The is a geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Kanto" in It is commonly defined as the region that includes the Greater Tokyo Area and seven prefectures: Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, and Tokyo. The Kantō Plain makes up just over 45 percent of its land area. The rest consists of hills and mountains that form land borders with other regions of Japan.
Since the Kantō region contains Tokyo, the capital and largest city of Japan, the region is considered the center of Japan's politics and economy. According to the official census on October 1, 2025, by the Statistics Bureau of Japan, the population was 43,509,179, amounting to greater than one-third of Japan's total population.
Other definitions The assembles the prefectural governors of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano, and Shizuoka.Saitama prefectural government: Kantō regional governors' association (in Japanese)Chiba prefectural government: Kantō regional governors' association (in Japanese)
The of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in the national government is responsible for eight prefectures generally (Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi) and parts of the waterways in two others (Nagano and Shizuoka).MLIT: Kanto Regional Development Bureau (in Japanese)
The is responsible for eleven prefectures: Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano and Shizuoka.METI: Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, Organizational overview (in Japanese)
In the police organization of Japan, the is responsible for the Prefectural police departments of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano and Shizuoka.National Police Agency: Kantō regional police supervision office, Jurisdiction (in Japanese) Tokyo is not part of Kantō or any NPA region, its police has a dedicated liaison office with the national agency of its own.
Geography
The surface geology of the Kantō Plain is the Quaternary alluvium and diluvium. The low mountain vegetation at an altitude of about 500 to 900 m in and around the plain is an evergreen broad-leaved forest zone. The distribution height range of laurel forests is 900 m in Hakone, about 800 m in Tanzawa and Takao, about 700 m in Okutama, Oku Musashi and Oku Chichibu, about 600 m in Nishijoshu, Akagiyama, Ashio Mountains and Tsukuba Mountains and about 500 m in Kitage and Nasu Mountains.
Over the evergreen broad-leaved forest are deciduous broad-leaved forests such as beech, birch, and Quercus crispula. In addition, coniferous forests such as Abies veitchii and Betula ermanii spread above the deciduous broad-leaved forest from an altitude of about 1100 m higher than the lower limit of the deciduous broad-leaved forest.
Mountains are spread out such as the Taishaku Mountains, Mt. Takahara, Mt. Nasu, and Mt. Yamizo. The Kantō Plain, which is the largest plain in Japan. Just north of the Enna Hills is Japan's largest alluvial fan Nasuno at the foot of Mt. The Kujukuri Plain. The southern part of Chiba Prefecture is the Boso hills. The area around Kasumigaura in Ibaraki Prefecture is the Joso plateau and Hitachi plateau. Gunma Prefecture and the Chichibu region of Saitama Prefecture are basins. Rivers such as the Arakawa and Edo rivers pour into Tokyo Bay, and the Kinugawa and Tone rivers flow into the Pacific Ocean in Inubōsaki.
Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Boso Peninsula and the Miura Peninsula, facing the west side of Chiba Prefecture, a part of Tokyo and the east side of Kanagawa Prefecture, and borders the Pacific Ocean from Uraga Suido. The coastal area is an industrial area. The south side of Kanagawa Prefecture faces Sagami Bay and Sagami Nada. The southern coast of Ibaraki Prefecture faces Kashima Nada. The Sagami Trough, which was the epicenter of the two Kantō earthquakes, passes through Sagami Bay. Efforts are being made to take safety measures against earthquakes in various places.
The highest point is the summit of Mt. Nikko-Shirane (Mt. Oku-Shirane) on the border between Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture and Katashina Village, Gunma Prefecture. It is the eighth highest point in Japan's prefectures. It is also the highest point north of Kantō (Kantō, Tōhoku, Hokkaido). The highest points of the prefectures are Mt. Sanpo (2,483 m) in Saitama, Mt. Kumotori (2,017 m) in Tokyo, Mt. Hiru (1,673 m) in Kanagawa, Mt. Yamizo (1,022 m) in Ibaraki, and Mt. Atago (408 m) in Chiba. Atagoyama in Chiba Prefecture is the lowest among the highest peaks in each prefecture.
The region experiences a humid subtropical climate with a summer to fall precipitation maximum (Cfa/Cwa).
History The name Kantō literally means "East of the Barrier". The name Kantō is nowadays generally considered to mean the region east () of the Hakone Barrier (). The antonym of Kantō is the Kansai region meaning "West of the Barrier", which lies in western Honshu and was the center of feudal Japan.
Kamakura was the political capital during the Kamakura period, and it served as the seat of the Kamakura shogunate from 1185 to 1333, established by Minamoto no Yoritomo.
This was the first military government in Japan's history. Kamakura flourished until the fall of the Kamakura Shogunate, and its political functions returned to Kyoto in 1392.
In 1591, Tokugawa Ieyasu gave up control of his five provinces (Mikawa, Tōtōmi, Suruga, Shinano, and Kai) and moved all his soldiers and vassals to his new eight provinces in the Kantō region. The proclamation of this decision happened on the same day Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the de facto ruler of Japan at that time, entered Odawara castle following the surrender of the Hōjō clan after the Siege of Odawara (1590). The moment Ieyasu was appointed to rule Kantō, he immediately assigned his premier vassals to control large areas of the former Hōjō clan territories in the region. Historians such as Kawamura have interpreted these actions as supporting multiple goals: namely, bringing order the newly subdued population of the area while also guarding the eastern domains from the influence or threat from the Satomi clan, which had not yet submit to the rule of Toyotomi at that time. The governors of Kantō region under Ieyasu rule:
ProvinceTerritoryKokuDaimyoNotesKōzuke ProvinceMinowa (later Takasaki Domain)120,000Ii NaomasaTatebayashi Domain100,000Sakakibara YasumasaMaebashi Domain33,000Hiraiwa ChikayoshiShiroi Domain20,000Honda YasushigeThe total domain revenue was 33,000. However, the 13,000 of its koku revenue were controlled by the father of Yasushige instead, Honda Hirotaka.Miyazaki (Obata Domain)30,000 Okudaira NobumasaPapinot, Edmond. (2003). Nobiliare du Japon -- Okudaira, p. 47; Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon. (in French/German).Fujioka30,000Yoda Yasukatsu ()Ogo Domain20,000Makino Yasunari Yoshii Domain20,000Suganuma SadatoshiSōja Domain12,000 Suwa YorimizuNaba Domain10,000 Matsudaira IenobuShimotsuke ProvinceMinagawa Domain10,000Minagawa HiroteruShimōsa ProvinceYūki Domain & Tsuchiura Castle101,000Yuki HideyasuYahagi Domain40,000Torii MototadaUsui Domain30,000Sakai IetsuguPapinot, p. 50.Koga Domain30,000Ogasawara HidemasaSekiyado Domain20,000 kokuMatsudaira YasumotoYamasaki Domain12,000Okabe NagamoriAshido Domain10,000Kiso YoshimasaMoriya Domain10,000Suganuma SadamasaTako Domain10,000 Hoshina MasamitsuSakura Domain10,000Miura Shigenari ()Iwatomi Domain10,000Hōjō UjikatsuMusashi ProvinceIwatsuki Domain20,000Kōriki KiyonagaKisai Domain20,000Matsudaira YasushigeKawagoe Domain10,000 kokuSakai ShigetadaMusashi Komuro Domain10,000Ina Tadatsugu Musashi Matsuyama Domain10,000Matsudaira Iehiro ()Oshi Domain10,000Matsudaira IetadaHanyu Domain20,000Ōkubo TadachikaFukaya Domain10,000Matsudaira YasutadaTōhō Domain10,000Matsudaira YasunagaHonjō Domain10,000Ogasawara Nobumine ()Aho Domain10,000Suganuma SadamitsuHachimanyama Domain10,000Matsudaira Kiyomune ()Kazusa ProvinceŌtaki Domain100,000Honda TadakatsuInitially the capital of Domain were in Mangi castleKururi Domain30,000Ōsuga TadamasaSanuki Domain20,000Naitō IenagaNaruto Domain20,000Ishikawa YasumichiSagami ProvinceOdawara Domain45,000Ōkubo TadayoTamanawa Domain10,000Honda MasanobuIzu ProvinceNirayama Domain10,000Naitō Nobunari
Ieyasu established his personal new seat of power on Edo town, which at that time was an underdeveloped town in Kantō.
In the Edo period, Kantō became the center of modern development. Within the Greater Tokyo Area and especially the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area, the Kantō plain houses not only Japan's seat of government but also the nation's largest group of universities and cultural institutions, the greatest population and a large industrial zone. Although most of the Kantō plain is used for residential, commercial or industrial construction, some land is still farmed. Rice is the principal crop, although the zone around Tokyo and Yokohama has been landscaped to grow garden produce for the metropolitan market.
Operation Coronet, part of Operation Downfall, the proposed Allied invasion of Japan during World War II, was scheduled to land on the Kantō Plain.
Great earthquake of 1923 A watershed moment of Japan's modern history took place in the late Taishō period: the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923. The quake, which claimed more than 100,000 lives and ravaged Greater Tokyo area, occurred at a time when Japan was still reeling from the economic recession in reaction to the high-flying years during World War I.
After the earthquake, many people in Kantō started creating art with different varieties of colors. They made art of earthquake and small towns to symbolize the small towns destroyed in the quake.
Subdivisions North and south The most often used subdivision of the region is dividing it to , consisting of Ibaraki, Tochigi, and Gunma prefectures, and , consisting of Saitama (sometimes classified North), Chiba, Tokyo Metropolis (sometimes singulated), and Kanagawa prefectures. South Kantō is often regarded as synonymous with the Greater Tokyo Area. As part of Japan's attempts to predict earthquakes, an area roughly corresponding to South Kantō has been designated an 'Area of Intensified Observation' by the Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction.Avances en prevención de desastres sísmicos en Japón. Outline of countermeasures for the Tōkai earthquake (Section B) N Honda, published March 1994, accessed 2011-03-25
The Japanese House of Representatives' divides it into the electorate which consists of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, and Saitama prefectures, Tokyo electorate, and the electorate which consists of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Yamanashi prefectures (note that Yamanashi is out of the Kantō region in the orthodox definition).
Keirin's consists of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka prefectures.
East and west This division is not often but sometimes used.
: Ibaraki, Tochigi, and Chiba prefectures. : Gunma, Saitama, Tokyo, Kanagawa (and sometimes Yamanashi) prefectures.
Inland and coastal This division is sometimes used in economics and geography. The border can be modified if the topography is taken for prefectural boundaries.
: Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama (and sometimes Yamanashi) prefectures. : Ibaraki, Chiba, Tokyo, and Kanagawa prefectures.
Greater Kantō The Japanese national government defines the as the Kantō region plus Yamanashi Prefecture. Japan's national public broadcaster NHK uses involving Yamanashi, Nagano, and Niigata prefectures for regional programming and administration.
Cities