Language/Japanese/Vocabulary/Geography

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Japanese Vocabulary - Geography
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Japan is a fascinating country with a rich culture, history, and geography. The geography of Japan ranges from its stunning coastline to its towering mountain ranges, and from its bustling cities to its serene rural areas. To fully appreciate and understand this beautiful country, it is important to learn about its geography and the vocabulary associated with it in the Japanese language. This article will provide an introduction to the geography of Japan and a comprehensive list of vocabulary words related to geography that can help you improve your Japanese language skills. Whether you are a student, traveler, or language learner, this article will be a valuable resource for you. 🌏

Japan is an archipelago (a group of isles).

There are many small isles, but Japan is known to be mainly composed of 4 large islands: Hokkaidou, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyuushuu. Each of them is divided into a set of prefectures, except for Hokkaidou, which has only one prefecture: HOKKAIDOU. Besides Prefecture, there are also districts that compose the main islands.

The shape of Japan looks like a curve. With a bit of imagination, we can see the letter "J" with a top bar. 🇯🇵

Summary: Japan is 4 main islands, 8 areas, and 47 prefectures.

After exploring the geography of Japan, you might also be interested in learning more about other aspects of the Japanese language. Check out our articles on Japanese music and dance vocabulary, Japanese feelings and emotions vocabulary, and Japanese transport vocabulary to further enhance your language skills. Happy learning! 📚

Hokkaidou[edit | edit source]

Hokkaidou is a whole itself. Isle, prefecture and everything.

It means there is only Hokkaidou, nothing else.

Honshu[edit | edit source]

Hon, means main. Honshu Is the largest of four. Located between the south of Hokkaidou and the north of Kyuushuu.

Contrary to other islands, Honshu also got aeras which are : Touhoku, Kantou, Chuubu, Kansai and Chuugoku.

Is located in the deep east of Japan.

Tohoku prefectures[edit | edit source]

Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima.

Kantou prefectures[edit | edit source]

Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitam, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa.

Chuubu prefectures[edit | edit source]

Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Yamanashi, Nagano, Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi.

Kansai prefectures[edit | edit source]

Mie, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama.

Chuugoku prefectures[edit | edit source]

Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi

Shikoku[edit | edit source]

Shikoku is the smallest main island. It is located under the Chuugoku aera and between Kansai aera and Kyuushuu island.

It is composed of 4 prefectures.

Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kochi.

Kyuushuu[edit | edit source]

Is the south east of Japan.

Located is the very far west south, the most famous city is Nagasaki, known to has been hit by the A-Bomb at the end of WW2.

Okinawa[edit | edit source]

There is also another very famous Island called Okinawa which is attached to Kyuushuu.

Historic facts[edit | edit source]

  • 1995 : Kobe got hit by an earthquake which made ...
  • 2011 : The biggest earthquake ever happend in the region of Tohoku, distric of Sendai

Vocabulary related to Geography[edit | edit source]

Main words[edit | edit source]

Here is a list of the main Japanese words related to geography, along with their pronunciation in the Romanized script, Hiragana and Katakana writing systems, and Kanji.

English Romanized Hiragana Katakana Kanji
Mountain Yama やま ヤマ
River Kawa かわ カワ
Sea Umi うみ ウミ
Island Shima しま シマ
City Machi まち マチ
Country Inaka いなか イナカ 田舎
Coast Kaigan かいがん カイガン 海岸
Beach Hama はま ハマ
Forest Mori もり モリ
Valley Tani たに タニ

More words[edit | edit source]

English Japanese (日本語) Japanese (Rōmaji)
America アメリカ Amerika
around mawari
Asia アジア Ajia
behind 後ろ - うしろ ushiro
between aida
capital city 首都 shuto
China 中国 Chuu-goku
citizen 市民 shi-min
compass コンパス konpasu
continent 大陸 tai-riku
country kuni, (-koku)
dictatorship 独裁 dokusai
down shita
downstream 川下 kawa-shimo
East higashi
emperor 皇帝 kōtei
empress 皇后 kōgō
far 遠い tooi
flag hata
France フランス Furansu
Germany ドイツ Doitsu
government 政府 - せいふ seifu
in front of mae
in the middle naka
in, into, inside, at ni
Japan 日本 Nihon
king ō
kingdom 王国 ō-koku
map 地図 chizu
minister 大臣 dai-jin
monarchy 君主制 kunshusei
nation, people 国民 koku-min
near 近い , 近く , そば chikai, chikaku, soba
North kita
on the left hidari
on the right migi
out of, outside soto
parliament 国会 - こっかい kokkai
parliamentarian 議員 giin
prime minister 総理大臣 , 首相 sōri-daijin, shushō
prince 王子 ō-ji
princess 王女 ō-jo
queen 女王 jo-ō
region 地方 chihō
republic 共和国 kyōwa-koku
South minami
South Korea 韓国 Kan-koku
straight ahead まっすぐ masugu
Tokyo 東京 Tōkyō
translator 訳者 yaku-sha
up ue
upstream 川上 kawa-kami
West 西 nishi

Videos[edit | edit source]

Here is a list of videos that showcase the geography of Japan.

Geography of Japan[edit | edit source]

Japan's Geography explained in under 3 Minutes[edit | edit source]

Other Lessons[edit | edit source]

Contributors

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