Japanese archipelago - Nihonretto (English spelling)

Japanese: 日本列島 - にほんれっとう（英語表記）Japanese archipelago

Islands that form part of the Pacific Circumpolar Island Arc. Part of an arc-shaped archipelago that is slightly away from the Asian continent and is connected to several other arcs in the Pacific Ocean. It is located on the eastern edge of the Asian continent. The Kuril Arc, Izu-Ogasawara Arc, and Nansei Islands Arc are connected with the Japanese Archipelago (arc) at the center, and each has an ocean trench on the Pacific side. A mountain range runs vertically through the center, and it is topographically divided into the Pacific side and the Sea of Japan side, with high mountains and many basins in the Chubu region. Due to its position relative to the continent and ocean, it is greatly affected by seasonal winds, and the Sea of Japan side is one of the snowiest areas in the world. Like other arc-shaped archipelagoes, it is active in earthquakes and volcanic activity. The Fossa Magna (or the Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line) divides it into Northeast Japan and Southwest Japan, and Southwest Japan is further divided into the Outer Zone of Southwest Japan on the Pacific side and the Inner Zone of Southwest Japan on the continent side by the Median Tectonic Line that runs almost in a straight line from the western edge of the Akaishi Mountains through northern Shikoku. Another method of classification is to use the Green Tuff regions that developed in Japan during the Miocene period of the Neogene as an indicator. For example, if the Tohoku region and the northern Kanto region are divided by a line connecting Morioka and Shirakawa, the non-Green Tuff region (Kitakami Highlands, Abukuma Highlands, and Joban Coalfields) and the Green Tuff region (west of the Ou Mountains) are called the Outer Zone of Tohoku Japan and the Inner Zone of Tohoku Japan, respectively.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

環太平洋列島弧の一部を形成する島々。アジア大陸よりやや離れて太平洋中にいくつもの弧がつながる弧状列島の一部。アジア大陸の東縁部にあたる。日本列島（弧）を中心にして千島弧，伊豆-小笠原弧，南西諸島弧が連なり，それぞれの太平洋側に海溝を伴う。中央には縦に山脈が走り，地勢上，太平洋側と日本海側に分けられ，中部地方に高い山地と多くの盆地がある。大陸，大洋との位置関係から季節風の影響が大きく，日本海側は世界有数の多雪地帯となっている。ほかの弧状列島と同じく，地震，火山活動が活発。フォッサ・マグナ（または糸魚川-静岡構造線）により，東北日本，西南日本に分けられ，西南日本はさらに赤石山脈西縁からほぼ直線状に四国北部を通る中央構造線により，太平洋側の西南日本外帯と大陸側の西南日本内帯とに分けられる。このほか，新第三紀中新世に日本に発達したグリーン・タフ地域を指標として区分する方法もある。たとえば，盛岡付近から白河を結ぶ線で東北地方，関東地方北部を分けると，非グリーン・タフ地域（北上高地，阿武隈高地，常磐炭田地域），グリーン・タフ地域（奥羽山脈以西）となり，それぞれ，東北日本外帯，東北日本内帯といわれる。

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