Sea of Japan

Coordinates: 40°N 135°E

Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan map
Chinese name
Chinese	日本海
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Japanese name
Kanji	日本海
Hiragana	にほんかい
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North Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl	조선동해
Hancha	朝鮮東海
Literal meaning	East Sea of Korea
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South Korean name
Hangul	동해
Hanja	東海
Literal meaning	East Sea
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Russian name
Russian	Японское море
Romanization	Yaponskoye more
Manchu name
Manchu	ᡩᡝᡵᡤᡳ ᠮᡝᡩᡝᡵᡳ dergi mederi

The Sea of Japan (see below for other names) is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific Ocean.^[1] This isolation also affects faunal diversity and salinity, both of which are lower than in the open ocean. The sea has no large islands, bays or capes. Its water balance is mostly determined by the inflow and outflow through the straits connecting it to the neighboring seas and the Pacific Ocean. Few rivers discharge into the sea and their total contribution to the water exchange is within 1%.

The seawater has an elevated concentration of dissolved oxygen that results in high biological productivity. Therefore, fishing is the dominant economic activity in the region. The intensity of shipments across the sea has been moderate owing to political issues, but it is steadily increasing as a result of the growth of East Asian economies.