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How the crowd draws

565 drawings of its coast, from memory on Borderline’s World map, 23 September 2026 to 27 October 2026.

Draw Japan

In numbers

Last updated on 27 October 2026
The real oneThe crowd’s
Area363,000 km²140,000 sq mi312,000 km²121,000 sq mi14.0% smaller
Outline9,935 km6,173 mi8,816 km5,478 mi11.3% shorter
Centre137.80° E, 37.58° N137.8° E, 37.6° N138.08° E, 37.81° N138.1° E, 37.8° N35 km north-east22 mi north-east
Westernmost129.55° E, 33.23° N129.6° E, 33.2° N129.67° E, 33.38° N129.7° E, 33.4° N11 km short7 mi short
Easternmost145.82° E, 43.36° N145.8° E, 43.4° N145.11° E, 43.26° N145.1° E, 43.3° N57 km short36 mi short
Southernmost130.66° E, 31.02° N130.7° E, 31.0° N130.67° E, 31.02° N130.7° E, 31.0° N1 km short0 mi short
Northernmost141.93° E, 45.52° N141.9° E, 45.5° N141.90° E, 45.33° N141.9° E, 45.3° N21 km short13 mi short

Near the coast, 53% run inland.

Coast

Why two lengths?

A line’s length depends on how closely it is drawn. The game’s lines are simplified: they keep a point every few kilometres and cut across small bends. The official lengths, from the CIA World Factbook, are measured on other lines. A border measured on a finer line, following every bend of its rivers and ridges, comes out longer.

Coasts differ most, and either way. Some official coastlines follow every inlet and island (Canada’s 202,080 km); others are smoothed on purpose, crossing bays and sounds (the United States’ 19,924 km), and can come out shorter than the game’s.

Players draw against the game’s line and are scored against it, so the crowd’s length is compared with the game’s, both measured the same way. Set against an official length measured another way, the comparison would say more about the two methods than about the crowd.

Japan’s coast: 11,351 km in the game, 29,751 km officially.

Border withIn the gameThe crowd’s
The coast11,351 km in the game29,751 km officially10,065 km the crowd’s11.3% shorter

How it is measured

The crowd’s Japan: every few km along the real line, each drawing’s nearest point, inside Japan or outside it; the median over a short stretch is where the crowd puts the line there, and the real outline moved by it is the crowd’s. Where the move folds a narrow inlet over itself, the loop is cut.

The 565 drawings that scored 10 or more on Borderline’s World map, scribbles left out, the real line the game’s own. Area true to scale; the outline copies the real line’s detail, so its length changes only where the shape moves or a loop is cut.

103 small pieces of Japan, 11,000 km² in all, keep their real shape, shown flat: islands no round asks players to draw, or too small to measure. They count in no figure.

Draw Japan yourself and add your line to the next update.