The Kanto region (関東地方) is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. +more
As the Kanto region contains Tokyo, the capital and largest city of Japan, the region is considered the center of Japan's politics and economy. According to the official census on October 1, 2010, by the Japan Statistics Bureau, the population was 42,607,376, amounting to approximately one third of the total population of Japan.
Other definitions
The Kantō regional governors' association (関東地方知事会, Kantō chihō chijikai) assembles the prefectural governors of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano and Shizuoka.
The Kantō Regional Development Bureau (関東地方整備局, Kantō chihō seibi-kyoku) of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in the national government is responsible for eight prefectures generally (Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi) and parts of the waterways in two others (Nagano and Shizuoka). The Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry (関東経済産業局, Kantō keizai-sangyō-kyoku) is responsible for eleven prefectures: Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano and Shizuoka. +more
In the police organization of Japan, the National Police Agency's supervisory office for Kantō (関東管区警察局, Kantō kanku keisatsu-kyoku) is responsible for the Prefectural police departments of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano and Shizuoka. Tokyo is not part of Kantō or any NPA region, its police has a dedicated liaison office with the national agency of its own.
The Kantō Regional Development Bureau (関東地方整備局, Kantō chihō seibi-kyoku) of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in the national government is responsible for eight prefectures generally (Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi) and parts of the waterways in two others (Nagano and Shizuoka). The Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry (関東経済産業局, Kantō keizai-sangyō-kyoku) is responsible for eleven prefectures: Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano and Shizuoka.
Geography
The surface geology of the Kanto Plain is the Quaternary alluvium and diluvium. The low mountain vegetation at an altitude of about 500 to 900 m in and around the plain is an evergreen broad-leaved forest zone. +more
Over the evergreen broad-leaved forest are deciduous broad-leaved forests such as beech, birch, and quercus crispula. In addition, coniferous forests such as Abies veitchii and Betula ermanii spread above the deciduous broad-leaved forest from an altitude of about 1100 m higher than the lower limit of the deciduous broad-leaved forest.
Mountains are spread out such as the Taishaku Mountains, Mt. Takahara, Mt. +more
Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Boso Peninsula and the Miura Peninsula, facing the west side of Chiba Prefecture, a part of Tokyo and the east side of Kanagawa Prefecture, and borders the Pacific Ocean from Uraga Suido. The coastal area is an industrial area. +more
The highest point is the summit of Mt. Nikko-Shirane (Mt. +more
The region experiences a humid subtropical climate with a summer to fall precipitation maximum (Cfa/Cwa).
History
The heartland of feudal power during the Kamakura period and again in the Edo period, Kanto became the center of modern development. Within the Greater Tokyo Area and especially the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area, Kanto houses not only Japan's seat of government but also the nation's largest group of universities and cultural institutions, the greatest population and a large industrial zone. +more
A watershed moment of Japan's modern history took place in the late Taishō period: the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923. The quake, which claimed more than 100,000 lives and ravaged the Tokyo and Yokohama areas, occurred at a time when Japan was still reeling from the economic recession in reaction to the high-flying years during World War I.
Operation Coronet, part of Operation Downfall, the proposed Allied invasion of Japan during World War II, was scheduled to land at the Kantō plain. Most of the United States military bases on the island of Honshu are situated on the Kantō plain. +more
The name Kanto literally means "East of the Barrier". The name Kanto is nowadays generally considered to mean the region east (東) of the Hakone checkpoint (関所). +more
After the Great Kanto earthquake many people in Kanto started creating art with different varieties of colors. They made art of earthquake and small towns to symbolize the small towns destroyed in the quake.
Subdivisions
North and South
The most often used subdivision of the region is dividing it to "North Kantō" (北関東), consisting of Ibaraki, Tochigi, and Gunma Prefectures, and "South Kantō" (南関東), consisting of Saitama (sometimes classified North), Chiba, the Tokyo Metropolis (sometimes singulated), and Kanagawa Prefectures. South Kantō is often regarded as synonymous with the Greater Tokyo Area. +more
The Japanese House of Representatives' divides it into the North Kantō (北関東) electorate which consists of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Saitama Prefectures, Tokyo electorate, and the South Kantō (南関東) electorate which consists of Chiba, Kanagawa and Yamanashi Prefectures. (Note that Yamanashi is out of Kantō region in the orthodox definition. +more
Keirin's South Kantō (南関東) consists of Chiba, Kanagawa and Shizuoka Prefectures.
East and West
This division is not often but sometimes used. * East Kantō (東関東): Ibaraki, Tochigi and Chiba Prefectures. +more
Inland and Coastal
This division is sometimes used in economics and geography. The border can be modified if the topography is taken for prefectural boundaries. +more
Greater Kantō
The Japanese national government defines the National Capital Region (Japan) (National Capital Region) as Kantō region plus Yamanashi Prefecture. Japan's national public broadcaster NHK uses Kantō-kō-shin-etsu (関東甲信越) involving Yamanashi, Nagano and Niigata Prefectures for regional programming and administration.
Economy
The Kantō region largely corresponds to the Tokyo metropolitan area with the exception that it does not contain Yamanashi prefecture.
The Tokyo metropolitan area has the largest city economy in the world and is one of the major global center of trade and commerce along with New York City, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Paris, Seoul and London.
Greater Tokyo Area 2005
2005 average exchange rate (1 US Dollar = 110.22 Yen)
| Prefecture | Gross Prefecture Product (in billion Yen) | Gross Prefecture Product (in billion US$) |
|---|---|---|
| Tokyo | 92,269 | 837 |
| Kanagawa | 31,184 | 282 |
| Saitama | 20,650 | 187 |
| Chiba | 19,917 | 180 |
| Ibaraki | 10,955 | 99 |
| Tochigi | 8,195 | 74 |
| Gunma | 7,550 | 68 |
Source
GDP (purchasing power parity)
The agglomeration of Tokyo is the world's largest economy, with the largest gross metropolitan product at purchasing power parity (PPP) in the world according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Kanto Region Metropolitan Employment Area
| Year | 2010 | 1995 | 1980 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employed Persons 000's | 16,234 | 16,381 | 12,760 |
| Production (billion US$) | 1,797 | 1,491 | 358 |
| Production Manufacturing (billion US$) | 216 | 476 | 159 |
| Private Capital Stock (billion US$) | 3,618 | 2,631 | 368 |
| Social Overhead Capital (billion US$) | 1,607 | 1,417 | 310 |
| 1 US Dollar (Japanese yen) | 87. 780 | 94. +more | 226. 741 |
Population
The population of Kanto region is very similar to that of Greater Tokyo Area except that it does not contain Yamanashi Prefecture and contains the rural populations throughout the region.
Per Japanese census data, and Kanto region's data, population has continuously grown but the population growth rate has slowed since early 1992.
The Kanto region at 2018 has a population at around 43.3 million people.
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