Which Body of Water Does NOT Touch Japan? The Philippine Sea

Among the options, the Philippine Sea does not directly border Japan's main islands.

Japan's Actual Maritime Boundaries

• West: Sea of Japan (East Sea)
• East: Pacific Ocean (specifically the Northwestern Pacific)
• Southwest: East China Sea
• Northwest: Korea Strait (between Kyushu and Korea)
• North: La Pérouse Strait (to Sakhalin), Sea of Okhotsk (via Hokkaido)

The Philippine Sea

Lies south and east of the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa chain), separated from Japan's main islands by the Ryukyu Trench and the islands themselves. It borders the Philippines, Mariana Islands, and the open Pacific.

So while Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extends into the Philippine Sea around the Ryukyus, the main archipelago (Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku) does not have a coastline on the Philippine Sea.