Tokyo Bay

Tokyo Bay from space

Tokyo Bay (東京湾, Tōkyō-wan) is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was Edo Bay (江戸湾, Edo-wan).

Geography

Tokyo Bay, in a narrow sense (red) and in a broad sense (red and blue)

Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula (Chiba Prefecture) to the east and the Miura Peninsula (Kanagawa Prefecture) to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the Cape Kannon (観音崎, Kannon-zaki) on the Miura Peninsula on one end and Cape Futtsu (富津岬, Futtsu-misaki) on the Boso Peninsula on the other end. This area covers about 922 km². Tokyo Bay in a broad sense includes also the Uraga Channel. The total area would then be 1320 km².

Tokyo Bay includes about 249 km² of reclaimed land area.

The only natural island in the Bay is Monkey Island (猿島, Saru-shima), Yokosuka, Kanagawa. There are however many artificial islands that were built as naval fortification during the Meiji and Taishō period.

Islands

• Dream Island (Yume No Shima)
• Odaiba
• Sarushima (the only natural one)
• Heiwa Island ja:平和島
• Katsushima ja:勝島
• Showa Island ja:昭和島
• Keihin Island ja:京浜島
• Hakkeijima
• Higashi Ogijima ja:東扇島
• Tokyo International Airport

A panoramic view of northern Tokyo Bay facing Tokyo from Odaiba island

Development

The ports of Tokyo, Chiba, Kawasaki, Yokohama, and Yokosuka are all located on Tokyo Bay. The port of Yokosuka contains the naval bases of United States Forces Japan and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

On the western coast of Tokyo Bay, between Tokyo and Yokohama, the Keihin Industrial Area has been developed since the Meiji Era. This was expanded to the Keiyo Industrial Zone along the north and east coasts after World War II.

The Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line bridge/tunnel crosses Tokyo Bay between Kawasaki and Kisarazu; Tokyo-Wan Ferry also crosses the bay toward the Uraga Channel between Kurihama (in Yokosuka) and Kanaya (in Futtsu on the Chiba side).

History

American planes over USS Missouri and Tokyo Bay, September 2, 1945

Tokyo Bay was the venue for Commodore Matthew Perry's early negotiations with the Japanese bakufu in the 1850s, as well as most official Japanese-European contacts preceding the Meiji Restoration.

Shortly before the Japanese surrender in WWII there was a small naval surface action known as the Battle of Tokyo Bay.

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender at the end of World War II was signed onboard USS Missouri moored in the Bay on 2 September 1945. During the ceremony a flag from one of Perry's ships was flown.

See also

• Uraga Harbor
• Miura Peninsula