Natural regions of Japan

Abstract

In order to subdivide the natural regions of Japan, first, the regional subdivisions or distributions of geology, landforms, soils, climates, hydrology, flora, forests and vegetations are shown separately. The characteristics of the subdivided regions or zones are described briefly to illustrate the distribution of every element in Japan. Secondly, a tentative division of natural regions of Japan is given in reference to the subdivisions or distributions mentioned in the first part. The numbers of the natural regions of Japan tentatively proposed in this paper are 7 in the I. order, 20 in the 2. order and 58 in the 3. order. The average area of the 3. order regions in Ky~shi~, Shikoku, HonshG and Hokkaid8 is about 8,100 km 2, which implies a meso-scale dimension. The names of the regions in the 2. order are: 11 ) Nansei Islands, 12) Dait~jima, I11) Ogasawara Islands and others, 112) Minamitorishima (Marcus Is.), 1111) Pacific coast (Nankai), 1112) Mountain area of SW Japan, 1113) NW Ky~sh~, 1114) Inland Sea region, 1115) Pacific side of Central Japan, IVl) Izu Islands, IV2) Kanto-tosan, IV3) Pacific side of NE Honshu, VI) San'in district, V2) NW of Central Japan, Vll) NE of Central Japan and S of N HonshQ, V12) Japan Sea side of N Honsh~, VI3) SW Hokkaid~, VIII) Pacific side of HokkaidS, VII2) E of Hokkaid~, and Vl13) W of Hokkaid~.

Genetic structure and phylogeography of a temperate‐boreal herb, Cardamine scutata (Brassicaceae), in northeast Asia inferred from AFLPs and cpDNA haplotypes

“…The Japanese archipelago, which consists of four main islands extending over 2000 km in the southwest−northeast direction, encompasses a wide range of climatic zones and many floral and vegetation types from warm‐temperate, evergreen broadleaf forests to temperate, deciduous broadleaf and subboreal coniferous forests. Environmental conditions are strikingly different also between the Japan Sea side and the Pacific side of the archipelago (Yoshino, 1980). During the last glacial period, there were no major glaciers in Japan, but both temperature and precipitation were significantly lower than today (Tsukada, 1983).…”