Mainland Japan


"Mainland Japan" is a term used to distinguish Japan's core land area from its outlying territories. "Mainland Japan" was an official term in the pre-war period, distinguishing Japan proper from its overseas territories in the Far East, such as Japanese Taiwan, Japanese Korea, Karafuto, the South Seas Mandate, and the Kwantung Leased Territory. After the end of World War II, its usage became less common and lost its previous legal significance.
The term's literal Japanese meaning might best be translated as "inner Japan" or "inner lands". The term "mainland" is somewhat inaccurate since it usually refers to all or part of a continental landmass, rather than islands. In the pre-1945 period, the "inner lands" included the Japanese archipelago, itself including the Ryukyu Islands and other island chains to the south of Honshu. The "inner lands" also referred during 1875–1945 to the Japanese-controlled Kuril Islands and during 1943–1945 to Karafuto, the southern half of the island of Sakhalin.
Today, the term is sometimes colloquially used to distinguish the country's four largest islands from smaller islands such as the Bonin Islands and the Ryukyu Islands, although these islands were considered part of Mainland Japan in the pre-war period. However, depending on the context, the term "Mainland Japan" may refer only to Honshū, the largest island.

Historical usage

In the Japanese Empire of the pre-war period, naichi referred to the mainland of the empire. The other territories of the empire was called gaichi.
The Meiji Constitution's Article 1 of the Common Law enumerates the territories with legal jurisdictions namely:

Naichi

Naichi referred to the territories under direct control of the government. They consisted of the following:
These territories were called gaichi. They were part of the Empire of Japan, but not under direct control by the central government.
Although it has never been abolished, the Common Law lost effect from enforcement after Japan lost all the former colonies, or gaichi as a result of World War II.

Modern usage

Residents of places like Hokkaido, Okinawa and Amami occasionally use naichi to refer to the "mainland", excluding these areas. The colloquial usage is officially "incorrect", as both areas are legally within naichi. In Hokkaido, the official term that refers to Japan except Hokkaido is dōgai. With dōgai becoming common even in colloquial use, naichi ceased to be used. Residents of Okinawa also use the term hondo to refer to parts of Japan outside of Okinawa. In Japanese law, the meaning of hondo is used to make a distinction between the "main islands" of Hokkaido, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū and "outlying islands" referred to as ritō.
The term "main islands" is used for Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Okinawa. The other estimated 6,847 smaller islands are called 'remote islands'.