is the third-largest island of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding

Okinawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...

). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands. Kyushu has a land area of and a population of 14,311,224 in 2018. In the 8th-century

Taihō Code The was an administrative reorganisation enacted in 703 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito. Nussbaum, Louis ...

reforms, Dazaifu was established as a special administrative term for the region.

Geography

The island is mountainous, and Japan's most active volcano,

Mount Aso Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

at , is on Kyushu. There are many other signs of tectonic activity, including numerous areas of

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

s. The most famous of these are in

Beppu is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of March 31, 2017, the city had a population of 122,643Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island s ...

by the

Kanmon Straits The or the Straits of Shimonoseki is the stretch of water separating Honshu and Kyushu, two of Japan's four main islands. On the Honshu side of the strait is Shimonoseki (, which contributed "Kan" () to the name of the strait) and on the Kyushu ...

. Being the nearest island to the

Asian continent Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, historically it is the gateway to Japan. The total area is which makes it the 37th largest island in the world. It's slightly larger than

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

island . The highest elevation is on Mount Kujū. The name ''Kyūshū'' comes from the nine ancient provinces of Saikaidō situated on the island: Chikuzen, Chikugo, Hizen,

Higo Higo may refer to: * Higo Province, old province in what is now Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan * Higo Ko-ryu, Japanese koryū martial art * Higo Magalhães (born 1982), Brazilian football manager and former defensive midfielder * Higo (footballer) ...

, Buzen, Bungo, Hyūga, Osumi, and Satsuma. Today's is a politically defined region that consists of the seven prefectures on the island of Kyushu (which also includes the former Tsushima and Iki as part of Nagasaki), plus Okinawa Prefecture to the south: *

Northern Kyushu is a subregion of Kyushu. This northern region encompasses the prefectures of Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, and Ōita. History Before 1963 it was called North Kyushu (''Kitakyūshū'', 北九州) until the city of Kitakyūshū was form ...

Fukuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the southwest, K ...

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, M ...

Nagasaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the northeast. N ...

** Ōita Prefecture **

Saga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 (1 August 2020) and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2 (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagas ...

Southern Kyushu is a subregion of the Kyushu region of Japan. This southern region encompasses the prefectures of Kagoshima, Miyazaki, and Okinawa. It has more of a subtropical climate than the rest of Kyushu. See also * Northern Kyushu * List of regions ...

** Kagoshima Prefecture **

Miyazaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,073,054 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 7,735 km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefecture borders Ōita Prefecture to the north, Ku ...

** Okinawa Prefecture

Population

Kyushu has 10.3percent of the population of Japan. Most of Kyushu's population is concentrated along the northwest, in the cities of

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...

and Kitakyushu, with population corridors stretching southwest into Sasebo and

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

and south into Kumamoto and

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

. Except for Oita and Miyazaki, the eastern seaboard shows a general decline in population. Politically, Kyushu is described as a stronghold of the Liberal Democratic Party. Per Japanese census data, the Kyushu region's population with

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yon ...

(

and

Prefectures) has experienced a large population decline since around 2000. However, the population decline is mild mainly due to relatively high birth rate of Ryukyuans both within the Ryukyuan lands (

and

) and throughout the Kyushu region. In addition, the other prefectures in Kyushu also have exceptionally high TFRs compared to the rest of Japan. The Ryukyuans are an indigenous minority group in Japan.

Designated cities

(population: 1,588,924) * Kitakyushu (population: 940,978) * Kumamoto (population: 738,907)

Core cities

* Ōita *

* Miyazaki * Naha *

Kurume is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 303,579 and a population density of 1,320 persons per km². The total area is 229.96 km². On February 5, 2005, the town of Kitano (fr ...

* Sasebo * Saga

Environment and agriculture

Parts of Kyushu have a

subtropical climate The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

, particularly

Miyazaki prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,073,054 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 7,735 km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefecture borders Ōita Prefecture to the north, Ku ...

and Kagoshima prefecture. Major agricultural products are

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

, tea,

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, sweet potatoes, and soy; also,

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from th ...

is widely produced. Besides the

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...

area of the south, there are significant mud hot springs in the northern part of the island, around

Beppu is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of March 31, 2017, the city had a population of 122,643extremophile An extremophile (from Latin ' meaning "extreme" and Greek ' () meaning "love") is an organism that is able to live (or in some cases thrive) in extreme environments, i.e. environments that make survival challenging such as due to extreme tem ...

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in old ...

s, which are capable of surviving in extremely hot environments.

Economy

Kyushu is noted for various types of

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

, including Arita, Imari, Satsuma, and Karatsu. Heavy industry is concentrated in the north around Fukuoka, Kitakyushu, Nagasaki, and Oita and includes chemicals, automobiles, semiconductors, metal processing, shipbuilding,

etc. ''Et Cetera'' ( or (proscribed) , ), abbreviated to ''etc.'', ''etc'', ''et cet.'', ''&c.'' or ''&c'' is a Latin expression that is used in English to mean "and other similar things", or "and so forth". Translated literally from Latin, means ' ...

In 2010, the graduate employment rate in the region was the lowest nationwide, at 88.9%.

Education

Major universities and colleges in Kyushu: * National universities ** Kyushu University – One of seven former "Imperial Universities" ** Kyushu Institute of Technology ** Saga University ** Nagasaki University ** Kumamoto University ** Fukuoka University of Education ** Oita University **

Miyazaki University is a national university primarily in the Kibana neighborhood of southern Miyazaki city, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. The name is sometimes shortened to the abbreviation "UoM" or the portmanteau "Miyadai." The predecessor of the school was founded ...

** Kagoshima University **

National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya is a national university in Kanoya, Kagoshima, Japan, founded in 1981. Four alumni participated in the swimming and volleyball events in the Beijing Olympics, including Athens Olympics swimming gold medalist Ai Shibata. Four players partici ...

** University of the Ryukyus * Universities run by local governments **

University of Kitakyushu The is a public university in Kitakyushu, Japan. The main campus is located next to Keibajomae (lit. Horse Racing course) station on the Kitakyushu monorail. The second campus is in the academic zone of Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu called Gakuju ...

** Kyushu Dental College ** Fukuoka Women's University **

Fukuoka Prefectural University is a public university in Tagawa, Fukuoka, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, wh ...

** Nagasaki Prefectural University **

Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences is a public university in Ōita, Ōita, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while ...

Prefectural University of Kumamoto is a public university in the city of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the ...

** Miyazaki Municipal University **

Miyazaki Prefectural Nursing University is a public university in Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan ...

Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts is a public university in Naha, Okinawa, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, w ...

* Major private universities ** Fukuoka University – University with the largest number of students in Kyushu ** Kumamoto Gakuen University **

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University , commonly referred to as APU, is a university in Japan. Ritsumeikan APU was established in April 2000 in Beppu, Ōita, Japan. APU was created through the collaboration of three parties from the public and private sectors: Ōita Prefecture, Be ...

** Seinan Gakuin University **

Kyushu Sangyo University was founded in 1960 in Fukuoka City, and currently has twenty departments and six graduate schools. It is a private university. Undergraduate Faculties and departments *Faculty of Economics **Department of Economics *Faculty of Commerce **Depar ...

– Baseball team won the Japanese National Championship in 2005 **

University of Occupational and Environmental Health is a private university in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by ...

Kurume University is a private university, established in 1928. Kurume University is located in Kurume ( Chikugo district), Fukuoka (on the island of Kyushu), Japan. History *1928 Kyūshū Medical School established. (A precursor of Kurume university) *1949 F ...

Transportation

Kyushu is linked to the larger island of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island s ...

by the Kanmon Railway Tunnel, which carries the non- Shinkansen trains of the Kyushu Railway Company, and the newer

Shin-Kanmon Tunnel The is a 18.713 km long undersea railway tunnel under the Kanmon Straits connecting Shin-Shimonoseki Station and Kokura Station. At the time of opening in March of 1975, it was the longest railway tunnel in Japan before being overtaken ...

carrying the San'yō Shinkansen. Railways on the island are operated by the Kyushu Railway Company and West Japan Railway Company, as well as a variety of smaller companies such as Amagi Railway and Nishitetsu Railway. Kyushu Shinkansen trains operate between major cities on the island, such as

and

, with an additional route between and

which is in operation since September 2022. Kyushu is also known for its scenic train services, such as the Limited Express Yufuin no Mori and Limited Express Kawasemi Yamasemi. The Kanmon Bridge and

Kanmon Roadway Tunnel In Japan, the carries National Route 2 under the Kanmon Straits. At the time of its construction, it was the longest undersea highway in the world. Kyushu Expressway (Asian Highway Network ) is one of the Expressways of Japan from Kitakyūshū (and the bridge to Honshū) to west of Kagoshima linking with the Higashikyushu Expressway and the Ibusuki Skyline. It runs through the prefectures of Fukuoka, the ...

spans the length of the island, linking the Higashikyushu Expressway and Ibusuki Skyline, connecting major cities such as

and Kumamoto along the way. There are also many quiet country roads, including popular tourist routes such as the Nichinan coast road and the Aso Panorama Line in

. Bus services are available and cover 2,400 routes within Kyushu's cities, connecting many other destinations. Several passenger and car ferry services connect both northern and southern Kyushu with main port cities on the main island of Honshu (Kobe, Osaka, Tokyo) and Shikoku.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kyushu Kyushu region Islands of Japan Japanese archipelago