El estrecho de Tsugaru (津軽海峡 Tsugaru Kaikyō) es un estrecho de mar localizado entre las islas de Honshū y Hokkaidō, en la parte septentrional del Japón, que conecta el mar de Japón con el océano Pacífico. El túnel Seikan pasa debajo del estrecho que tiene en su parte más angosta (19.5 km) entre el cabo Tappi Misaki en la península de Tsugaru, Honshū y el cabo Shirakami Misaki en la península de Matsumae en Hokkaidō. Tiene una profundidad media entre 140 y 200 metros. En el pasado, la forma más común de atravesarlo era con el servicio de transbordadores en un viaje de aproximadamente 4 horas. Ahora el túnel ferroviario permite una alternativa de la mitad de tiempo. Para el año 2015 se prevé que el túnel sea utilizado por el tren Shinkansen, lo que reducirá el cruce a 50 minutos.

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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. 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. The Tsugaru Strait has eastern and western necks, both approximately 20 km across with maximum depths of 200 m and 140 m respectively. In the past, the most common way for passengers and freight to cross the strait was on ferries, approximately a four-hour journey. On September 26, 1954, 1,172 lives were lost when the ferry Tōya Maru sank in the strait. Thomas Blakiston, an English explorer and naturalist, noticed that animals in Hokkaido were related to northern Asian species, whereas those on Honshu to the south were related to those from southern Asia. The Tsugaru Strait was therefore established as a major zoogeographical boundary, and became known as the "Blakiston Line".

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