Tsugaru Strait

Common card · No. 402001

The Tsugaru Strait (津軽海峡, Tsugaru Kaikyō) is a strait between Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan connecting the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean. It was named after the western part of Aomori Prefecture. The Seikan Tunnel passes under it at its narrowest point 12.1 miles (19.5 km) between Tappi Misaki on the Tsugaru Peninsula in Aomori Prefecture, Honshu, and Shirakami Misaki on the Matsumae Peninsula in Hokkaido. Western maps made prior to the 20th century also referred to this waterway as the Strait of Sangar. Japan's territorial waters extend to three nautical miles (5.6 km) into the strait instead of the usual twelve, reportedly to allow nuclear-armed United States Navy warships and submarines to transit the strait without violating Japan's prohibition against nuclear weapons in its territory. Despite this, the part of the Tsugaru Strait considered to be in international waters is still within Japan's exclusive economic zone, and the Seikan Tunnel remains entirely under Japanese...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Bourrichon, CC BY-SA 4.0