Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
230,426km²
Area
5,941km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
3,777m
Highest point
Mount Fuji
104,000,000
People
26°C
Warmest sea
August
82km
To the mainland
When to go to Honshu
Best for the beach from July to September.
The sea is warmest in August (26 °C) and coolest in March (12 °C). Comfortable swimming (21 °C or more): from July to October.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Largest island of Japan
Honshu is an island in Japan. It belongs to Japanese archipelago. It covers 230,426 km², with 5,941 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Fuji, rises to 3,777 m. About 104,000,000 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 82 km away.
Getting there
- Mount Fuji Shizuoka Airport (FSZ)main airport (29 on the island with scheduled flights)Car hire at TOY airport (Toyama)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 82 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From July to Septemberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Honshu.
This island is too large to count beaches and viewpoints in a meaningful way.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Honshu in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Honshu, each with its own numbers.
43beaches and covesCoastya
139lakesLakeyas
239waterfallsCascadyas
Tallest waterfall
350m
Shōmyō Falls
according to Cascadyas
Largest lake
673km²
Lake Biwa
104 m deep · according to Lakeyas
Deepest lake
423m
Lake Tazawa
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
32.6°C
Lake Miyuki
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
27.4°C
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
43 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Tagono Ura26.6°C
- Fukiageno Hama26.6°C
- Yuiga Hama25.9°C
- Hiari Ura26.2°C
- Yorii Hama26.3°C
- Sankyō22.3°C
- Akogi-ura27.4°C
- Kashima-ura24.7°C
35 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
139 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Lake Biwa104 m deep673km²
- Lake Kasumigaura4 m deep168km²
- Lake Inawashiro94 m deep103km²
- Nakaumi17 m deep87.1km²
- Lake Shinji6 m deep79.9km²
- Lake Towada327 m deep60.5km²
- Lake Tazawa423 m deep25.5km²
- Lake Suwa7 m deep12.7km²
131 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
239 waterfalls
on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas
- Shōmyō Falls350m
- Ryūzu Falls210m
- Sankai Falls181m
- Nachi Falls133m
- Kegon Falls97m
- Abe Great Falls80m
- Shiraito Falls20m
- Fukuroda Falls
231 more on CascadyasCascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
500 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Tokyo9,733,276 people
- Yokohama3,777,491 people
- Osaka2,753,862 people
- Nagoya2,332,176 people
- Kawasaki1,538,262 people
- Kobe1,525,152 people
- Kyoto1,463,723 people
- Saitama1,324,854 people
- Hiroshima1,200,754 people
- Sendai1,096,704 people
- Chiba979,768 people
- Setagaya940,071 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | -1 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 26 | 22 | 16 | 9 | 2 |
| Night low (°C) | -10 | -9 | -5 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 17 | 12 | 6 | -1 | -6 |
| Sea (°C) | 14 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 25 | 22 | 19 | 16 |
| Rain (mm) | 50 | 49 | 83 | 91 | 110 | 144 | 197 | 153 | 178 | 160 | 64 | 50 |
| Wet days | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 7 |
| Sun h/day | 4.5 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 5.7 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.3 |
| Wind (km/h) | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 14 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.8 | −0.1 | +0.8 | +1.4 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.6 |
| 2021 | +0.5 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.4 | +0.9 | +1.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +1.4 | +0.5 | +0.2 |
| 2022 | −0.3 | −0.4 | −0.1 | +1.0 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +1.9 | +1.3 | +1.4 | +1.0 | +0.7 | +0.7 |
| 2023 | +0.3 | +0.9 | +1.3 | +1.6 | +1.2 | +1.1 | +1.8 | +2.2 | +2.5 | +1.3 | +1.3 | +0.6 |
| 2024 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.3 | +1.4 | +1.1 | +1.3 | +1.7 | +2.0 | +2.4 | +1.3 | +0.8 | +0.4 |
| 2025 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +1.2 | +3.2 | +2.0 | +2.3 | +1.9 | +0.3 | +0.4 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Odaiba
Japan3.4 km²21 m165 km away
EnoshimaJapan0.39 km²60 m155 km away
Chubu Centrair International AirportJapan6.3 km²5 m167 km away
Izu ŌshimaJapan91 km²764 m189 km away
Sado IslandJapan855 km²1,171 m233 km away
Nii-jimaJapan23 km²432 m214 km away
MiyakejimaJapan55 km²815 m255 km away
Mikura-jimaJapan21 km²851 m278 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q13989) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | Natural Earth · public domain |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Lakeyas, Cascadyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit