Tokyo summary

Tokyo, Japanese Tōkyō formerly (until 1868) Edo, City (pop., 2010: city, 9,733,276; metro. area, 36,914,176), capital of Japan. It is the country’s largest city and is located in east-central Honshu at the head of Tokyo Bay. The site has been inhabited since ancient times. The small fishing village of Edo existed there for centuries before it became the capital of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603, at the start of the Edo (Tokugawa) period. By the 19th century it was one of the largest cities in the world, with a population exceeding 1,000,000. Under the Meiji Restoration, in 1868 it replaced Kyōto as the imperial capital, and Edo was renamed Tokyo (“Eastern Capital”). A massive earthquake in the region in 1923 destroyed most of the city and killed at least 100,000 people, but most of it had been rebuilt by 1930. Much of it was again devastated by U.S. bombing during World War II and had to be reconstructed. The Summer Olympic Games were held there in 1964. Tokyo is the administrative, cultural, financial, commercial, and educational centre of Japan and the focus of an extensive urban complex that includes Kawasaki and Yokohama. Attractions include the Imperial Palace, encircled by stone-walled moats and broad gardens, and numerous temples and shrines. There are some 150 institutions of higher learning, including the University of Tokyo (1877).