The Islands of Japan Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Japan is made up of four main islands but has close to 430 islands that are inhabited. Honshu is by far the most populated with over 80% of Japanese citizens living on the island. The cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka are all on Honshu. Hokkaido is the northernmost of the four main islands with popular hot springs and volcanoes. The island is beautiful and popular with skiers in the wintertime. Sapporo is a young city first established in the 1800s but has now become Hokkaido's biggest city. Hosting the 1972 Winter Olympics helped the city boom. The third largest Japanese island is Kyushu, found south of Honshu. Kyushu has beautiful mountains and beaches as well as hot springs. Shikoku, found southeast of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu, is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. Shikoku is famous for its 88 Buddhist temple pilgrimage with each stage representing a step on the Nirvana path.

Okinawa is in the far south of Japan and is the birthplace of karate. Sado has a rugged terrain with mountains and ravines and was once a land to send exiles. Amami Oshima has a wonderful range of biodiversity with several endangered animals. Tsushima is actually closer to South Korea than it is to the main islands of Japan. Historically Tsushima served as a defense against invasion from mainland Asia as well as a staging ground to invade Asia when the Japanese were feeling aggressive. Though Awaji is small, it has a critical place in Japanese mythology as the first island to be created by the ancient gods. Finally, Yakushima is the smallest on the list and is known for its ancient giant trees. The towering cedars are thought to be up to 7,000 years old!

The islands that are not a part of Japan include Luzon, Mindanao, and Palawan which are part of the Philippines. Sulawesi is one of the major islands of Indonesia. Formosa is the name of the island of Taiwan. Finally, Hainan is a part of China.