Honshu is the largest of the Japanese home islands, with a land area of about 89,000 square miles. Its climate varies from cool in the north to nearly subtropical in the south, but the entire island receives ample rainfall and is lushly vegetated. Unfortunately, it is also very mountainous, with little arable land, though the existing farmland is very productive. Navigable waterways are almost nonexistent, and though the island had a modern rail system in 1941, the total rail mileage was quite small, and the Japanese were heavily dependent on coastal shipping. This would prove disastrous during the American aerial mining campaign of 1945.
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia (c) 2007 by Kent G. Budge. Index