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The Tokyo Portal

Tokyo (/ˈtoʊkioʊ/; Japanese: 東京, Tōkyō, [toːkʲoː] ^ⓘ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis (東京都, Tōkyō-to), is the capital city of Japan and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of over 14 million residents as of 2023. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and nearby six prefectures, is the most-populous metropolitan area in the world, with 40.8 million residents .

Located at the head of Tokyo Bay, Tokyo is part of the Kantō region on the central coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. Tokyo serves as Japan's economic center and the seat of both the Japanese government and the Emperor of Japan. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government administers Tokyo's central 23 special wards (which formerly made up Tokyo City), various commuter towns and suburbs in its western area, and two outlying island chains known as the Tokyo Islands. Despite most of the world recognising Tokyo as a city, since 1943 its governing structure has been more akin to a prefecture, with an accompanying Governor and Assembly taking precedence over the smaller municipal governments which make up the metropolis. Notable special wards in Tokyo include Chiyoda, the site of the National Diet Building and the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Shinjuku, the city's administrative center, and Shibuya, a commercial, cultural, and business hub in the city.

Before the 17th century, Tokyo, then known as Edo, was mainly a fishing village. It gained political prominence in 1603 when it became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. By the mid-18th century, Edo was among the world's largest cities, with over a million residents. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the imperial capital in Kyoto was moved to Edo, and the city was renamed Tokyo (lit. 'Eastern Capital'). In 1923, Tokyo was damaged substantially by the Great Kantō earthquake, and the city was later badly damaged by allied bombing raids during World War II. Beginning in the late 1940s, Tokyo underwent rapid reconstruction and expansion that contributed to the era's so-called Japanese economic miracle in which Japan's economy propelled to the second-largest in the world at the time behind that of the United States. , the city is home to 29 of the world's largest 500 companies listed in the annual Fortune Global 500. (Full article...)

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The National Diet (Japanese: 国会, Hepburn: Kokkai) is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (衆議院, Shūgiin), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (参議院, Sangiin). Both houses are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally responsible for nominating the Prime Minister. The Diet was first established as the Imperial Diet in 1890 under the Meiji Constitution, and took its current form in 1947 upon the adoption of the post-war constitution. Both houses meet in the National Diet Building (国会議事堂, Kokkai-gijidō) in Nagatachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo. (Full article...)

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Metropolitan Police Department burning at Marunouchi, near Hibiya Park, during the 1923 earthquake

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WikiProjects

You are invited to participate in the Tokyo task force, a task force dedicated to developing and improving articles about the Tokyo metropolis, including the Special wards of Tokyo, West Tokyo, and the islands.

General images

The following are images from various Tokyo-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A leaflet dropped by the U.S. over Tokyo during the bombings, urging civilians to leave the city (from History of Tokyo)
Image 2Nihonbashi Bridge, in a c. 1838–1842 painting by Hiroshige (from History of Tokyo)
Image 3The Nikkei 225 stock market index from 1970 to 2024 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 4The five-story pagoda of Kan'ei-ji, which was constructed during the reign of Tokugawa Hidetada and required the building of the Kimon (Devil's Gate) (from History of Tokyo)
Image 5Ōta Dokan, who built the start to Edo Castle (from History of Tokyo)
Image 61960 protests against the United States-Japan Security Treaty (from History of Tokyo)
Image 7Soil liquefaction in Kōtō after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake (from History of Tokyo)
Image 8Funeral procession for Hirohito (by then renamed Showa) on 24 February 1989 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 9A section of the Tamagawa Josui in an 1856 painting by Hiroshige (from History of Tokyo)
Image 10Commodore Matthew Perry's fleet during his second visit to Tokyo in 1854 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 11Ginza (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 12Shibuya (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 13Asakusa (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 14A Torii Kiyomasu painting of kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro I playing Soga Tokimune. This was likely one of the most popular ukiyo-e actor prints (from History of Tokyo)
Image 15An 1869 picture scroll of the 1772 Great Meiwa Fire (from History of Tokyo)
Image 16The Ginza Line, Asia's oldest subway line, first opened in 1927 (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 17Yukio Mishima giving a speech during his 1970 coup attempt at the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force building (from History of Tokyo)
Image 18Tokyo streets at night (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 19Shinjuku (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 20Tokugawa Ieyasu, who made Edo the capital of Japan (from History of Tokyo)
Image 21The Kabukicho district of Shinjuku in 1982, before police cracked down on its illegal activities (from History of Tokyo)
Image 22Map of operators in Greater Tokyo Area (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 23A Tokyo taxi driver indicating a fare of 50 Sen by holding up five fingers, in 1932 (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 24Koreans in Japan about to be stabbed by Japanese vigilantes with bamboo spears immediately after the earthquake (from History of Tokyo)
Image 25An 1814 handscroll depicting the Great Fire of Meireki (from History of Tokyo)
Image 26Hokusai's painting of the 47 ronin storming Kira Yoshinaka's mansion (from History of Tokyo)
Image 27The Metropolitan Police Department burning at Marunouchi, near Hibiya Park during the 1923 earthquake (from History of Tokyo)
Image 28Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara in 2003 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 29JR Yamanote Line (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 30Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower viewed from Odaiba (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 31Tokyo Haneda Airport (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 32Tokyo from the air after the firebombing of the city, 1945 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 33Emperor Meiji, moving from Kyoto to Tokyo after the fall of Edo in 1868 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 34A view of the IMTFE in session (from History of Tokyo)
Image 35Rokumeikan, a hotel mixing Japanese and European styles (from History of Tokyo)
Image 36The Shintomi-za theater, as painted by Utagawa Hiroshige III in 1881 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 37A kawaraban (news broadsheet) depicting the damage of the 1855 earthquake (from History of Tokyo)
Image 38A German map of Tokyo from 1896 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 39Folding screen view of Edo in the 17th century, showing Edo Castle on the upper right corner (from History of Tokyo)
Image 40The Tokyo Skytree in 2014 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 41The 1964 Summer Olympics closing ceremony (from History of Tokyo)
Image 42A jar from the Yayoi period (300 BC to 300 AD) found in Kugahara, Ōta (from History of Tokyo)
Image 43Taira no Masakado, who challenged the Emperor by becoming the effective ruler of Kanto (from History of Tokyo)
Image 44Otoya Yamaguchi preparing to stab Inejiro Asanuma a second time (from History of Tokyo)
Image 45A social hierarchy chart based on old academic theories. Such hierarchical diagrams were removed from Japanese textbooks after various studies in the 1990s revealed that peasants, craftsmen, and merchants were in fact equal and merely social categories. Successive shoguns held the highest or near-highest court ranks, higher than most court nobles. (from History of Tokyo)
Image 46This 1858 map shows the yamanote western district (at top) and the shitamachi eastern district (at bottom). Nihonbashi is at center (from History of Tokyo)
Image 47This marker in Nihonbashi is the place from which distances along highways are reckoned. (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 48Tokyo Imperial University's law building before 1902 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 49Marunouchi (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 50A painting of the new Tokyo Imperial Palace (from History of Tokyo)
Image 51Tokyo-Wan Ferry Shirahama-maru (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 52Toei bus (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 53Tokyo's 23 special wards, one part of the Tokyo Metropolis prefecture (from History of Tokyo)
Image 54An 1809 etched print of the Senso-ji temple, before it was firebombed during World War II and rebuilt (from History of Tokyo)
Image 55A scene of the 2020 Summer Olympics' opening ceremony, where 1,824 drones formed the Games' logo. (from History of Tokyo)
Image 56A scene from the Tokugawa Seiseiroku, showing an aspect of the sankin-kōtai system: the festive attendance day of daimyo at Edo Castle (from History of Tokyo)
Image 57Picture of the Upper Class, a c. 1794–1795 painting by Utamaro. The woman on the left is lower in class than the woman on the right, who wears more colorful clothes (from History of Tokyo)
Image 58Japan Defense Force chemical troops responding to the scene of the 1995 subway sarin attack, at mid-day (from History of Tokyo)

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... that the first Olympic volleyball match in more than 16 years for Kenya's Malkia Strikers is being played today in Tokyo against Japan?
... that street racing was once prevalent along the Tokyo area's Bayshore Route?
... that pianist Fujita Haruko, one of the first 19 female students enrolled at the University of Tokyo, was taught by Leo Sirota, who was once called the "god of piano"?
... that Allen Ravenstine, who used a synthesizer to emulate the sound of an airplane's engine on "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", later became an airline pilot?
... that Ralph Page once called a contra dance for more than 4000 people in Tokyo, despite not knowing Japanese?
... that the women's wheelchair race at the 2021 Tokyo Marathon featured just two competitors?

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Administrative divisions of Tokyo

Western Tokyo				Special wards
Okutama Hinohara Ōme Hinode Akiruno Hachiōji Hamura Mizuho Fussa Akishima	Hino Tama Machida Musashimurayama Tachikawa Kunitachi Fuchū Inagi Higashiyamato Kodaira	Kokubunji Koganei Chōfu Higashimurayama Kiyose Higashikurume Nishitōkyō Musashino Mitaka Komae		Nerima Suginami Setagaya Nakano Itabashi Toshima Shinjuku Shibuya Meguro Shinagawa	Ōta Kita Bunkyō Chiyoda Minato Chūō Adachi Arakawa Taitō Kōtō	Sumida Katsushika Edogawa