Editing Geography of Japan (section)

==Map of Japan==
[[File:Regions and Prefectures Japan.png|thumb|upright=1.20|Regions and prefectures of Japan]]
{{main|Regions of Japan}}
Japan is formally divided into eight regions, from northeast (Hokkaidō) to southwest (Ryukyu Islands):<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1001.html |title=Regions of Japan on japan-guide.com |access-date=2018-09-26 |archive-date=2006-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060710153046/http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1001.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Hokkaido]]
* [[Tōhoku region]]
* [[Kantō region]]
* [[Chūbu region]]
* [[Kansai region|Kansai (or Kinki) region]]
* [[Chūgoku region]]
* [[Shikoku]]
* [[Kyūshū]]

Each region contains several [[Prefectures of Japan|prefectures]], except the Hokkaido region, which comprises only Hokkaido Prefecture.

The regions are not official administrative units but have been traditionally used as the regional division of Japan in a number of contexts. For example, maps and geography textbooks divide Japan into the eight regions; weather reports usually give the weather by region; and many businesses and institutions use their home region as part of their name ([[Kinki Nippon Railway]], Chūgoku Bank, [[Tohoku University]], etc.). While Japan has eight High Courts, their jurisdictions do not correspond with the eight regions.