Japan: An Archipelago, Not a Continent

Japan is an archipelago—a chain of islands—lying off the eastern coast of the Asian continent. It comprises four main islands (Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, Shikoku) and nearly 14,000 smaller islands, stretching over 3,000 km in a northeast-southwest arc.

Geologically, Japan sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the Okhotsk and Philippine Sea Plates, creating its mountainous terrain, volcanoes, and frequent earthquakes. Politically and culturally, it is an East Asian nation; geographically, it is an island country in the Pacific Ocean, separated from the Asian mainland by the Sea of Japan (East Sea).