Tectonic Plates and Boundaries

 Japan 

Distance

I had difficulty finding the distance between Japan and the tectonic plates around the island. However, I did find the tectonic plates that surround Japan; According to PBS, "Japan sits on or near the boundary of four tectonic plates: the Pacific, North American, Eurasian and Filipino plates." If you want to be specific, Japan sits on the North American and Eurasian plates, while it is also near the Filipino and Pacific plates. 

Type of Boundary

 

When you look at map A in "Figure 2.4 Earth's Plates" in the textbook Natural Hazards: Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes, you find out that the type of plate Japan is next to is Convergent.  

According to the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, "The Pacific plate subducts beneath Okhotsk Plate at the Japan Trench." The Okhotsk is a minor tectonic plate.

References:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/japans-earthquake-and-tsunami-how-they-happened#:~:text=Japan%20sits%20on%20or%20near,American%2C%20Eurasian%20and%20Filipino%20plates.

Keller, Edward A., et al. Natural Hazards: Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes. 4th ed., Routledge, 2016, pp. 33.

https://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/animation/japans_earthquakes__tectonic_setting