Translation guide
A broad category covering natural and man-made features of the Earth's surface. This guide focuses on how to talk about common geographical features in Japanese, from mountains and rivers to coastlines and plains.
Referring to mountains, mountain ranges, hills, and related features.
General word for mountain or hill. Can be used for both large and small elevations.
Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan.
Mountain range. Used for a chain of mountains.
The Alps mountain range is in Europe.
Hill, specifically a low elevation, often gentler than a mountain.
There is a small shrine on top of that hill.
Volcano. Japan has many active volcanoes.
Sakurajima is an active volcano.
Referring to rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and other water features.
River. The most common word for any flowing body of water.
This river is very clean.
Lake. Note the reading is irregular.
Sea or ocean. Used for both open ocean and coastal waters.
Pond. Smaller than a lake, often man-made or in gardens.
Waterfall.
Referring to beaches, capes, bays, peninsulas, and other coastal geography.
Coast, seashore. General term for the land along the sea.
I took a walk along the coast.
Beach, especially a sandy shore. Often used in place names.
Cape, headland. A point of land projecting into the sea.
Bay, gulf. A broad inlet of the sea.
Peninsula.
Referring to flatlands, plains, basins, and valleys.
Referring to islands, archipelagos, and related landforms.
Referring to plateaus, deserts, forests, and other miscellaneous geographical features.
Plateau, highland. An elevated flat area.
The highlands are cool in summer.
Desert.
Forest, woods. Often used for large natural forests.
Wetland, marsh. Used in environmental contexts.
The word 地形 (ちけい) means 'terrain' or 'topography' and can be used to refer to geographical features collectively. For example, この地域の地形は複雑です (The terrain of this region is complex). However, it is more technical than the individual feature words.
The terrain of this region is complex.
There is no single common Japanese word that covers all 'geographical features' in the same broad way as English. Instead, use specific words for the feature you mean, or use 地形 for terrain/topography in a more technical sense.
琵琶湖は日本で一番大きい湖です。
Lake Biwa is the largest lake in Japan.
I go to the sea in summer.
There are carp in the park pond.
Nachi Falls is very famous.
A white sandy beach stretches on.
Cape Muroto is in Shikoku.
Tokyo Bay is a large bay.
紀伊半島は本州にあります。
The Kii Peninsula is in Honshu.
Kyoto is in a basin.
There is a small village in that valley.
The Okinawa Islands are beautiful.
日本列島は南北に長いです。
The Japanese archipelago is long from north to south.
The Sahara Desert is very vast.
この地域は森林が多いです。
This region has many forests.
That wetland is registered under the Ramsar Convention.