Japan (Japanese: 日本, Nihon), formally referred to as the Empire of Japan (大日本帝國, Dai Nihon Teikoku), is a predominantly insular nation located in East Asia. The nation is comprised of five main islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Takasago), several smaller archipelagos (the Bonin Islands, the Caroline Islands, the Kuril Islands, the Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, and the Ryukyu Islands), and the southeastern most portions of the Korean Peninsula.