Cambridge IGCSE Geography
Population density and distribution
Population distribution in Japan
Case Study
Represents 500 000 people
High population density – Japan
HOKKAIDO
N
Where do people live in Japan?
Sea of Japan
Japan is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with a population density of over 350/km2. However, the people are not spread out evenly across the land. Some parts of Japan are densely populated but other parts have very few people living there. Source A shows the population distribution of Japan. The distribution shows the way in which people are spread out across the country.
HONSHU
SHIKOKU 0
Pacific Ocean
KYUSHU
200 km
Population density in Japan People per km2 Over 500 – industrial and urban areas
34 N
HOKKAIDO
Relief of Japan
100–500 – farming areas
Land over 500 m
Under 100 – mountain areas
Land under 500 m
Sea of Japan
HOKKAIDO
N
HONSHU
Sea of Japan
Tokyo Nagoya Osaka Pacific SHIKOKU Ocean
HONSHU
KYUSHU 0
Population
200 km
Area (km2)
5 376 000
83 500
Honshu
98 352 000
230 500
Kyushu
13 169 000
42 150
Shikoku
4 119 000
18 800
Hokkaido
SHIKOKU
Pacific Ocean
KYUSHU 0
200 km
Land reclamation in Japan Kobe, with its 1.5 million inhabitants, stretches between the Rokko Mountains and the coast, a 2–4 kilometre wide and 16 kilometre-long ribbon city. The shortage of land in Kobe, and the constantly growing demand for land for its port and industries, have led, since the mid-1950s, to the increasing reclamation of land from the sea. The Japanese call this reclaimed land umetate-chi (umetate = fill in and build; chi = land, earth). The landfill material in Kobe has consisted of rocks and soil removed from the mountains and, since 1995, also partly
from earthquake rubble. The millions of cubic metres of rocks and soil from the Rokko Mountains was transported with tipper trucks to an underground conveyor belt, and then carried to its final destination in barges. After removal of the rocks and soil, the flattened mountain regions were used in many places as valuable building land for the construction of new residential districts, where over 130 000 people have found accommodation. 10 000 new houses have been built in Myodani alone. Adapted from Diercke International Atlas