The is a mountainous

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

with a deeply indented coastline to the west of Tokyo on the

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

of the island of

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the largest of the four main islands of Japan. Formerly known as

Izu Province was a province of Japan in the area now part of Shizuoka Prefecture and Tokyo. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Izu''" in . Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The mainland portion of Izu Prov ...

, Izu peninsula is now a part of

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

. The peninsula has an area of and its estimated population in 2005 was 473,942 people. The peninsula's populated areas are located primarily on the north and east.

Geology

Tectonically, the Izu peninsula results from the

Philippine Sea Plate The Philippine Sea plate or the Philippine plate is a tectonic plate comprising oceanic lithosphere that lies beneath the Philippine Sea, to the east of the Philippines. Most segments of the Philippines, including northern Luzon, are part of ...

colliding with the Okhotsk Plate at the

Nankai Trough The is a submarine trough located south of the Nankaidō region of Japan's island of Honshu, extending approximately offshore. The underlying fault, the ''Nankai megathrust,'' is the source of the devastating Nankai megathrust earthquakes, ...

. The Philippine Sea Plate, the Amurian Plate, and the Okhotsk Plate meet at

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

, a triple junction. The peninsula itself lies on the Philippine Sea Plate. The southern portion of the peninsula is composed largely of

breccia Breccia ( , ; ) is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or Rock (geology), rocks cementation (geology), cemented together by a fine-grained matrix (geology), matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language ...

, and the central and northern portions consist of numerous highly eroded

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

es. The Amagi Mountain Range dominates the center of the peninsula with

Mount Amagi is a range of volcano, volcanic mountains in central Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, forming the border between Izu, Shizuoka, Izu City and Higashiizu, Shizuoka, Higashi-Izu Town. It is also referred to as the . The Amagi mountain ...

() and Mount Atami () in the east and Mount Daruma () in the west, with the eastern and western portions of the range extending underwater into

Sagami Bay lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while the i ...

and Suruga Bay. The peninsula's major river, the Kano River in the north, flows through a

graben In geology, a graben () is a depression (geology), depressed block of the Crust (geology), crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults. Etymology ''Graben'' is a loan word from German language, German, meaning 'ditch' or 't ...

valley created by plate tectonics. As a result of its underlying geology, the peninsula is prone to frequent earthquake swarms and

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

s, and it abounds in

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

Administration

All of Izu Peninsula is within

. It is administratively divided into eight cities and five towns: * Atami * Itō * Izu * Izunokuni * Numazu *

Mishima Mishima may refer to: Places * Mishima, Fukushima, a town in Fukushima Prefecture * Mishima, Kagoshima, a village in Kagoshima Prefecture * Mishima, Niigata, a town in Niigata Prefecture * Mishima, Shizuoka, a city in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japa ...

* Shimoda * Kamo District ** Higashiizu ** Kawazu ** Matsuzaki ** Minamiizu ** Nishiizu

Economics

A popular resort region for tourists from the

Kantō region The is a geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...

, the Izu peninsula is primarily known for ''

onsen In Japan, are hot springs and the bathing facilities and Ryokan (inn), traditional inns around them. There are approximately 25,000 hot spring sources throughout Japan, and approximately 3,000 ''onsen'' establishments use naturally hot water ...

'' hot spring resorts in Atami, Shuzenji, and Itō. The area is also popular for sea bathing, surfing, golfing and motorcycle touring. The peninsula abuts

and is a part of

Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park is a national park in Yamanashi, Shizuoka, and Kanagawa Prefectures, and western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It consists of Mount Fuji, Fuji Five Lakes, Hakone, the Izu Peninsula, and the Izu Islands. Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park covers . Rat ...

. The southwest coast of Izu, from the municipalities of Matsuzaki, Nishiizu and Minamiizu was designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty in 1937. Aside from tourism, agriculture and fishing are the mainstays of the local economy. Izu is one of the biggest producers of ''

wasabi Wasabi (Japanese language, Japanese: , , or , ) or Japanese horseradish (''Eutrema japonicum'' syn. ''Wasabia japonica'') is a plant of the family Brassicaceae, which also includes horseradish and Mustard plant, mustard in other genus, genera. ...

'' in Japan, and the local cuisine offers dishes flavored with ''wasabi''. Nevertheless, these industries are not lucrative enough to prevent a heavy loss of population to Greater Tokyo and Shizuoka, particularly among the young.

Access

Railway

The northern parts of Izu peninsula is easily accessible from Tokyo and points west via the

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the San'yō Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opening in 19 ...

, which has stations in both Atami in the northeast and

in the northwest. JR Itō Line and the Izu Kyūkō Line provides service along the east coast of the peninsula to Shimoda, however given the lack of population, these services are less regular. Central Izu is served by the Sunzu Line as far as Shuzenji. The west coast of the peninsula is less developed, and has no train service.

Roadway

Izu Peninsula is served by numerous expressways. By car, it is from the Yōga Interchange (用賀インター ''Yōga Intā'') on the Tokyo end of the Tōmei Expressway to Numazu. To get to the eastern side, a branch at

Atsugi is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 223,960 and a population density of 2400 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . While the name "Atsugi" is often associated with the United ...

leads to the Odawara-Atsugi Road, which continues past

Odawara is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in ...

to Yugawara, Atami, and Shimoda. Izu Peninsula is also served by Japan National Route 135, Japan National Route 136, and Japan National Route 414. Izu also offers two scenic roads, called "

Izu Skyline Izu Skyline is a toll road through Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of ...

" (伊豆スカイライン) and " Western Izu Skyline" (西伊豆スカイライン) that offer beautiful views on nature and Mt. Fuji. Both skyline roads are favorite spots of car and motorcycle enthusiasts. The Odakyu Electric Railway runs local bus services from

and

Hakone is a List of towns in Japan, town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 10,965, and total area of . Hakone is a notable spa town and a popular tourist destination due to its many onsen, hot springs being within view of ...

, and there is an extensive but infrequent internal bus network.

Airway

On August 12, 1985, Flight JAL 123, while crossing peninsular airspace, experienced an explosion in the aft pressure bulkhead, resulting in an accident that killed 520 people, becoming one of the deadliest air disasters in human history.

References

External links

Izu Peninsula GeoparkIzu Peninsula
- Encyclopædia Britannica'' Online

- Shizuoka Guide (Shizuoka Prefectural Tourism Association)
Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka
- Japan National Tourist Organization {{Authority control Peninsulas of Japan Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc Landforms of Shizuoka Prefecture Places of Scenic Beauty