Honshu is the Japanese island that contains Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka and is the country’s largest island.
Honshu is Japan’s principal island and contains much of its political, economic, and cultural life. Tokyo, Japan’s capital, lies on the island’s eastern side, while Kyoto and Osaka are in the Kansai region.
The island stretches roughly 1,300 kilometres from northeast to southwest. Its landscape includes the Japanese Alps and Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain, near the boundary of Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures.
Honshu is sometimes confused with Hokkaido because both are large Japanese islands. Hokkaido is Japan’s second-largest island and lies north of Honshu across the Tsugaru Strait.