, by the Statistics Bureau of Japan, the population was 42,607,376, amounting to approximately one third of the total population of Japan.

Other definitions

The assembles the prefectural governors of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano, and Shizuoka.

The of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in the national government is responsible for eight prefectures generally (Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi) and parts of the waterways in two others (Nagano and Shizuoka).

The is responsible for eleven prefectures: Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano and Shizuoka.

In the police organization of Japan, the is responsible for the Prefectural police departments of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano and Shizuoka. Tokyo is not part of Kantō or any NPA region, its police has a dedicated liaison office with the national agency of its own.

Geography

File:Kanto Region Japan 2003.png

Kantō region satellite photo

The surface geology of the Kantō Plain is the Quaternary alluvium and diluvium. The low mountain vegetation at an altitude of about 500 to 900 m in and around the plain is an evergreen broad-leaved forest zone. The distribution height range of laurel forests is 900 m in Hakone, about 800 m in Tanzawa and Takao, about 700 m in Okutama, Oku Musashi and Oku Chichibu, about 600 m in Nishijoshu, Akagiyama, Ashio Mountains and Tsukuba Mountains and about 500 m in Kitage and Nasu Mountains.

Over the evergreen broad-leaved forest are deciduous broad-leaved forests such as beech, birch, and Quercus crispula. In addition, coniferous forests such as Abies veitchii and Betula ermanii spread above the deciduous broad-leaved forest from an altitude of about 1100 m higher than the lower limit of the deciduous broad-leaved forest.

Mountains are spread out such as the Taishaku Mountains, Mt. Takahara, Mt. Nasu, and Mt. Yamizo. The Kantō Plain, which is the largest plain in Japan. Just north of the Enna Hills is Japan's largest alluvial fan Nasuno at the foot of Mt. The Kujukuri Plain. The southern part of Chiba Prefecture is the Boso hills. The area around Kasumigaura in Ibaraki Prefecture is the Joso plateau and Hitachi plateau. Gunma Prefecture and the Chichibu region of Saitama Prefecture are basins. Rivers such as the Arakawa and Edo rivers pour into Tokyo Bay, and the Kinugawa and Tone rivers flow into the Pacific Ocean in Inubōsaki.

Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Boso Peninsula and the Miura Peninsula, facing the west side of Chiba Prefecture, a part of Tokyo and the east side of Kanagawa Prefecture, and borders the Pacific Ocean from Uraga Suido. The coastal area is an industrial area. The south side of Kanagawa Prefecture faces Sagami Bay and Sagami Nada. The southern coast of Ibaraki Prefecture faces Kashima Nada. The Sagami Trough, which was the epicenter of the two Kantō earthquakes, passes through Sagami Bay. Efforts are being made to take safety measures against earthquakes in various places.

The highest point is the summit of Mt. Nikko-Shirane (Mt. Oku-Shirane) on the border between Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture and Katashina Village, Gunma Prefecture. It is the eighth highest point in Japan's prefectures. It is also the highest point north of Kantō (Kantō, Tōhoku, Hokkaido). The highest points of the prefectures are Mt. Sanpo (2,483 m) in Saitama, Mt. Kumotori (2,017 m) in Tokyo, Mt. Hiru (1,673 m) in Kanagawa, Mt. Yamizo (1,022 m) in Ibaraki, and Mt. Atago (408 m) in Chiba. Atagoyama in Chiba Prefecture is the lowest among the highest peaks in each prefecture.

The region experiences a humid subtropical climate with a summer to fall precipitation maximum (Cfa/Cwa).

History

The name Kantō literally means "East of the Barrier". The name Kantō is nowadays generally considered to mean the region east () of the Hakone Barrier (). The antonym of Kantō is the Kansai region meaning "West of the Barrier", which lies in western Honshu and was the center of feudal Japan.

File:Mt Nikko.jpeg

Mount Nikkō-Shirane in the Kantō region

Kamakura was the political capital during the Kamakura period and it served as the seat of the Kamakura shogunate from 1185 to 1333, established by Minamoto no Yoritomo.

File:TsurugaokaHachiman-M8867.jpg

Tsurugaoka Hachiman in Kamakura

This was the first military government in Japan's history. Kamakura flourished until the fall of the Kamakura Shogunate, and its political functions returned to Kyoto in 1392.

In 1591, Tokugawa Ieyasu gave up control of his five provinces (Mikawa, Tōtōmi, Suruga, Shinano, and Kai) and moved all his soldiers and vassals to his new eight provinces in the Kantō region. The proclamation of this decision happened on the same day Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the de facto ruler of Japan at that time, entered Odawara castle following the surrender of the Hōjō clan after the Siege of Odawara (1590). The moment Ieyasu was appointed to rule Kantō, he immediately assign his premier vassals such as Ii Naomasa, Honda Tadakatsu, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and Sakai Ietsugu, son of Sakai Tadatsugu, each to control large area of the former Hōjō clan territories in Kantō. Historian such as Kawamura saw this step was meant to bring order the newly subdued population of the area, while also guarding the eastern domains from the influence or threat from the Satomi clan which had not yet submit to the rule of Toyotomi at that time. The governors of Kantō region under Ieyasu rule:

File:Edo P.jpg

Edo depicted on a folding screen

Province	Territory	Koku	Daimyo	Notes
Kōzuke Province	Minowa (later Takasaki Domain)	120,000	Ii Naomasa
	Tatebayashi Domain	100,000	Sakakibara Yasumasa
	Maebashi Domain	33,000	Hiraiwa Chikayoshi
	Shiroi Domain	20,000	Honda Yasushige	The total domain revenue was 33,000. However, the 13,000 of its koku revenue were controlled by the father of Yasushige instead, Honda Hirotaka.
	Miyazaki (Obata Domain)	30,000	Okudaira Nobumasa
	Fujioka	30,000	Yoda Yasukatsu ()
	Ogo Domain	20,000	Makino Yasunari
	Yoshii Domain	20,000	Suganuma Sadatsugu
	Sōja Domain	12,000	Suwa Yorimizu
	Naba Domain	10,000	Matsudaira Ienobu
Shimotsuke Province	Minagawa Domain	10,000	Minagawa Hiroteru
Shimōsa Province	Yūki Domain & Tsuchiura Castle	101,000	Yuki Hideyasu
	Yahagi Domain	40,000	Torii Mototada
	Usui Domain	30,000	Sakai Ietsugu
	Koga Domain	30,000	Ogasawara HidemasaTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
	Sekiyado Domain	20,000 koku	Matsudaira Yasumoto
	Yamasaki Domain	12,000	Okabe Nagamori
	Ashido Domain	10,000	Kiso Yoshimasa
	Moriya Domain	10,000	Suganuma Sadamasa
	Tako Domain	10,000	Hoshina Masamitsu
	Sakura Domain	10,000	Miura Shigenari ()
	Iwatomi Domain	10,000	Hōjō Ujikatsu
Musashi Province	Iwatsuki Domain	20,000	Kōriki Kiyonaga
	Kisai Domain	20,000	Matsudaira Yasushige
	Kawagoe Domain	10,000 koku	Sakai Shigetada
	Musashi Komuro Domain	10,000	Ina Tadatsugu
	Musashi Matsuyama Domain	10,000	Matsudaira Iehiro ()
	Oshi Domain	10,000	Matsudaira Ietada
	Hanyu Domain	20,000	Ōkubo Tadachika
	Fukaya Domain	10,000	Matsudaira Yasutada
	Tōhō Domain	10,000	Matsudaira Yasunaga
	Honjō Domain	10,000	Ogasawara Nobumine ()
	Aho Domain	10,000	Suganuma Sadamitsu
	Hachimanyama Domain	10,000	Matsudaira Kiyomune ()
Kazusa Province	Ōtaki Domain	100,000	Honda Tadakatsu	Initially the capital of Domain were in Mangi castle
	Kururi Domain	30,000	Ōsuga Tadamasa
	Sanuki Domain	20,000	Naitō Ienaga
	Naruto Domain	20,000	Ishikawa Yasumichi
Sagami Province	Odawara Domain	45,000	Ōkubo Tadayo
	Tamanawa Domain	10,000	Honda Masanobu
Izu Province	Nirayama Domain	10,000	Naitō Nobunari

Ieyasu established his personal new seat of power on Edo town, which at that time was an underdeveloped town in Kantō.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

In the Edo period, Kantō became the center of modern development. Within the Greater Tokyo Area and especially the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area, the Kantō plain houses not only Japan's seat of government but also the nation's largest group of universities and cultural institutions, the greatest population and a large industrial zone. Although most of the Kantō plain is used for residential, commercial or industrial construction, some land is still farmed. Rice is the principal crop, although the zone around Tokyo and Yokohama has been landscaped to grow garden produce for the metropolitan market.

A watershed moment of Japan's modern history took place in the late Taishō period: the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923. The quake, which claimed more than 100,000 lives and ravaged Greater Tokyo area, occurred at a time when Japan was still reeling from the economic recession in reaction to the high-flying years during World War I.

After the earthquake, many people in Kantō started creating art with different varieties of colors. They made art of earthquake and small towns to symbolize the small towns destroyed in the quake.

Operation Coronet, part of Operation Downfall, the proposed Allied invasion of Japan during World War II, was scheduled to land on the Kantō Plain.

Subdivisions

North and south

The most often used subdivision of the region is dividing it to , consisting of Ibaraki, Tochigi, and Gunma prefectures, and , consisting of Saitama (sometimes classified North), Chiba, Tokyo Metropolis (sometimes singulated), and Kanagawa prefectures. South Kantō is often regarded as synonymous with the Greater Tokyo Area. As part of Japan's attempts to predict earthquakes, an area roughly corresponding to South Kantō has been designated an 'Area of Intensified Observation' by the Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction.

The Japanese House of Representatives' divides it into the electorate which consists of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, and Saitama prefectures, Tokyo electorate, and the electorate which consists of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Yamanashi prefectures (note that Yamanashi is out of the Kantō region in the orthodox definition).

Keirin's consists of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka prefectures.

East and west

This division is not often but sometimes used.

• : Ibaraki, Tochigi, and Chiba prefectures.
• : Gunma, Saitama, Tokyo, Kanagawa (and sometimes Yamanashi) prefectures.

Inland and coastal

This division is sometimes used in economics and geography. The border can be modified if the topography is taken for prefectural boundaries.

• : Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama (and sometimes Yamanashi) prefectures.
• : Ibaraki, Chiba, Tokyo, and Kanagawa prefectures.

Greater Kantō

The Japanese national government defines the as the Kantō region plus Yamanashi Prefecture. Japan's national public broadcaster NHK uses involving Yamanashi, Nagano, and Niigata prefectures for regional programming and administration.

Cities

The Kantō region is the most highly developed, urbanized, and industrialized part of Japan. Tokyo and Yokohama form a single industrial complex with a concentration of light and heavy industry along Tokyo Bay. Other major cities in the area include Kawasaki (in Kanagawa Prefecture); Saitama (in Saitama Prefecture); and Chiba (in Chiba Prefecture). Smaller cities, farther away from the coast, house substantial light and automotive industries. The average population density reached 1,192 persons per square kilometer in 1991.

Economy

The Kantō region largely corresponds to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area with the exception that it does not contain Yamanashi prefecture.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Area has the largest city economy in the world and is one of the major global center of trade and commerce along with New York City, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Paris, Seoul, and London.

Greater Tokyo Area 2005

File:TokyoMetropolitanGovernmentOffice.jpg

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

• 2005 average exchange rate (1 U.S. Dollar = 110.22 Yen)

Prefecture	Gross Prefecture Product (in billion Yen)	Gross Prefecture Product (in billion US$)
Tokyo	92,269	837
Kanagawa	31,184	282
Saitama	20,650	187
Chiba	19,917	180
Ibaraki	10,955	99
Tochigi	8,195	74
Gunma	7,550	68

Source

GDP (purchasing power parity)

File:Tokyo Tower and around Skyscrapers.jpg

Tokyo Tower

The agglomeration of Tokyo is the world's largest economy, with the largest gross metropolitan product at purchasing power parity (PPP) in the world according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Kanto Region Metropolitan Employment Area

Year	2010	1995	1980
Employed Persons 000's	16,234	16,381	12,760
Production (billion USD)	1,797	1,491	358
Production Manufacturing (billion USD)	216	476	159
Private Capital Stock (billion USD)	3,618	2,631	368
Social Overhead Capital (billion USD)	1,607	1,417	310
1 U.S. Dollar (Japanese yen)	87.780	94.060	226.741

Sources:, Conversion rates - Exchange rates - OECD Data

Population

The population of Kantō region is very similar to that of the Greater Tokyo AreaTemplate:Better source needed except that it does not contain Yamanashi Prefecture and contains the rural populations throughout the region.

Per Japanese census data, and the Kantō region's data, population has continuously grown but the population growth rate has slowed since early 1992.

The Kantō region at the 2020 census had a population of 43.65 million people.

See also

• Geography of Japan
• Kanto, a fictional region in the Pokémon franchise which is based on Kantō
• Kantō dialect
• Kantō Fureai Trail, aka Capital Region Nature Trail, a collection of hiking trails circumnavigating the entire Kantō region
• Kantō Plain

Bibliography

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Template:ISBN; OCLC 58053128
• Template:Country study

External links

• Template:Sister-inline