Tokyo

Tokyo (sourcing, Tōkyō-to^?, lit. “capital of the East” Japanese pronunciation: [to developkjo (?·i)) officially Tokyo MetropolisIt's the capital de factoJapan, located in the eastern centre of the island of Honshu, specifically in the Kantō region. It is currently the most populous city in the world, as a whole it is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. It is the center of the country's politics, economy, education, communication and culture. It also has the highest concentration of corporate headquarters, financial institutions, universities and colleges, museums, theaters, commercial and entertainment establishments from all over Japan.

With a population of about 37 million, it is subdivided into 23 neighborhoods (区 -ku); 26 cities (市 -shi); a district (郡 -gun) subdivided into three towns (町 -chō or -machi) and a village (村 -son or -mura); and four subprefectures (支庁 -shichō) subdivided into two towns and seven villages, representing several small islands south of Honshu that extend beyond 1,800 km from Shinjuku, the capital of the metropolis and headquarters of the governorate The center of Tokyo, with its 23 neighborhoods, occupies a third of the metropolis, with a population close to 13.23 million inhabitants; this area is what is known internationally as the city of Tokyo. More than 37 million inhabitants live in its metropolitan area, which makes it the largest urban agglomeration in the world. In 2015 it was chosen as the safest city in the world by The Economist newspaper.

Although Tokyo is the most common romanization of the name in Japanese, the name of the city is Tokio in Spanish and other languages, including German and Dutch. In English and other languages, Tokyo is written, although Tokyo was also written in the past. In the past, the city was called Tokei, Edo or Yedo. The demonym of Tokyo is tokiota.

The city hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics (which were originally scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 9, 2020, but had to be postponed due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic the following year and were celebrated from July 23 to August 8, 2021).

History

The Foundation of Edo

Although small towns and temples existed on the hills near Tokyo Bay since ancient times, the formal founding of Tokyo is considered to have been in 1457, when a vassal of the Uesugi clan, Ōta Dōkan built Edo Castle (江戸城 Edo-jō); thus the area surrounding the castle came to be called Edo (江戸, literally 'estuary'). The Tokugawa shogunate, which had seized the castle in 1590 and was in near complete control of Japan, established its rule in Edo in 1603, beginning the Edo Period in Japanese history. The nobility, along with the emperor of Japan, remained in Kyoto, which continued to be the official capital, although only in a protocol manner.

Edo suffered innumerable disasters, including hundreds of fires, most notably the Great Fire of Edo (Edo Taika) of 1657, which killed around one hundred thousand people. The reason for the constant fires was that all the houses in Edo were machiya or urban wooden houses. Other disasters that Edo suffered were the eruption of Mount Fuji in 1707, the Great Edo earthquake in 1855, and other minor earthquakes in 1703, 1782, and 1812.

Kidai Shōran ( 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代 代, Kidai Shōran^?)1805. It illustrates scenes of the Edo period that take place along Nihonbashi main street in Tokyo.

From the 19th century to the 20th century

At the end of 1868, with the decline of the shogunate throughout Japan and the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, the emperor moved to Edo Castle, turning it into the great Imperial Palace of Japan and establishing the name change of Edo Castle there. Edo to Tokyo, “the capital of the east”. However, the emperor did not make it legally established that Tokyo was the new capital of Japan, so it is popularly believed that Kyoto is still the official capital or co-capital of the country. In 1871 the han or fiefdoms were abolished, and prefectures were formally created, including Tokyo Prefecture; and the following year the prefecture expanded to the area occupied by the 23 Special Wards that it currently comprises.

Akihabara at the end of the centuryXIX

Starting in 1872, the first railway line began to be built and between 1885 and 1925 the Yamanote line was built, an urban railway line that is the most important in Tokyo today. In 1889 the City of Tokyo (東京市 Tōkyō-shi) was established with 15 wards, then in 1893 the Tama wards joined the prefecture. In 1914 Tokyo Station opened and in 1927 the first underground subway on the Ginza Line opened.

The Great Kantō earthquake struck Tokyo in 1923, killing approximately 143,000 people. After the tragedy, a reconstruction plan was initiated that could not be completed due to its high cost. Despite this, the city continued its development until the beginning of World War II. In 1936 the building of the Kokkai (Diet of Japan) was inaugurated; Also in that same year, the incident of February 26 occurred, in which 1,500 Japanese army officers occupied the Kokkai building, the Kantei (prime minister's residence). and other places in Tokyo in an attempted coup, which was put down three days later.

In 1943 the prefecture and the city of Tokyo merged to form Tokyo Metropolis (Tōkyō-to), also known simply as Tokyo, which at the time consisted of 35 wards. As of this date there is no city in Japan called Tokyo.

During World War II, Tokyo was heavily bombed from 1942 to 1945. Because of this, Tokyo's population in 1945 was half that of 1940. At the end of the war, in September 1945, Tokyo was occupied militarily and came to be governed by the Allied Forces. General Douglas MacArthur established the occupation headquarters in what is now DN Tower 21 (formerly known as Dai-Ichi Seimei), opposite the Imperial Palace. In the second half of the 20th century, the United States used Tokyo as a major logistics hub during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Today, the Yokota airbase and a few minor military installations remain under US control.

Tokyo experienced a so-called "economic miracle" during the decades of 1950 and 1960. In 1947 Tokyo was restructured with the reduction of 35 to 23 neighborhoods. In 1954 the second metro line was created with the Marunouchi line and in 1961 with the Hibiya line. In 1958, the Tokyo Tower was built and in 1964 the first Shinkansen line (Tōkaidō Shinkansen) was inaugurated, coinciding with the celebration of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. This prosperity transformed a country devastated by war into the second largest economy in the world. world in less than twenty years. During this period, the Japanese government gave priority to infrastructure and manufacturing industries. As a result, Japan dominated a wide range of industries such as steel, automotive, semiconductor, and home appliances.

Tokyo in 1978

In the following years, Tokyo grew in size; the Ogasawara Islands were returned to Japan in 1968 and the Tachikawa air base in 1977. During the 1970s there was massive migration to the cities, and Tokyo in particular. In 1978 the Narita International Airport was inaugurated, which provided support for the Tokyo International Airport, which would mainly serve domestic flights. The large population in Tokyo (which became the world's most populous city in 1965) led to an economic bubble that started in 1986 and burst in 1990, causing a decade-long recession, also called the lost decade. (失われた10年 ushinawareta jūnen).

On March 20, 1995, the city drew international media attention after the terrorist attack by the Aum Shinrikyo cult on the Tokyo subway system. Twelve people died in it and thousands were affected by sarin nerve gas.

Contemporary Tokyo

Despite that, Tokyo continued to grow; in 1991 the Tōchō or Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building was built and in 1993 the Rainbow Bridge over Tokyo Bay was inaugurated. This led to Tokyo being one of the most dynamic cities on the planet with a wide range of social and economic activities, coupled with the investment boom at the turn of the century XX, probably the largest ever known in history. As a result, the city has a greater number of modern buildings than London or New York. Also in Tokyo, projects have been carried out to reclaim land from the sea. Although this practice has been carried out for several centuries, it is currently carried out on a large scale; among these areas Odaiba stands out. Other recent urban projects include Ebisu Garden, Tennozu Island, Shiodome, Roppongi Hills, Shinagawa, and the Tokyo Sky Tree in Sumida, which is the tallest man-made structure in Japan since 2010, completed on February 29, 2012, and inaugurated. on May 22, 2012. Under Governor Yuriko Koike, some sports institutions were expanded and refurbished for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Geography

Geographical location and generalities

Tokyo is divided into two main areas: mainland and insular. The continental area is located on the northwestern edge of Tokyo Bay and is located in the center-west of the island of Hondo or Honshu, forming part of the Kanto region. The coordinates of the center of Tokyo are 35°41' north, 139°46' this. It borders Chiba Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi to the west, Kanagawa to the south, and Saitama to the north.

The island area of Tokyo encompasses two island chains in the Pacific Ocean, heading south: the Izu Islands, which run parallel to the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, and the Ogasawara Islands, which lie more than a thousand kilometers from the Tokyo mainland. The most distant is Minami Torishima, which is 1,850 kilometers away.

Tokyo includes lakes, rivers, dams, farms, and national parks, as well as structures that have been built by man. Tokyo is also part of the Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba prefectures.

Metropolitan or continental region

Satellite image of the continental area of Tokyo.

Today Tokyo is one of the most important urban centers on the planet. It is one of the main financial centers and the political capital of Japan. The city has a smaller number of skyscrapers compared to other cities of its size, mainly due to the risk of earthquakes. Tokyo is also home to the most complex train system in the world.

Japanese law designates Tokyo as a to (都, often translated as “metropolis”). Its administrative structure is similar to that of other Japanese prefectures. The Tokyo metropolitan region includes 23 Special Wards (特別区 -ku) which, until 1943, comprised Tokyo City proper. Tokyo also has 26 satellite cities (市 -shi), five towns (町 -chō or -machi), and eight villages (村 - son or -mura), each of which has its own government.

It can be summarized that Tokyo has three geographical distinctions in its meaning.

1. Tokyo Prefecture is the local government with the name of Tokyo. Its population is 12 527 115 and has a surface area of 2187.08 km2.
2. Although there is no municipality called Tokyo, the city of Tokyo As it was known in 1943, it is today the largest city in Japan, with a population of 8 336 611 inhabitants and an area of 621,3 km2.
3. The metropolitan area of the southern region of Kanto, formed by Tokyo and three other neighboring prefectures, is often considered the largest metropolitan area in the world, the largest metropolitan area in the world, Great Tokyo Area. The four prefectures together have a population of 37 818 369 inhabitants and an area of 13 555.8 km2 and form the conurbation of Kanto. It is an urban continuum that constitutes the largest conurbation in Japan and, as it has been said, one of the largest in the world, with a 35 % of its area won to the sea based on gomi clusters. The gomi is a Japanese term obtained from the acronym formed by the words Go, which means 5, and Mi, which means 3. This material is obtained from the selected and pressed trash and is used for urban foundation. It is estimated that 40% of Tokyo rises on gomi.^{[chuckles]required]}

The populations and surfaces are those indicated in the census carried out in the year 2000.

The 23 Special Wards

The 23 Special Quarters.

The so-called 23 Special Wards (特別区, tokubetsu-ku ^?) form the area traditionally known as Tokyo City and comprise 621.49 km² (23.4% of the entire prefecture). This area has been the heart of Tokyo and the country ever since Tokugawa Ieyasu built his castle on the very site where the Imperial Palace stands today. Geographically, the 23 Special Wards fall roughly within the area surrounded by the Japan Railways Yamanote Line. Each of these neighborhoods is an autonomous entity, with its own mayor and assembly. They do not report to a central authority, although some public services such as sewage, water supply, and fire brigade are centralized through the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. This governance scheme does not exist in any other city in Japan. These neighborhoods share the distinction of belonging to Yamanote and Shitamachi, two areas of the old City of Tokyo.

West Tokyo

To the west of the 23 Wards are commuter towns that house workers from central Tokyo. Some of these cities have a significant commercial and industrial base. Collectively, these 26 cities are known as West Tokyo:

Nishitama Ward

Western Tokyo political map.

On the western edge of Tokyo is the Nishitama district (西多摩郡, Nishitama-gun^? ). It is a mountainous and densely forested area of 375.96 km² (17.2% of the prefecture) and consisting of three sectors separated by Western Tokyo. Much of this district is undeveloped, so many downtown residents visit this area for relaxation and camping. Within the district, it is administratively subdivided into the following towns and villages:

Insular Region

Location of the Izu Islands.

The islands located south of the Tokyo mainland (collectively known as the Nanpō Islands) also belong to the prefecture. They form an area of 473.53 km² (21.6% of the prefecture). Due to their remoteness from the metropolis, they are governed by isolated entities under the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, called sub-prefectures (支庁, shichō^?). This region is clearly divided into two island chains:

• The Izu Islands ( 豆豆豆, Izu shotō^?): They are a group of fourteen islands and volcanic islets, part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. In order of proximity from the continental area of Tokyo, the islands are: Izu ⋅shima u ⋅shima, Toshima, Niijima, Shikinejima, Kōzushima, Miyakejima, Mikurajima, Hachijōjima, Hachijōkojima, Aogashima, Rocas Bayonnaise, Smith Island or Sumisujima, Torishima and Sōfu Administratively divided into the following subprefectures:

Hachijō Subprefecture Peoples Hachijō Villas Aogashima

Subprefecture of Miyake Villas Miyake Mikurajima

⋅shima subprefecture Peoples ⋅shima Villas Toshima Niijima Kōzushima

Location of the Ogasawara Islands.

• The Ogasawara Islands (⋅, Ogasawara shotō^?): are a group of thirty subtropical islands and islets, subsidized in four archipelagos, from north to south: Mukojima (列, Mukojima Rettō^?) (four islands, including Mukojima and Yomejima), Chichijima (precipitous, Chichijima Rettō^?) (six islands, including the islands of Chichijima, Anijima and Otōtojima), Hahajima (한列, Hahajima Rettō^?) (six islands, including the islands of Hahajima, Anejima and Imōtojima) and Volcano (أع Русский, Kazan Rettō^?) (three islands, Iōjima or Iwo Jima, Kita Iōjima and Minami Iōjima). In addition, there are the solitary island of Nishinoshima, which does not belong to any group, and there are also two small islands that are not in the island chain: Minami Torishima (the easternmost point of Japan, 1850 km from central Tokyo), and Okino Torishima (the southernmost point of the Japanese archipelago, 1740 km from central Tokyo). All islands are administered only by the Ogasawara subprefecture and which is divided only into a villa, Ogasawara. Due to the subtropical climate of these islands, they are visited by the Japanese as a summer resort.

• 

  Ogasawara National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site

• 

  The village of Oki, Mukō-jima, in the distance. (Haha-jima)

Climate

Tokyo enjoys a temperate, humid subtropical (Cfa) climate with a relative humidity of 63%. Approximately 45% of the year is rainy days, 40% cloudy days, 10% clear days, and the rest snowy days. The average temperature in winter is 5 °C with occasional snowfall, and in summer it is 27 °C. The average annual temperature is 14.7 °C. Annual precipitation is usually in the form of rain and reaches 152 centimeters per year. The maximum precipitation recorded in one day was in 2003, with 171 mm. Sun hours average 1894 per year.

Average climatic parameters of ⋅temachi, Chiyoda ward, Tokyo (2020)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	22.6	24.9	25.3	29.2	32.6	36.2	38.5	39.0	38.1	32.6	27.3	24.8	39.0
Average temperature (°C)	9.8	10.9	14.2	19.4	23.6	26.1	29.9	31.3	27.5	22.0	16.7	12.0	31.3
Average temperature (°C)	5.4	7.1	10.4	14.3	18.8	21.9	25.7	26.9	23.3	14.0	12.5	10.7	18.8
Temp. medium (°C)	-5.2	2.1	6.0	9.2	12.6	14.5	18.4	23.5	20.3	14.8	8.8	3.8	9.6
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	-9.2	-5.9	-3.1	4.1	12.2	14.5	13.0	15.4	14.5	7.5	6.1	-9.0	-9.2
Total precipitation (mm)	59.7	56.5	116.0	133.7	139.7	167.8	156.2	154.7	224.9	234.8	96.3	57.9	1598.2
Nevadas (cm)	8	8	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	20
Precipitation days (≥ 0.5 mm)	5.3	6.1	10.3	10.9	11.1	12.8	12.0	9.4	12.3	11.8	8.2	5.8	116.0
Days of snowfall (≥ 1 mm)	7.0	8.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	18.0
Hours of sun	102.6	107.4	105.3	118.8	149.6	182.2	192.4	184.2	162.7	129.4	119.8	104.4	1792.7
Relative humidity (%)	51	52	57	62	68	75	76	74	75	71	64	56	65
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency (records 1872–present; average data for 1991-2020)

Demographics

Tokyo provides more jobs and places of cultural recreation than any other city in Japan, which attracts many people from the rest of the country (especially young people). Its population density is extremely high: 14,000 people per square kilometer, almost twice as many as New York, being the most populous city in the world.

97% of the prefecture's population is of Japanese descent. The two main minority ethnic groups in Tokyo are Chinese and Korean.

Religion in Tokyo presents similar patterns to the rest of the country, where Buddhism, Shintoism and other religions coexist. There is a constant syncretism, where it is common for the population to integrate two or more religions into their daily practices. Of the more than nine thousand religious organizations in the prefecture, 38% are Buddhist, 21% are Shinto, and Christianity occupies 13%.

Figure of demographic evolution in Tokyo between 1872 and

Housing

Tokyo's huge population has created an extremely high demand for residences. In the past, most of the city's inhabitants lived in one- or two-story wooden houses, each with its own garden, courtyard, and religious chapel (called Butsudan in Buddhist homes).). As Tokyo's population grew, those houses were demolished and apartment buildings were built in their place. Given the region's immense population density, most apartments and houses in the city are small, designed for a family of two adults and two or three children.

Despite intense building construction activity, demand for residences continued to outpace supply, driving up land and rental prices, especially within the 23 Barrios Especiales. As a result, starting in the 1970s, many people left the 23 Wards region, moving to Tama (part of Tokyo Prefecture), or even to other more distant neighboring cities. In Tama, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government created a cheap housing project for low-income families. However, these residences are located very far from the main commercial and industrial centers, and many of these workers spend more than four hours a day only using public transportation.

Population

By area (data of 1 October 2003)

• Tokyo: 12.36 million (fixed population)
• Tokyo: 14,667 million (day, when people from other neighboring cities go to Tokyo to work or study)
• Great Tokyo (Tokyo and surrounding area) 36 million inhabitants
• 23 districts: 8.34 million
• Tama urban region: 4 million
• Pacific Islands: 27 000

Age composition

Number of population aged 5 years
Estimated population as at 1 October 2003
Total (in thousands)

Rank	Population
0 - 4 years	490
5 - 9	473
10 - 14	513
15 - 19	651
20 - 24	860
25 - 29	1.045
30 - 34	1.116
35 - 39	968
40 - 44	800
45 - 49	710
50 - 54	871
55 - 59	858
60 - 64	794
65 - 69	699
70 - 74	569
75 - 79	417
80 years and more	476

Number of population aged 5 years
Estimated population as at 1 October 2003
Comparison between men and women (in thousands)

Men	Rank	Women
251	0 - 4 years	239
242	5 - 9	231
260	10 - 14	253
334	15 - 19	317
446	20 - 24	414
545	25 - 29	500
573	30 - 34	543
504	35 - 39	464
415	40 - 44	385
364	45 - 49	346
442	50 - 54	429
426	55 - 59	432
383	60 - 64	411
330	65 - 69	369
261	70 - 74	308
180	75 - 79	237
163	80 years and more	313

By nationality

• Aliens: 353 826 (data of 1 January 2005)
• Five major foreign groups in Tokyo: Chinese (120 331), Korean (103 191), Brazilian (100 102), Peruvian (52 370), Filipinos (31 505), Americans (18 043), English (7585) and Mexican (6376).

Panoramic view of the city.

Transportation

Tokyo is Japan's largest domestic and international travel connection, due to its train stations, ground transportation, and airports. Transportation in Tokyo has been termed as a wide network of travel control, which is carried out quickly and efficiently.

Air transportation

Haneda International Airport

Tokyo is served by two international airports:

• Haneda Airport (or Haneda Airport), is the most crowded, used and the one with the largest passenger traffic, is the most important in the country at the commercial level.
• Narita International Airport, in the nearby Chiba Prefecture, is the most important air cargo airport and the second one at the commercial level, connected with Tokyo by train Narita Express.

In addition, Chōfu Airport, located in the city of Chōfu, handles air transportation with the three airports on the Izu Islands (Oshima, Hachijojima, and Miyakejima). Tokyo has the largest private fleet of helicopters, which use the Tokyo Heliport (東京へリポート) in Kōtō as their base for refueling and maintenance. The heliport is also used as a base for public services such as police and firefighters.

Metro and rail network

Tokyo Station is the main interurban railway terminal in Tokyo.

Intra-urban public transport is mainly based on the rail and metro network. Combined, they bring together more than seventy lines, forming the most extensive urban rail network in the world. This form of transport is the most used by the inhabitants of Tokyo; with twenty million estimated daily passengers, and more than a thousand stations.

The Tokyo Metro, the only fully automated subway in the world, the backbone of transportation in the city, is the fourth largest in the world due to its extension and daily volume of trips, the most used, with 2.8 billion annual users. Ahead of Moscow and New York, nationally it goes ahead of the Osaka Subway. The network is operated almost entirely by Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd. (東京 地下鉄株式会社, Tōkyō Chikatetsu Kabushiki-gaisha^?). The exceptions are the Toei Subway and the Arakawa line of streetcars, owned and operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

In support of the subway, the city has seven train stations that serve millions of people who travel from all over Japan to the capital, through trains operated by six private companies. Akihabara, Ikebukuro, Shibuya, Shinagawa, Shinjuku, Tokyo, and Ueno stations are in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The Japan Railways company operates the Yamanote line, an urban train that connects these stations with each other and with the metro network. Tokyo station is also the convergence point of six of the eight Shinkansen lines (high-speed trains) in Japan: Tokaido, Tohoku, Joetsu , Nagano, Yamagata, and Akita.

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  Japan Railways Yamanote Line

• 

  Shinkansen at Tokyo Station

City buses

Toei System Bus

For short-range travel and access to the rail and subway network, Tokyo has a public and private ground passenger transportation system.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government operates the Toei bus system, primarily within Tokyo's 23 Wards. Other lines are operated by private companies. Most of the urban bus terminals are located in the metro or train stations. The Toei system buses have a fixed fare (200 yen per adult in 2005), while the private lines charge according to the distance travelled.

Roads

Hamazakibashi JCT at Shuto Highway

Tokyo is traversed by metropolitan, prefectural and national routes. Some of the largest Japanese expressways start in Tokyo, measured from Nihonbashi. Route 1 to Osaka, Routes 4 and 6 to Sendai and Aomori, Route 14 to Chiba prefecture, and Route 16 that connects Tokyo with Yokohama, Yokosuka, Chiba and Saitama stand out. Route 17 departs from Tokyo towards Niigata Prefecture.

Many express highways converge in Tokyo. The express highways of Tomei, Chuo, Kan'etsu and Tōhoku stand out.

Economy

View of Shinjuku, one of the city's financial districts.

Some Japanese multinationals headquartered in Tokyo include Canon, Hitachi, Sony, Toshiba, Fujifilm, Fujitsu, Konami, Konica Minolta, Honda, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Nikon, Olympus and Sega.

Tokyo City Hall (Tōchō), nicknamed "the tax tower" for its cost of $1 billion.

Bank of Japan Headquarters in Chuo, Tokyo

Tokyo has the largest metropolitan economy in the world. According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Greater Tokyo (Tokyo-Yokohama) Area of 38 million people had a total GDP of $2 trillion in 2012 (in Purchasing Power Parity), which topped that list.

Tokyo is a major international financial center; it is home to the headquarters of several of the world's largest investment banking and insurance companies, and serves as a hub for Japan's transportation, publishing, electronics, and broadcasting industries. During the centralized growth of Japan's economy after World War II, many large companies moved their headquarters from cities like Osaka (the historic commercial capital) to Tokyo, in an attempt to take advantage of better access to government. This trend has started to slow due to the continued population growth in Tokyo and the high cost of living there.

It has a large downtown, headquarters of various companies, banks and insurance companies, and various connection points of Japan's transportation, publishing and broadcasting companies.

The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Tokyo as the most expensive city (highest cost of living) in the world for 14 years in a row until 2006.

Tokyo is the main financial center of Asia. The prefectural stock market is one of the most dynamic in the world. Most of the country's financial institutions, and also multinationals, are headquartered in Tokyo.

Many of Japan's largest electronics companies manufacture their products in Tokyo, most of which are exported to other countries. Among them, stand out Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, and of course the world's largest automaker, Toyota. The press is also one of the main industries of the city. Most of Japan's newspaper and publishing companies are based in Tokyo, as are most of the magazines and newspapers published in the prefecture. Other important industries are petrochemicals, automobile manufacturing, lumber, and mobile phones. Other large industrial centers located in the Tokyo metropolitan region are Yokohama and Kawasaki, both major producers of ships, petrochemicals, automobiles, and iron and steel products.

Culture

Most of the population of Tokyo is Buddhist. Hundreds of Buddhist temples populate the province, although many Tokyoites go to these temples only for very special ceremonies such as weddings and funerals, preferring to practice their religious acts at home. Many of the residences are furnished in the Japanese style, although others follow a more Western pattern. Most of the people wear western clothing in their daily life. Some older people—especially women—wear the kimono, a traditional Japanese clothing. Traditional Japanese dresses are generally only worn on special days or events.

Many of Japan's most prestigious artists work in Tokyo. Some still use Japanese methods and techniques from their predecessors, which have been passed down from generation to generation. Other artists prefer to use western methods and techniques. Tokyo is the national center of music, drama and Japanese theater.

The Tokyo International Film Festival (known as TIFF: Tokyo International Film Festival), has been held every October or November since 1985. more than three hundred films, being the largest among Asian film festivals, and, together with the Shanghai Festival in China, it is one of the two festivals in Asia accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers (FIAPF).

Theatre, music and dance

Tokyo Opera City.

Two forms of Japanese drama, nō and kabuki, are the favorite forms of entertainment among the people of the province. The National Theater nō, located near the Sendagaya train station, has performances every weekend. There are multiple schools of nō, including the Kanze nō-gakudo school. The Kabuki-za theater has daily kabuki performances. This art form also has performances in January, March, and from October to December at the National Theater.

The National Theater has performances of bunraku, a theatrical show with 1.2 meter wooden puppets, supported by shamisen music. The Takarazuka Theater is a company specialized in making adaptations of Western works, with the peculiarity that the entire company is made up exclusively of women.

In addition, Western plays are performed throughout the year.

Tokyo Opera City (東京オペラシティ, Tōkyō Opera Shiti^?>) is the newest venue dedicated to music and theater in Tokyo. It is located inside a skyscraper located in Shinjuku. It was completed in 1997. With its 54 floors and 234 meters high, it is the sixth tallest building in Tokyo. In the first three, there are an art gallery, shops and restaurants. The fourth floor houses the NTT Communications Center.

The biggest musical expression in the city takes place annually, when the Tokyo Summer Festival takes place during June and July. Classical, folk, rock and jazz music are performed at the festival. Throughout the year, there are live shows in various venues, including the Tokyo International Forum, Suntory Hall, NHK Hall, and Tokyo Opera City.

Dance has a special place in Tokyo's cultural activities; traditional dance and western dance shows are frequent throughout the year. The dance, music and theater event Azuma Odori stands out, which at the end of May every year, takes place at the Shinbashi Enbujo theater. A type of modern dance that mixes elements of various artistic expressions is the Buto dance, created in the 1960s, and performed by nearly nude dancers covered in makeup. Although it is practiced in several regions of the country, Tokyo concentrates the largest number of Buto companies.

Festivals

Sanja "matsuri" in Asakusa.

Matsuri (祭り, sometimes simply 祭) are popular Japanese festivals, usually of Shinto origin and sponsored by a temple or shrine; although sometimes they can have a secular or even Christian origin. Matsuri are held throughout the year in Tokyo Prefecture, and some are especially attractive to people from the rest of the country. The most notorious are:

1. Dezomeshiki (new year parade, January 6, parade of the fire department.
2. Hinamatsuri (3 March), national doll festival.
3. Kanda Matsuri (effective the weekend before 15 May, every odd year), where portable sanctuaries are transported to the sanctuary Kanda Myojin.
4. Hana Matsuri (8 April). It is a national festival commemorating the birth of Buddha.
5. Sanja Matsuri (third weekend of May), sponsored by the shrine Asakusa Jinja.
6. Sanno Matsuri (16 June), sponsored by the Hie shrine in Akasaka.
7. Hanabi Taikai (last Saturday of July), fireworks on the Sumida River.
8. Tori-no-ichi or rake fair (mid November), at the Otori shrine in Asakusa.

Temples

Sensō-ji

There are more temples and older shrines.

• Gokoku-ji
• Kan'ei-ji
• Kanda Shrine
• Sensō-ji
• Yasukuni Sanctuary
• Zōjō-ji

Museums

The Tokyo National Museum

Tokyo has dozens of art, history, science, and technology museums. Some of the most prominent are mentioned.

The most important museum in Japan is the Tokyo National Museum, which is located in the northeast part of Ueno Park. This museum is administered by the government of the country, through the Agency for Cultural Affairs. The set of buildings that make up the museum contains the largest collection of Japanese art in the world (90,000 pieces). The museum scope covers the history of Japan, from prehistoric times to the modern era.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, founded in 1926, is divided into a gallery that exhibits the works of contemporary national artists; and one for works by foreign artists. The National Museum of Modern Art also stands out, which brings together a large number of works by contemporary artists. The Shitamachi Museum, located in the southeast corner of Ueno Park, is dedicated to preserving Tokyo culture from the Edo era. The Mingeikan is a museum founded by Yanagi Muneyoshi in 1931, dedicated to folk crafts from across the country. The Goto Museum displays the private collection of Buddhist art, owned by Goto Keita, Chairman of the Tokyu Corporation. In this museum are scrolls belonging to the 12th century century, which tell the legend of Genji in paintings by Fujiwara Takayoshi. In the Museum of the Japanese Sword, or Token Hakubutsunkan, governed by the Association for the Conservation of the Art of the Japanese Sword, there are more than six thousand pieces, thirty of which are classified as national treasure. The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, in the Meguro neighborhood and near Ebisu station, has permanent exhibitions by domestic and foreign photographers.

Among the most prominent science and technology museums there are two on the artificial island of Odaiba: the Museum of Marine Science, and the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation.

• National Art Centre, Tokyo;
• National Museum of Western Art
• Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, which contains several collections of Japanese modern art and a multimedia section with more than 40,000 titles of Japanese and foreign films;
• Japan National Science Museum, also located in Ueno Park. There is a public zoo nearby;
• Tokyo National Museum, located in Ueno Park, is the largest in Japan and hosts the best collection of the Japanese art world, as well as a large group of Asian art works;
• Ueno Zoo, the zoo opened in 1882.

Other museums include the Museum of Modern Art, located near the Tokyo Imperial Palace in the special district of Chiyoda; the Edo-Tokyo Museum in the Sumida district, near the Sumida River; and the Nezu Museum in Aoyama.

Libraries

National Diet Library

Tokyo is home to numerous libraries, some of which are among the most notorious in Japan. The most important library in the country is the National Diet Library (国立国会図書館, 'Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan'^?), located in the Chiyoda neighborhood. Among its more than two million books, 50,000 magazine titles and more than 1,500 newspapers, it brings together the largest collection of texts in the country. In addition, it has the largest collection of foreign language texts in Japan.^{[citation needed]} Next in importance is the Tokyo Metropolitan Library (東京都立図書館, 'Tokyo tōritsu toshokan'^?), which is made up of three libraries:

1. The Central Library: Located in the park Arisugawa (Minato-kuMinami-Azabu. It is the main library of the city government, making it the best reference to find information about Tokyo.
2. Hibiya Library: Another important library of the city government, also in Chiyoda. Unlike the previous ones, Hibiya allows the loan of books.
3. Tama Library.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Library serves approximately 12 million users.^{[citation needed]} In addition to the public libraries mentioned above, Tokyo has the libraries of Tokyo's main university centers:

• Tokyo Metropolitan University Library, founded in 1950.
• Tokyo University Library, founded in 1877.
• Tokyo University Library for Foreign Studies.
• Library of the University of Chuo, founded in 1885.
• Kokugakuin University Library, founded in 1882.
• Library of the University of Hitotsubashi, founded in 1885.
• Waseda University Library, founded in 1882.^{[chuckles]required]}
• Keio University Mita Media Center, originally the Keio University Libraryfounded in 1912.

There are also numerous other smaller libraries in the greater Tokyo area.

Gastronomy

Oden.

The cuisine in Tokyo is internationally acclaimed. In November 2007, Michelin released its first guide to dining in Tokyo, awarding 191 stars in total, or about twice as many as Tokyo's closest competitor, Paris. As of 2017, 227 restaurants have been awarded in Tokyo (92 in Paris). Twelve establishments received the maximum of three stars (Paris has 10), 54 received two stars and 161 earned one star.

The distinctive cuisine of Tokyo has its roots in the days when the Tokugawa shogunate was established in Edo in 1603. In Japanese, Edo-mae refers to food made with fish from the bay from Tokyo, and it is a term that currently refers generically to Tokyo cuisine.

Edo-mae took on a distinctive characteristic as it gradually combined the cuisine of the different neighborhoods of Shitamachi (lower city in Edo). The representative dishes are soba (蕎麦), tempura (てんぷら or 天麩羅, tenpura), udon, grilled eel (kabayaki); and of course the sushi. The version of sushi originally from Tokyo is known as Edo-mae-zushi, and is said to have originated in Honjo Yokoami, present-day Sumida neighborhood in the XVIII. oden (おでん) is a stew of fish and boiled eggs, created in Edo around 1850.

In addition to Tokyo Bay, the Tama region is a major supplier of ingredients for Tokyo cuisine, especially freshwater fish such as trout and carp, as well as vegetables such as wasabi.

Chanko is the food eaten by sumo wrestlers (the word is believed to derive from chan, kitchen helper, or chan kuo, the Chinese word for a pan type). Due to the city's inextricable link with this martial art, chanko has become a popular food, so there are plenty of restaurants specializing in chanko. In general, there are two types of chanko: yose-nabe, which consists of chicken broth with fish, chicken, and vegetables; and chiri-nabe, which is a fish and vegetable stew, eaten with soy sauce and vinegar.

Like any metropolis, Tokyo is very receptive to cuisine from other regions and countries. Western cuisine has a predominant place. European and North American master chefs have found in Tokyo a fertile field to develop culinary projects that are well received. As examples, the French Joël Robuchon ("chef of the XX" century according to Gault- Millau) and Alain Ducasse, have undertaken their projects in Tokyo in the first decade of the XXI century.

Education

The information corresponding to this section corresponds to the year 2004, unless otherwise mentioned. In 2002, Tokyo Prefecture accounted for 8% of Japan's educational spending. The different stages of Japanese formal education are listed below, with a description of the infrastructure of Tokyo Prefecture. The school year begins in April for all levels. Throughout the educational spectrum, an approximate ratio of 50% ± 2% of students of each sex is observed.

Kindergarten

The first step in formal early childhood education is in kindergartens, which number 1,108 in Tokyo prefecture (2004), with 179,000 enrolled children. Infants enter from the age of three, and remain in kindergarten until they enter primary school.

Primary and secondary education

In 2004, there were about 1,400 elementary schools (小学校 shōgakkō) in Tokyo, with 573,000 registered students. Local authorities in each neighborhood administer the public primary school system. The normal course for a primary school lasts six years, and children enter at six years of age.

Secondary school is divided into "Secundaria Básica" (中学校 chūgakkō) and "High School" (高校 kōkō); each lasts three years. All junior and senior high schools are centrally administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education (東京都教育委員会, 'Tōkyō-to kyōiku iinkai& #39;^?). In 2004, Tokyo had 836 registered Junior High Schools, with 295,000 students; and 445 upper secondary schools, with 325,000 students enrolled. It is mandatory to enter the Basic Secondary School.

Nationwide, the percentage of graduates who go on to college has been growing over the years. In Tokyo Prefecture, 97.5% of junior high school entrants progressed to senior high school or some other form of formal training; while 0.6% assimilated into the workforce upon graduation, with the remainder (1.9%) engaged in other activities. In contrast, only 49% of men and 57% of women entering upper secondary school progressed to higher levels of education. The rest immediately found employment (8 and 5% respectively), or dedicated themselves to other activities (43% and 38% respectively).

Higher Education

Yasuda Auditorium at the University of Tokyo in Bunkyō

With more than 150 universities, Tokyo has the highest concentration of universities in the entire country, with enrollments accounting for 30% of Japan's higher-level student population. Public education is less expensive and more prestigious compared to private education. However, it is more difficult to access. Annually, it is normal for a family to pay 20 to 25% of their income for the education of a student in public institutions, while in private institutions the sum reaches 30% of the annual income.

The six most prominent universities are known as The Six Universities of Tokyo (東京 六大学, 'Tōkyō roku daigaku'</b ^?): Keiō, Tokyo, Waseda, Hosei, Meiji, and Rikkyo Universities. The Six have nearly one hundred thousand enrolled, and are often compared to Ivy League universities, especially for their students and graduates. The University of Tokyo is the most prestigious; in 2005, it was ranked 16th among the best 200 universities in the world.

Justice

Supreme Court of Justice of Japan

Police

The police in Tokyo is administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, which is in charge of maintaining public order within the entire city, safeguarding the safety of 12 million people per day. Apart from arresting criminals, maintaining peace and order within the city, they are a preventive security agent in case of natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes, which are very frequent in Japan.

Throughout Tokyo's commercial and residential area, police forces maintain 101 police stations spread across Tokyo's 23 wards, with a uniformed force of 42,101.

The following resources are available to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department:

• 42.101 uniformed officers
• 2,861 civilians working in offices and units
• 943 posts (koban)
• 251 residential positions
• 1,103 police cars and patrols
• 951 motorcycles
• 26 boats and police boats
• 14 patrol helicopters
• 33 trained police dogs
• 13 horses

Traffic accidents

In 2004, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department estimated vehicle fleet in the city at 4,656,111 vehicles. Due to this large fleet of vehicles, 91,380 accidents were recorded, of which 105,073 people suffered injuries of varying degrees and only 413 people died from traffic accidents.

Recorded accidents occurred more frequently between 8 and 10 in the morning, 2 and 6 in the afternoon, regardless of the day of the week on which they occurred.

Crimes

Crime in Tokyo can be categorized under two historical guidelines: common crime and terrorism.

Common crime without afflictive penalties, in Tokyo had 251,517 cases reported to the police in 2003, which are broken down below:

Reported homicide cases were 154 cases (2003), representing 10.1% of the total for Japan

Sports

The New National Stadium

The 1964 Olympic Games were held in Tokyo. They had a great impact on the urban aspect of Tokyo, as large works of sports, tourism, communications and services infrastructure were built. The sports infrastructure is still used. Other facilities include the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, the Nippon Budokan (martial arts arena), the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. It was a candidate city for the organization of the 2016 Olympic Games. In addition, Tokyo was the host city of the 1958 Asian Games. On September 7, 2013, it was chosen to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

Summo

The Sumo National Stadium during the May 2006 tournament.

As in the rest of the country, sumo (相撲, sumō, sometimes 大相撲 Ōzumō) has a prominent place among sports in Tokyo. The National Sumo Stadium, located in Ryogoku, hosts the January, May and September tournaments, attracting thousands of spectators. The Emperor of Japan personally attends the May tournament. Sumo training takes place in the stables, or beya, and many allow spectators to enter.

Other martial arts

In the city other martial arts are practiced amateur and professionally. Especially judo, which was included in 1964 as an Olympic sport; kendō, karate, kyudo and aikido.

Baseball

The interior of the Tokyo Dome by Baseball

The Japan Professional Baseball League hosts one of the most popular teams in the country in Tokyo, the Yomiuri Giants (読売ジャイアンツ, Yomiuri Jaiantsu^?), who play at home in the Tokyo Dome (東京ドーム Tōkyō Dōmu) since 1988.

Tokyo is also home to the Tokyo Yakult Swallows team (東京ヤクルトスワローズ, Tōkyō Yakuruto Suwarōzu^?), who plays at the Meiji-Jingu Stadium in Shinjuku.

Football

The Japanese Professional Soccer League, known as J. League (Jリーグ, J Rīgu^?), founded in 1993, has two teams in Tokyo that play in the Ajinomoto Stadium and that star in the Tokyo Derby: F.C. Tokyo (FC東京, Efushī Tōkyō^?), and the Tokyo Verdy 1969 (東京ヴェルディ1969) highlighting that the latter is one of the clubs with the most titles in Japan, being the third highest league champion with 7 titles and taking into account possession of 3 League Cups and 5 Emperor's Cups and highlighting two international titles, the Sanwa Bank Cup and the AFC Champions League, being one of the 5 Japanese clubs to have won it.

Since 1980, the city was the fixed venue for the Toyota European-South American Cup, which pitted the champions of the European Cup (current Champions League) and the Copa Libertadores de América (current Conmebol Libertadores) in what is currently demolished Tokyo National Olympic Stadium in the Intercontinental Cup, until 2001 when the venue was changed to Yokohama. As of 2005, this competition ceased to exist, giving rise to the FIFA Club World Championship, which is held annually with a selected country as its annual venue, where Japan was designated on numerous occasions. Tokyo hosted the FIFA Club World Cup World Cup along with other cities in Japan in the first four editions, in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Rugby

It has three teams in the Top League, which are Ricoh Black Rams, Suntory Sungoliath and Toshiba Brave Lupus, also the universities of Tokyo are highly recognized in university rugby with the following teams from these universities: Waseda University, University of Keiō, Teikyo University and Tokai University.

Horse riding

In the city of Tokyo, some of the most important Turf events in Japan are held, highlighting grade 1 horse racing and thoroughbred horses. These events include the Tokyo Derby (東京ダービー, Tokyo derby^?) and the Haneda Hai (羽田盃, Haneda Hai^?) that are held at the Oi Racecourse (also known as Tokyo City Keiba), located in the Shinagawa ward and the Tokyo Yūshun (東京優駿?, Tokyo Yūshun^?) aka Japan Derby (日本ダービー, Nippon Dābii^?), considered the Japanese counterpart to the Epson Derby and which is the second round of the Japanese Triple Crown held at the Tokyo Hippodrome located in Fuchū. The Yasuda Kinen, a part of the Asian Challenge Mile, is also held at the racetrack.^{[citation needed]}

Tourism

As one of the main centers of history and culture in Japan, Tokyo Prefecture receives more than half of international tourists arriving in the country, with 58.3%. Annually, almost 2.6 million people visit Tokyo, representing an annual income of two billion dollars. This flow of visitors makes it the sixth city in the world with the most international visitors, behind London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. As the main gateway to the country, Tokyo is a critical development region for the promotion of international tourism. Among the visitors coming to the city, 63.8% come from Asian countries, 18.5% from North America, 12.7% from Europe, and the remaining 5% come from other countries.

Tourist attractions in the prefecture are numerous, and are managed or supervised by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

National Parks

There are four national parks in Tokyo:

• Chichibu-Tama National Park, located in Nishitama, also extends over part of Yamanashi and Saitama prefectures.
• Meiji no Mori Takao National Park, located around Mount Takao, south of Hachioji.
• Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, which includes the Izu Islands.
• Ogasawara National Park, which covers the islands of the same name, candidates to be a World Heritage Site.

Twinnings

Tokyo has 12 twinnings. {{list of columns|2|

• New York, United States, since 1960
• Beijing, China, since 1979
• New South Wales (Australia, sister state, since 1984)
• Seoul (South Korea, 1988)
• Jakarta, Indonesia, since 1989
• Cairo, Egypt, since 1990
• Buenos Aires (Argentina, since 2018)
• State of São Paulo (Brazil, sister state, since 1990)
• Lima, Peru, since 1991
• Berlin, Germany, since 1994
• Rome, Italy, since 1996

Mutual cooperation agreements

• Berlin, Germany, since 1994
• Rome, Italy, since 1996
• Madrid, Spain, since 1965
• Paris, France, since 1982