THE GEOGRAPHY OF JAPAN
For the most part, the archipelago has a mountainous and hilly relief (over 80%), of relatively
recent age, in which there are regions formed as a result of tertiary and tertiary-Quaternary folds.
25 peaks exceed 3000 m, the maximum altitude is Fuji Yama / Fuji-san 3776 m.
Mountains and volcanoes
Japan is located in the Pacific Circle of Fire. Japan has 256 volcanoes, of which 80 are active (for
example, Mount Aso, Mount Asama and Mount Mihara).
Annually take place approx. 1,500 earthquakes (one tenth of the world's seismic energy), a very
strong earthquake taking place on September 1, 1923 in the Tokyo-Yokohama region, when they
lost approx. 99,000 people.
The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate, but varies greatly from north to south. Japan's
geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones: Hokkaido, Sea of Japan, Central
Highland, Seto Inland Sea, Pacific Ocean, and Ryukyu Islands. The northernmost zone, Hokkaido,
has a humid continental climate with long, cold winters and very warm to cool summers.
Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snowbanks in the winter. In the
Sea of Japan zone on Honshu's west coast, northwest winter winds bring heavy snowfall. In the
summer, the region is cooler than the Pacific area, though it sometimes experiences extremely hot
temperatures because of the foehn. The Central Highland has a typical inland humid continental
climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter, as well as large diurnal
variation; precipitation is light, though winters are usually snowy. The mountains of the Chūgoku
and Shikoku regions shelter the Seto Inland Sea from seasonal winds, bringing mild weather yearround.
The Pacific coast features a humid subtropical climate that experiences milder winters with
occasional snowfall and hot, humid summers because of the southeast seasonal wind. The Ryukyu
and Nanpō Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation
is very heavy, especially during the rainy season.
The average winter temperature in Japan is 5.1 °C (41.2 °F) and the average summer temperature
is 25.2 °C (77.4 °F). [76] The highest temperature ever measured in Japan, 41.1 °C (106.0 °F), was
recorded on July 23, 2018. [77] The main rainy season begins in early May in Okinawa, and the rain
front gradually moves north until reaching Hokkaido in late July. In late summer and early
autumn, typhoons often bring heavy rain.