地理的分野 - Japan and the World: Regions, Maps, Industry and Environment
What you must know
Japan stretches from about 20°N to 46°N and from about 123°E to 154°E, so it has a wide range of climates. Hokkaido is subarctic; the Pacific side has rainy summers and dry winters; the Japan Sea side gets heavy winter snow; the Seto Inland Sea has little rain; the Nansei Islands are subtropical. Seasonal winds (southeast in summer, northwest in winter) and the central mountains explain these differences. Warm Kuroshio and cold Oyashio currents meet off Hokkaido, creating fog and rich fishing grounds. Industry is concentrated in the Pacific Belt, with the Keihin, Hanshin, Chukyo and Kitakyushu zones. Agriculture varies: rice in plains, fruit in basins, dairy in Hokkaido. Environment topics include pollution, recycling, renewable energy and an aging population.
Traps
Map-scale questions confuse 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 maps. Contour lines can be misread: closely spaced lines mean steep slopes. Climate questions often misplace the Seto Inland Sea or reverse the Pacific and Japan Sea sides. Prefecture locations are frequently tested, so practise a blank map.
Worked example
On a 1:25,000 map, 4 cm represents 1 km. If two points are 6 cm apart, the actual distance is 6 ÷ 4 = 1.5 km. Rule of thumb: divide the measured length by the scale denominator, then convert centimetres to metres or kilometres.
Exam habit
When a question asks for a reason, connect climate or landform to human activity - for example, basins with cold winters suit fruit growing, and narrow plains limit farmland.