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Sea of Japan
Japanese name
Kanji	日本海
Hiragana	にほんかい
Hepburn Romanization	Nihonkai
English Translation	Japan Sea
Korean name (North Korea)
Hanja	朝鮮東海
Hangul	조선동해
Revised Romanization	Joseon Donghae
McCune-Reischauer	Chosŏn Tonghae
English Translation	Korea East Sea
Korean name (South Korea)
Hanja	東海
Hangul	동해
Revised Romanization	Donghae
McCune-Reischauer	Tonghae
English Translation	East Sea
Russian name
Russian	Япо́нское мо́ре
Romanization	Yapónskoje móre
English Translation	Japan Sea
Chinese name
Chinese	日本海
Pinyin	Rìběn Hǎi
English Translation	Japan Sea

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered by Japan, Korea and Russia. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure.

Physical characteristics

The Sea of Japan (East Sea) is bound by the Russian mainland and Sakhalin island to the north, North Korea and South Korea to the west, and the Japanese islands of Hokkaidō, Honshū, and Kyūshū to the east.

It is connected to other seas by five shallow straits: the Strait of Tartary between the Asian mainland and Sakhalin; La Perouse Strait between the islands of Sakhalin and Hokkaidō; the Tsugaru Strait between the islands of Hokkaidō and Honshū; the Kanmon Straits between the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū; and the Korea Strait (genkainada) between the Korean Peninsula and the island of Kyūshū. The Korea Strait is composed of the Western Channel and the Tsushima Strait, on either side of Tsushima Island.

• Deepest point: 3,742 meters below sea level
• Mean depth: 1,753 meters
• Surface area: about 978,000 km²

The sea has three major basins: the Yamato Basin in the southeast; the Japan Basin in the north; and the Tsushima Basin (Ulleung Basin) in the southwest. The Japan Basin has the deepest areas of the sea, while the Tsushima Basin has the shallowest.

On the eastern shores, the continental shelves of the sea are wide, but on the western shores, particularly along the Korean coast, they are narrow, averaging about 30 kilometres wide.

The Tsushima Warm Current, a branch of Kuroshio Current, flows northward through the Korea Strait along the Japanese shore, and the Liman Cold Current flows southward through the Strait of Tartary along the Russian shore.

The Sea of Japan (East Sea) was once a landlocked sea when the land bridge of East Asia existed.

Economy

The areas in the north and the southeast are rich fishing grounds. The importance of the fishery in the sea is well illustrated by the dispute between South Korea and Japan over Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks). The sea is also important for its mineral deposits, particularly magnetite sands. There are also believed to be natural gas and petroleum fields. With the growth of East Asian economies, the Sea of Japan has become an increasingly important commercial waterway.

Biology

The last documented observation of the Japanese Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus japonicus) was a sighting of 50 or 60 individuals on Dokdo in 1951. These animals bred in flat, open, sandy beaches and were indigenous to the Northwest Pacific shores of Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Hunted to extinction by fishermen, there is some disagreement as to whether the Japanese Sea Lion were a distinct species or a subspecies of the California Sea Lion.

Naming dispute

Although Sea of Japan (East Sea) is the commonly used term to refer to the sea amongst most other countries, both North Korea and South Korea have advocated for a different name to be used. South Korea has argued that it should be called the "East Sea"; North Korea, the "East Sea of Korea". As a result of Korean objections to the name "Sea of Japan", some English-language publications refer to it as Sea of Japan (East Sea), incorporating a version of the Korean name.

See also

• Geography of Japan
• Geography of North Korea
• Geography of Russia
• Geography of South Korea

References

1. "Tides in Marginal, Semi-Enclosed and Coastal Seas - Part I: Sea Surface Height". ERC-Stennis at Mississippi State University. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
2. Totman, Conrad D. (2004). "Pre-Industrial Korea and Japan in Environmental Perspective". Retrieved 2007-02-02. {{cite web}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
3. "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Zalophus japonicus". IUCN. Retrieved 2007-02-28.

External links

Media related to Sea of Japan at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of Sea of Japan at Wiktionary

39°34′55″N 134°34′11″E / 39.58194°N 134.56972°E / 39.58194; 134.56972

• Sea of Japan
• Disputed waters