Japan's landmass expanded by 11.95 sq. km in the year to last October due to land reclamation, the Geographical Survey Institute said Monday.
The extra land is roughly equal to the area occupied by 254 Tokyo Domes, the governmental institute said in announcing the result of its annual survey of Japanese territory as of Oct. 1.
The city that gained the most was Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, due to ongoing reclamation work for construction of the offshore Chubu International Airport. The city increased by 4.27 sq. km.
Aichi Prefecture was the top gainer among prefectures, with its land expanding by 4.31 sq. km, followed by Okinawa, Fukuoka, Hokkaido and Hyogo prefectures.
Since 1950, Japanese territory has expanded by 1,084.61 sq. km due to land reclamation, roughly twice the size of Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, according to the institute, which is based in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture.
Population density as of Oct. 1 came to 342.5 people per square kilometer of land, an increase of 7.3 people from a decade earlier, the institute said.