Regions

The regions of Japan are not official administrative units, but have been traditionally used as the regional division of Japan in a number of contexts. For instance, maps and geography textbooks divide Japan into the eight regions, weather reports usually give the weather by region, and many businesses and institutions use their home region as part of their name (Kinki Nippon Railway, Chuugoku Bank, Touhoku University, etc.). While Japan has eight High Courts, their jurisdictions do not correspond to the eight regions below.

From north to south, the traditional regions are:

* Hokkaidou (the island of Hokkaidou and nearby islands, population: 5,507,456, largest city: Sapporo)
* Touhoku region (northern Honshu, population: 9,335,088, largest city: Sendai)
* Kantou region (eastern Honshu, population: 42,607,376, largest city: Tokyo)
~ Nanpou Islands: part of Tokyo Metropolis
* Chuubu region (central Honshu, including Mt. Fuji, population: 21,714,995, largest city: Nagoya), sometimes divided into:
o Hokuriku region (northwestern Chubu, largest city: Kanazawa)
o Koshin'etsu region (northeastern Chubu, largest city: Niigata)
o Toukai region (southern Chubu, largest city: Nagoya)
* Kansai or Kinki region (west-central Honshu, population: 22,755,030, largest city: Osaka)
* Chugoku region (western Honshu, population: 7,561,899, largest city: Hiroshima)
* Shikoku (island, population: 3,977,205, largest city: Matsuyama)
* Kyushu (island, population: 14,596,977, largest city: Fukuoka) which includes:
o Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shotou)
~ Satsunan Islands: part of Kagoshima Prefecture
~ Ryukyu-shotou and Daitou Islands: Okinawa

Each contains several prefectures, except the Hokkaidou region, which covers only Hokkaidou.