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Japan

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Travel to Japan travel

Japan is a close-knit island nation that is well-known for its gorgeous cities, distinctive food, amusement parks, and more. Hidden gems and stunning palaces are spotted around the country, from small villages right up to the commercial areas in Japan, for example Osaka or Tokyo. Character or animal cafés, vending machines offering a huge range of items, and aquariums showcasing exceptional and exclusive marine life are just some of the best and most attractive things you can view while in Japan. In general, there are so many must-see and must-experience places to visit in Japan because of the nation’s affluent history, location, and culture.

Diving in Japan

Japan is a true scuba diving heaven! It has one of the biggest coral habitats in the earth boasting more than 200 coral building reefs, exciting underwater landscapes and an ecosystem teaming with varied marine life. It is also home to numerous World War II shipwrecks, making it an thrilling and historical scuba adventure. The Okinawa Prefecture in Southern Japan is the country's major dive hub, and one of the most popular, made up of three archipelagos. The main dive spots are situated around Ishigaki, Hateruma and Miyako islands. The Kerama Island group is also popular with more than a hundred dive sites on offer!

Diving regions in Japan (8)

Izu Islands

Volcanic island chain south of Tokyo in the warm Kuroshio current, offering lava reefs, arches, turtles, hammerhead and thresher sharks, and wild dolphin swimming, reachable by ferry or plane.

Island group
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Izu Peninsula

Japan's busiest mainland dive coast, within easy reach of Tokyo, with volcanic reefs, soft corals, rich macro life in Suruga Bay and schooling hammerhead sharks at Mikomoto Island off the southern tip.

Coastline
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Kerama Islands

A national park island group west of Naha with close to 100 boat dive sites, exceptionally clear and calm water, hard and soft coral gardens and humpback whales in winter.

Marine park
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Kushimoto

Mainland Japan's best-known coral diving area at the southern tip of the Kii Peninsula, where the Kuroshio current supports large table coral colonies and a mix of subtropical and temperate fish.

Coastline
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Miyako Islands

Coral limestone islands between Okinawa and Yaeyama, famous for caverns and tunnels such as Tori-ike and Antoni Gaudi, the vast Yabiji reef complex and clear water off Irabu and Shimoji.

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Ogasawara Islands

Remote UNESCO-listed subtropical archipelago 24 hours by ferry from Tokyo, known for clear Bonin Blue water, dolphins, sharks, dogtooth tuna, humpback whales in winter and endemic marine species.

Archipelago
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Okinawa Island

The largest island of the Ryukyu chain, with shore and boat diving along its fringing coral reefs, the famous Blue Cave at Cape Maeda and World War II wrecks such as USS Emmons.

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Yaeyama Islands

Japan's southwestern archipelago around Ishigaki and Iriomote, known for year-round manta ray cleaning stations, pelagics at Nakano-ogan and winter hammerhead schools and the Underwater Ruins off Yonaguni.

Archipelago
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Dive centers in Japan (166)

Country info

Capital
Tokyo
Region
Asia
Subregion
Eastern Asia
Population
126.960.000
Area
377.930 km2
Currency
Japanese yen (JPY)
Languages
日本語 (にほんご)
Time zones
UTC+09:00
Dialing code
+81
Demonym
Japanese
Top-Level-Domain
.jp