(2001 pop. 4.2 million). Shikoku is located in the southwest part of the Japanese archipelago, facing the Seto Inland Sea between Honshu and Kyushu. It is the smallest of Japan's four main islands, with an area of 18,808 square kilometers. It is divided into four prefectures: Kagawa, Tokushima, Kochi, and Ehime. In the past, each prefecture's capital was built around a castle and therfore known as a "castle town" (Joka-machi). The cities of Matsuyama (2001 pop. 472,000) and Takamatsu (2001 pop. 333,000) are the largest on the island. The northern part of Shikoku has mild winters and long dry summers and is little affected by the wind. The southern part of the island, which is influenced by the Pacific Ocean, is warmer and wetter. Here average temperature ranges from 14° C to 16° C. The island is mountainous including high peaks such as Mount Ishizuchi (1,982 meters) in Ehime and Mount Tsurugi (1,955 meters) in Tokushima. The Shikoku Karst, a limestone plateau with an elevation of 1,400 meters, runs along the borders of Ehime and Kochi Prefectures.
It is this range of elevation of Shikoku that has limited agricultural conditions, habitation, and communication. For a very long time, Shikoku was isolated from the rest of Japan, and it was last of the main islands to be linked by bridge to the main island Honshu. The 1988 completion of the Seto Ohashi Bridge, a highspeed transportation system, has contributed to the development of industry in the north of Shikoku. Seto Ohashi, a series of six bridges using five small islands, links Kojima in Okayama and Sakaide in Kagawa. At 12.6 kilometers in length, it represents the world's longest roadway and railway formed by a bridge. Other bridges connected to Honshu are the Naruto, Akashi, and Kanmon bridges. They are expected to attract further industrial development to Shikoku.
The main industries in the northern and western parts of Shikoku are metallurgy, machinery, pulp and paper, textiles, heavy chemicals, and oil refineries. Projects in Ehime and Kagawa Prefectures are currently focused on research and development in advanced technology industries and various development schemes are being implemented. Agricultural products include rice, vegetables, mandarin oranges, persimmons, and tea. Forestry is important, and the fishing industry includes cultured pearls. In recent years tourism has increased.
Further Reading
Association of Japanese Geographers, eds. (1980) Geography of Japan. Tokyo: Teikoku Shoin.
Yagasaki Noritaka, ed. (1997) Japan: Geographical Perspectives on an Island Nation. Tokyo: Teikoku Shoin.
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