Which is Japan's largest island?

Hokkaido is Japan’s biggest island and prefecture; it covers 22% of Japan’s land area, equivalent to Ireland or South Carolina. The most north-eastern Japanese prefecture, it is surrounded by the Sea of Japan (west), Sea of Okhotsk (north-east) and Pacific Ocean (south-east).

Hokkaido features impressive mountains and peaks, the highest being Mount Asahi (7,513 feet i.e. 2,290 m). The nearby Japan Trench part of the Pacific Ring of Fire lets you see active volcanoes and relax in diverse natural hot springs surrounded by mountains.

Wildest part of Japan and with a low population density (it is 100 times bigger in Tokyo metropolis!), Hokkaido is world-class for nature.

Hokkaido was long the domain of the aboriginal Ainu peoples. Serious Japanese settlement of the island began in 1869, when the territory, which was then called Yezo province, was renamed Hokkaido (“North Sea Province”).