Japan

While there exist eight commonly defined regions of Japan, administratively Japan consists of forty-seven prefectures.

Geographically, Japan is a country of over three thousand islands extending along the Pacific coast of Asia. The main islands, running from north to south, are Hokkaidō, Honshū (the main island), Shikoku and Kyūshū.

References:
- Tsunashirō Wada, Takudzi Ogawa (1904) Minerals of Japan. Tokyo 144pp
- Harada, Zyunpei (1936) Chemische analysenresultate von japanischen Mineralien. Reprinted from the Journal of the Faculty of Science, Hokkaido Imperial University, Series IV: 3(3-4): 221-362. (December, 1936), Sapporo, Japan.
- Ito, T. (1937) Japanese Minerals in Pictures. Vol. 1 (1937). Tokyo. (in Japanese).
- Nagashima, O. and Nagashima, K. (1960) Rare Earth Element Minerals from Japan. Working Group Commemorating Mr. O. Nagashima, Kyoto, Japan (in Japanese).
- Hoshino, M., Kimata, M., Shimizu, M., Nishida, N., and Fujiwara, T. (2006) Allanite-(Ce) in granitic rocks from Japan: Genetic implications of patterns of REE and Mn enrichment. Canadian Mineralogist: 44: 45-62.