Abstract Pre-Cenozoic rocks of the Japanese islands are largely composed of latest Palaeozoic to Cretaceous accretionary complexes and Cretaceous granitic intrusives. Exposures of older rocks are restricted to a limited number of narrow terranes, notably the Hida, Oeyama and Hida Gaien belts (Inner Zone of SW Japan), the Kurosegawa Belt (Outer Zone of SW Japan) and the South Kitakami Belt (NE Japan). In these belts, early Palaeozoic basement rocks are typically overlain by a cover of middle Palaeozoic to Mesozoic shelf facies strata. This chapter describes these basement inliers and their cover, grouping them under four subheadings: Hida, Oeyama, Hida Gaien and South Kitakami/Kurosegawa belts. Although opinions are varied among authors whether the Unazuki Schist should be placed in the Hida Belt (TT) or in the Hida Gaien Belt (KT & NM) sections, this chapter will describe the Unazuki Schist in the Hida Belt section.