Japan consists of three main terms used to identify land, groupings and borders: Islands, Regions and Prefectures. Islands: The four main islands that make up the country of Japan. From the top they are: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. Regions: Some islands are further broken down into groupings of prefectures. Prefectures: These form the currently 47 different subdivisions within the countr