Tokyo

For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation).

Tokyo (東京, Tōkyō) formally Tokyo Metropolis (東京都, Tōkyō-to), is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and, unique among the prefectures, provides certain municipal services characteristic of a city, as defined by Japanese law.

Because it is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family, Tokyo is the de facto capital of Japan.

Tokyo is the most populous prefecture and city in the country. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, although each administratively a city in its own right, constitute the area informally considered as the "city of Tokyo" and are collectively one of the largest cities in the world with a total population of over 8 million people. The total population of the prefecture exceeds 12 million.

The Greater Tokyo Area, centered on Tokyo but also including Chiba, Kanagawa, and Saitama, is the most populous metropolitan area in the world with a population of over 35 million people. It has been the world's most populous urban area since between 1965 and 1970, and despite Japan's declining population, is still growing.

Tokyo has the largest metropolitan gross domestic product in the world for a city, and it held the title of the world's most expensive city for over a decade from 1992 through 2005.

Tokyo is a major global city and megacity. The name "Tokyo" refers variously to Tokyo Metropolis (the prefecture) as a whole, or only to the main urban mass under its jurisdiction (thus excluding west Tama and Izu / Ogasawara Islands), or even the whole of Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, and Yamanashi prefectures, depending on context.

This article uses the name to refer to Tokyo Metropolis unless otherwise stated.

History

Main article: History of Tokyo

Tokugawa Ieyasu

The megacity now known as Tokyo was originally a small fishing village named Edo. In 1457, Ōta Dōkan built Edo Castle. In 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu made Edo his base and when he became shogun in 1603, the town became the center of his nationwide military government. During the subsequent Edo period, Edo grew into one of the largest cities in the world with a population topping one million by the 18th century. It became the de facto capital of Japan even while the emperor lived in Kyoto, the imperial capital.

After about 263 years, the shogunate was overthrown under the banner of restoring imperial rule. In 1869, the 17-year-old Emperor Meiji moved to Edo, which was renamed "Tokyo" ("Eastern Capital") the year before. Tokyo was already the nation's political and cultural center, and the emperor's residence made it a de facto imperial capital as well with the former Edo Castle becoming the Imperial Palace. The city of Tokyo was established, and continued to be the capital until it was abolished as a municipality in 1943 and merged with the "Metropolitan Prefecture" of Tokyo.

Central Tokyo, like Osaka, has been designed since about the turn of the century (1900) to be centered around major train stations in a high-density fashion, so suburban railways were built relatively cheaply at street level and with their own right-of-way. This differs from other world cities, such as Los Angeles, that are low-density and automobile-centric. Though expressways have been built, the basic design has not changed to this day.

Tokyo went on to suffer two major catastrophes in the 20th century, but it recovered from both. One was the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, and the other was World War II. The firebombings in 1945, with 75,000 to 200,000 killed and half of the city destroyed, were almost as devastating as the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. After the war, Tokyo was completely rebuilt, and showcased to the world during the city's 1964 Summer Olympics. The 1970s brought new high-rise developments such as Sunshine 60, a new and controversial airport at Narita (well outside Tokyo), and a population increase to about 11 million (in the metropolitan area).

Tokyo's subway and commuter rail network became one of the busiest in the world as more and more people moved to the area. In the 1980s, real estate prices skyrocketed during an economic bubble. The bubble burst in the early 1990s and many companies, banks, and individuals were caught with real estate shrinking in value. A major recession followed, making the 1990s Japan's "lost decade" from which it is now slowly recovering.

Tokyo still sees new urban developments on large lots of less profitable land. Recent projects include Ebisu Garden Place, Tennozu Isle, Shiodome, Roppongi Hills, Shinagawa (now also a Shinkansen station), and Tokyo Station (Marunouchi side). Buildings of significance are demolished for more up-to-date shopping facilities such as Omotesando Hills. Land reclamation projects in Tokyo have also been going on for centuries. The most prominent is the Odaiba area, now a major shopping and entertainment center.

Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower as seen from Odaiba at night

Tokyo was hit by powerful earthquakes in 1703, 1782, 1812, 1855 and 1923. The 1923 earthquake, with an estimated magnitude of 8.3, killed 142,000 people.

There have been various plans proposed for transferring national government functions from Tokyo to secondary capitals in other regions of Japan, in order to slow down rapid development in Tokyo and revitalize economically lagging areas of the country. These plans have been controversial within Japan and have yet to be realized.

During the early Meiji period, the city was also called "Tōkei", an alternative pronunciation for the same Chinese characters representing "Tokyo". Some surviving official English documents use the spelling "Tokei". This pronunciation is now obsolete.

Geography and administrative divisions

Main article: Politics of Tokyo

Map showing the mainland portion of Tokyo.

The mainland portion of Tokyo lies northwest of Tokyo Bay and measures about 90 km east to west and 25 km north to south. It borders Chiba Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the west, Kanagawa Prefecture to the south, and Saitama Prefecture to the north. Mainland Tokyo is further subdivided into the special wards (occupying the eastern half) and the Tama area (多摩地域) stretching westwards.

Also within the administrative boundaries of Tokyo Metropolis are two island chains in the Pacific Ocean directly south: the Izu Islands, which are almost parallel to the Izu Peninsula; and the Ogasawara Islands, which stretch more than 1,000 km away from mainland Japan.

Under Japanese law, Tokyo is designated as a to (都), translated as metropolis. Its administrative structure is similar to that of Japan's other prefectures. Within Tokyo lie dozens of smaller entities, most of them conventionally referred to as cities. It includes twenty-three special wards (特別区 -ku) which until 1943 comprised the city of Tokyo but are now separate, self-governing municipalities, each with a mayor and a council, and having the status of a city. In addition to these 23 municipalities, Tokyo also encompasses 26 more cities (市 -shi), five towns (町 -chō or machi), and eight villages (村 -son or -mura), each of which has a local government. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is headed by a publicly elected governor and metropolitan assembly. Its headquarters are in the ward of Shinjuku. They govern all of Tokyo, including lakes, rivers, dams, farms, remote islands, and national parks in addition to its famous neon jungle, skyscrapers and crowded subways.

The twenty-three special wards

The special wards (tokubetsu-ku) of Tokyo comprise the area formerly incorporated as Tokyo City. On July 1, 1943, Tokyo City was merged with Tokyo Prefecture (東京府, Tōkyō-fu) forming the current "metropolitan prefecture". As a result of this merger, unlike other city wards in Japan, these wards are not part of any larger incorporated city.

Each ward is a municipality with its own elected mayor and assembly like the other cities of Japan. The wards differ from other cities in that certain governmental functions are handled by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The special wards of Tokyo are as follows:

Skyscrapers in Shinjuku

Adachi Arakawa Bunkyō Chiyoda Chūō Edogawa Itabashi Katsushika Kita Kōtō Meguro Minato

Nakano Nerima Ōta Setagaya Shibuya Shinagawa Shinjuku Suginami Sumida Taitō Toshima

The term "central Tokyo" today may refer to the 23 special wards, the centres of Shinjuku, Minato, Chiyoda and Chūō connected and enclosed by the Yamanote Line, or to the three centrally located wards of Chiyoda, Chūō and Minato.

Western Tokyo

To the west of the special wards, Tokyo Metropolis consists of cities, towns and villages that enjoy the same legal status as those elsewhere in Japan.

While serving a role as "bed towns" for those working in central Tokyo, some of these also have a local commercial and industrial base. Collectively, these are often known as Tama Area or Western Tokyo.

Cities

Satellite photo of Tokyo taken by NASA's Landsat 7

Twenty-six cities lie within the western part of Tokyo Prefecture:

Akiruno Akishima Chōfu Fuchū Fussa Hachiōji Hamura Higashikurume Higashimurayama Higashiyamato Hino Inagi Kiyose

Kodaira Koganei Kokubunji Komae Kunitachi Machida Mitaka Musashimurayama Musashino Nishitōkyō Ōme Tachikawa Tama

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has designated Hachiōji, Tachikawa, Machida, Ōme and Tama New Town as regional centres of the Tama area, as part of their plans to disperse urban functions away from central Tokyo.

Districts, towns and villages

The far west is occupied by the district (gun) of Nishitama. Much of this area is mountainous and unsuitable for urbanization. The highest mountain in Tokyo, Mount Kumotori, is 2,017 m high; other mountains in Tokyo include Mount Takasu (1737 m), Mount Odake (1266 m), and Mount Mitake (929 m). Lake Okutama, on the Tama River near Yamanashi Prefecture, is Tokyo's largest lake.

• Hinode
• Mizuho
• Okutama
• Hinohara

Islands

Izu Islands (south)

Tokyo's outlying islands extend as far as 1850 km from central Tokyo. Because of the islands' distance from the city, they are locally run by branches of the metropolitan government. The islands are organized into two towns and seven villages.

In Izu Islands, there are 2 towns and 6 villages. In Ogasawara Islands, there is only 1 village.

Izu Islands

The Izu Islands are a group of volcanic islands and form part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. The islands in order from closest to Tokyo are:

• Izu Ōshima
• Toshima
• Niijima
• Shikinejima
• Kozushima

• Miyakejima
• Mikurajima
• Hachijojima
• Aogashima

Izu Ōshima and Hachijojima are towns. The remaining islands are six villages, with Niijima and Shikinejima forming one village.

Ogasawara Islands

• Ogasawara—Ogasawara includes, from north to south, Chichi-jima, Nishinoshima, Haha-jima, Kita Iwo Jima, Iwo Jima, and Minami Iwo Jima. Ogasawara also administers two tiny outlying islands: Minami Torishima, the easternmost point in Japan and at 1,850 km the most distant island from central Tokyo, and Okino Torishima, the southernmost point in Japan. The last island is contested by the People's Republic of China as being only uninhabited rocks. The Iwo chain and the outlying islands are uninhabited, except of Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel. Local populations are only found on Chichi-jima and Haha-jima. The islands form the Ogasawara village.

National Parks

Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park

There are four national parks in Tokyo Prefecture:

• Chichibu Tama Kai National Park, in Nishitama and spilling over into Yamanashi and Saitama Prefectures
• Meiji no Mori Takao Quasi-National Park, around Mount Takao to the south of Hachioji.
• Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, which includes all of the Izu Islands.
• Ogasawara National Park. As of 2006, efforts were being made to make Ogasawara National Park a UNESCO natural World Heritage Site.

Climate

Tokyo lies in the humid subtropical climate zone (Koppen climate classification Cfa), with hot humid summers and generally mild winters with cool spells. Its location on the coast of the Pacific Ocean affords Tokyo a milder climate than other cities worldwide at a similar latitude. Annual rainfall averages 1,380 mm (55 inches), with a wetter summer and a drier winter. Snowfall is sporadic, but does occur almost annually.

Economy

Tokyo Stock Exchange

Tokyo has the largest metropolitan economy in the world. According to a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Tokyo urban area (35.2 million people) had a total GDP of US$1,191 billion in 2005 (at purchasing power parity), ranking again as the largest urban agglomeration GDP in the world. See also List of cities by GDP.

Tokyo is a major international finance center, houses the headquarters of several of the world's largest investment banks and insurance companies, and serves as a hub for Japan's transportation, publishing, and broadcasting industries. During the centralized growth of Japan's economy following World War II, many large firms moved their headquarters from cities such as Osaka (the historical commercial capital) to Tokyo, in an attempt to take advantage of better access to the government. This trend has begun to slow due to ongoing population growth in Tokyo and the high cost of living there.

Tokyo was rated by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the most expensive (highest cost-of-living) city in the world for 14 years in a row ending in 2006. Note that this is for living a Western corporate executive lifestyle, with items typically considered luxuries in large cities, like a detached house and several automobiles. Many Japanese get by fine on a budget in Tokyo, underpinning the high national savings rate.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the second largest in the world by market capitalization of listed shares, at $4.99 trillion.[1] Only the New York Stock Exchange is larger. However, its prominence has fallen significantly since early 1990s asset bubble peak, when it accounted for more than 60% of the entire world's stock market values.

Tokyo had 8,460 ha (20,900 acres) of agricultural land as of 2003, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, placing it last among the nation's prefectures. The farmland is concentrated in Western Tokyo. Perishables such as vegetables, fruits, and flowers can be conveniently shipped to the markets in the eastern part of the prefecture. Japanese leaf spinach and spinach are the most important vegetables; as of 2000, Tokyo supplied 32.5% of the Japanese leaf spinach sold at its central produce market.

With 36% of its area covered by forest, Tokyo has extensive growths of cryptomeria and Japanese cypress, especially in the mountainous western communities of Akiruno, Ōme, Okutama, Hachiōji, Hinode, and Hinohara. Decreases in the price of lumber, increases in the cost of production, and advancing old age among the forestry population have resulted in a decline in Tokyo's output. In addition, pollen, especially from cryptomeria, is a major allergen for the nearby population centers.

Tokyo Bay was once a major source of fish. Presently, most of Tokyo's fish production comes from the outer islands, such as Izu Ōshima and Hachijōjima. Skipjack tuna, nori, and aji are among the ocean products.

Demographics

As one of the major cities of the world, Tokyo has over eight million people living within its 23 wards, and during the daytime, the population swells by over 2.5 million as workers and students commute from adjacent areas. This effect is even more pronounced in the three central wards of Chiyoda, Chūō, and Minato, whose collective population is less than 300,000 at night, but over two million during the day. The entire prefecture has 12,790,000 residents in October 2007 (8,657,000 in 23 wards), with an increase of over 3 million in the day. Tokyo Metropolis is at its highest population ever, while that of the 23 wards peak official count was 8,893,094 in the 1965 Census, with the count dipping below 8 million in the 1995 Census. People continue to move back into the core city as land prices have fallen dramatically.

Population of Tokyo Prefecture

By area1	Tokyo Prefecture Special wards Tama Area Islands	12.6 million 8.64 million 4 million 27,000
By age²	Juveniles (age 0-14) Working (age 15-64) Retired (age 65+)	1.433 million (12%) 8.507 million (71.4%) 2.057 million (16.6%)
By hours³	Day Night	14.667 million 12.017 million
By nationality	Foreign residents	353,8264
1 as of June 1, 2007. ² as of January 1, 2003. ³ as of 2000. 4 as of January 1, 2005.

As of 2005, the five most common foreign nationalities found in Tokyo are Chinese (123,661), Korean (106,697), Filipino (31,077), American (18,848) and British (7,696).

The 1889 Census recorded 1,389,600 people in Tokyo city, Japan's largest city at the time.

Transportation

JR Yamanote Line

Map of Tokyo Subway system with transfer stations labeled

Main article: Transportation in Greater Tokyo

Tokyo is Japan's largest domestic and international hub for rail, ground, and air transportation. Public transportation within Tokyo is dominated by an extensive network of clean and efficient trains and subways run by a variety of operators, with buses, monorails and trams playing a secondary feeder role. Railway stations are not only transport, but the center of Tokyo and Japanese urban life, as everything is judged in relation to the railroads, taking on the significance of highways in the United States and elsewhere.

Within Ōta, one of the 23 special wards, Tokyo International Airport ("Haneda") offers mainly domestic flights. Outside Tokyo, Narita International Airport, in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, is the major gateway for international travelers.

Various islands governed by Tokyo have their own airports with service to Tokyo International Airport and other airports. Hachijojima is served by Hachijojima Airport. Miyakejima Airport serves Miyakejima. Izu Ōshima is served by Oshima Airport.

Rail is the primary mode of transportation in Tokyo, which has the most extensive urban railway network in the world and an equally extensive network of surface lines. JR East operates Tokyo's largest railway network, including the Yamanote Line loop that circles the center of downtown Tokyo. Tokyo Metro and Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation operate the subway network. The metropolitan government and private carriers operate bus routes. Local, regional, and national services are available, with major terminals at the giant railroad stations, including Tokyo and Shinjuku.

Expressways link the capital to other points in the Greater Tokyo area, the Kantō region, and the islands of Kyūshū and Shikoku.

Taxis operate in the special wards and the cities and towns. Long-distance ferries serve the islands of Tokyo and carry passengers and cargo to domestic and foreign ports.

Education

Keio University

Tokyo has many universities, junior colleges, and vocational schools. Many of Japan's most prestigious universities are in Tokyo, the University of Tokyo being the most prestigious of all. National universities located in Tokyo include Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo Institute of Technology and University of Tokyo. There is only one public university (i.e., not national): the Tokyo Metropolitan University. Keio University and Waseda University, top private universities in Japan, are located in Tokyo. Tokyo also has a few universities well-known for classes conducted in English. They include International Christian University, Sophia University, Waseda University and Temple University Japan. For an extensive list of universities in Tokyo, see List of universities in Tokyo.

Publicly run kindergartens, elementary schools (years 1 through 6), and junior high schools (7 through 9) are operated by local wards or municipal offices. Public high schools in Tokyo are run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education and are called "Metropolitan High Schools". Tokyo also has a great number of privately run schools from kindergarten through high school.

Culture

Tokyo has many museums. Located in Ueno Park are the Tokyo National Museum, the country's largest museum and specializing in traditional Japanese art; the National Museum of Western Art; and the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, which contains collections of Japanese modern art as well as over 40,000 Japanese and foreign films. Ueno Park also contains the National Museum of Science and the public zoo. Other museums include the Nezu Art Museum in Aoyama; the Edo-Tokyo Museum in the Sumida Ward across the Sumida River from the center of Tokyo; and the National Diet Library, National Archives, and the National Museum of Modern Art which are located near the Imperial Palace.

Tokyo has many theaters for the performing arts as well. These include national and private theaters for traditional forms of Japanese drama (like noh and kabuki) as well as modern dramas. Symphony orchestras and other musical organizations perform Western and traditional music. Tokyo also hosts modern Japanese and Western pop and rock music at venues ranging in size from intimate clubs to internationally known arenas like the Nippon Budokan.

Tokyo is home to many different festivals that occur throughout the city. Major festivals include the Sanno Festival at Hie Shrine, and the Sanja Festival at Asakusa Shrine. Many Japanese cities hold festivals called matsuri. The Kanda Matsuri in Tokyo is held every two years in May. The festival features a parade with elaborately decorated floats and thousands of people. Annually on the last Saturday of July, an enormous fireworks display is held over the Sumida River and it attracts over 1 million viewers. Once cherry blossoms, or sakura, bloom in spring, many residents gather in parks such as Ueno Park, Inokashira Park, and the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden for picnics under the cherry trees.

Cuisine

In November of 2007, Michelin released their guide for fine dining in Tokyo. The city was awarded 191 stars in total, or about twice as many as its nearest competitor, Paris. Eight establishments were awarded the maximum of three stars (Paris has 10), 25 were awarded two stars, and 117 were given one star. Of the eight top-rated restaurants, three offer traditional Japanese fine dining, two are sushi houses, three serve French cuisine. [2]

Sports

Tokyo Dome, home ground of Yomiuri Giants

Nippon Budokan arena

Ryōgoku Kokugikan sumo wrestling arena

The sports teams listed below are based in Tokyo.

Football (soccer)

• F.C. Tokyo
• Tokyo Verdy 1969
• Sagawa Express Tokyo S.C. (Kōtō)
• Yokogawa Musashino F.C. (Musashino)

Baseball

• Yomiuri Giants
• Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Ice Hockey

• Seibu Prince Rabbits (Nishitōkyō)

Basketball

• Tokyo Apache (Ariake Coliseum)

Volleyball

• NEC Blue Rockets (Fuchū)

Rugby

• Ricoh Black Rams (Setagaya)
• Suntory Sungoliath (Fuchū)
• Toshiba Brave Lupus (Fuchū)

Tennis

Tokyo hosts one of the ten prestigious Tier I tournaments on the women's tennis tour (WTA) and it takes place in September after the US Open. Tokyo also hosts a tennis event on the men's ATP tour.

Olympics

The city hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, the first modern olympiad held in Asia. Tokyo is also bidding for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in Tokyo

Tokyo has many tourist sightseeing, cultural and sport attractions. These include famous temples, shrines, annual festivals and events, parks, scenic views, popular shopping and nightlife districts. Cultural highlights of Tokyo include museums, concert halls, and theaters.

Tokyo in popular media

As the largest city in Japan and the location of the country's largest broadcasters and studios, Tokyo is frequently the setting for many Japanese movies, television shows, animated series (anime), and comic books (manga). In the kaiju (monster movie) genre, landmarks of Tokyo are routinely destroyed by giant monsters such as Godzilla. Many comics and animated series are set in Tokyo, such as Bleach, Digimon, Sailor Moon, Ranma ½, Azumanga Daioh, Death Note, Beyblade, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Megatokyo, and even the western animation Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, have become popular across the world as well. Some futuristic anime and manga such as Akira often depict Tokyo as a sprawling metropolis in a post-apocalyptic setting; some, such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, go so far as to have numbers designating different Tokyos.

Some Hollywood directors have turned to Tokyo as a filming location for movies set in Tokyo. Well-known examples from the postwar era include Tokyo Joe, My Geisha, and the James Bond film You Only Live Twice; well-known contemporary examples include Kill Bill, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Lost in Translation.

Tokyo's place in popular culture has even inspired tours in the city on the subject. Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan is known internationally for its youth style and fashion.

Sister relationships

Tokyo flag

Tokyo has sister relationships with eleven places worldwide[3]:

• Beijing, China
• Berlin, Germany
• Cairo, Egypt
• Jakarta, Indonesia
• Moscow, Russia
• New South Wales, Australia
• New York City, New York, United States
• Paris, France
• Rome, Italy
• São Paulo, Brazil
• Seoul, Republic of Korea

In addition, Tokyo has a "partnership" agreement with the cities of London, Auckland , Paris and Rome. [4] and many of the wards and cities within Tokyo maintain sister-city relationships with other foreign cities.

Gallery

• 
  Shinjuku
• 
  Roppongi
• 
  Shinagawa
• Marunouchi
  Marunouchi
• 
  Kasumigaseki
• Odaiba
  Odaiba
• 
  Shiodome
• 
  Ginza
• 
  Akihabara
• 
  Shibuya
• 
  Tokyo Station
• Rainbow Bridge　
  Rainbow Bridge　
• 
  Meiji Shrine
• 
  Imperial Palace
• 
  Entrance to Imperial Palace
• Shinjuku Gyoen Japanese Garden
  Shinjuku Gyoen Japanese Garden
• 
  Akasaka Palace
• 
  Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquater
• 
  University of Tokyo
• 
  Tokyo tower
• 
  Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
• 
  Shinkansen Super Express
• 
  Tokyo International Airport
• 
  Yokota U.S Air Base
• 
  Tama River Headwater
• 
  Arakawa River
• 
  National Park
• 
  Mount Takao
• 
  Mount Kumotori
• 
  Hachijo-jima Island
• 
  Haha-jima Island
• 
  Chichi-jima Island

External links

• Official Tokyo Metropolitan Government homepage
• Template:Wikitravel
• Tokyo Map - interactive with points of interest
• Tokyo Japan Travel Guide and Photos
• Tokyo - Your trusted Japan travel price guide

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