Portal:Tokyo

The Tokyo Portal

Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis is the capital and most populous city of Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring prefectures, is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with 41 million residents as of 2024.

Lying at the head of Tokyo Bay, Tokyo is part of the Kantō region, on the central coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. It is Japan's economic center and the seat of 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, the Tokyo Islands. Although most of the world recognizes Tokyo as a city, since 1943 its governing structure has been more akin to that of a prefecture, with an accompanying Governor and Assembly taking precedence over the smaller municipal governments that make up the metropolis. 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 hub of commerce and business.

Tokyo, originally known as Edo, rose to political prominence in 1603 when it became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate, and by the mid-18th century, Edo had evolved from a small fishing village into one of the largest cities in the world, with a population surpassing one million. After the Meiji Restoration (1868), the imperial capital in Kyoto was moved to Edo, and the city was renamed Tokyo (lit. 'Eastern Capital'). Tokyo was greatly damaged by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and by allied bombing raids during World War II. Beginning in the late 1940s, Tokyo underwent rapid reconstruction and expansion, which fueled the Japanese economic miracle, in which Japan's economy became the second-largest in the world at the time, behind that of the United States. As of 2025, Tokyo is home to 26 of the world's 500 largest companies, as listed in the annual Fortune Global 500. (Full article...)

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Entrance of the Museum

The Edo-Tokyo Museum (江戸東京博物館, Edo Tōkyō Hakubutsukan) is a historical museum located at 1-4-1 Yokoami, Sumida-Ku, Tokyo in the Ryogoku district. The museum opened in March 1993 to preserve Edo's cultural heritage, and features city models of Edo and Tokyo between 1590 (just prior to the Edo period beginning) and 1964. It was the first museum built dedicated to the history of Tokyo. Some main features of the permanent exhibitions are the life-size replica of the Nihonbashi, which was the bridge leading into Edo; scale models of towns and buildings across the Edo, Meiji, and Shōwa periods; and the Nakamuraza theatre.

Designed by Kiyonori Kikutake, the building is 62.2 meters tall and covers 30,000 square meters. The concrete exterior is designed based on a traditional rice storehouse (takayuka-shiki style) and is the same height as the Edo Castle. Kikutake claimed that the building "crystallizes Japanese culture in built form," concerning the structure's traditional references but contemporary execution. There are eight floors, one below ground and seven elevated off the ground by four columns, with an open air plaza at ground level. The first floor has a museum shop, restaurants, and a ticket counter. The primary entrance is on the third floor, reached by a bright red escalator from the plaza. The fifth and sixth floors contain permanent exhibits, with temporary special and feature exhibits on the first and fifth floors. The seventh floor is a library that houses 560,000 texts and cultural items related to Edo and Tokyo. (Full article...)

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A satellite view of Japan, 1999

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 1Tokyo Imperial University's law building before 1902 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 2Hokusai's painting of the 47 ronin storming Kira Yoshinaka's mansion (from History of Tokyo)
Image 3A 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 4Funeral procession for Hirohito (by then renamed Showa) on 24 February 1989 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 5This 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 6Japanese children in ruins, Tokyo, 1945 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 7Tokyo streets at night (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 8A jar from the Yayoi period (300 BC to 300 AD) found in Kugahara, Ōta (from History of Tokyo)
Image 9Toyota Crown Comfort Nihon Kotsu Taxi (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 10Otoya Yamaguchi preparing to stab Inejiro Asanuma a second time (from History of Tokyo)
Image 11Tokugawa Ieyasu, who made Edo the capital of Japan (from History of Tokyo)
Image 12Emperor Meiji, moving from Kyoto to Tokyo after the fall of Edo in 1868 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 13Tokyo Skytree, Sumida (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 14The Kabukicho district of Shinjuku in 1982, before police cracked down on its illegal activities (from History of Tokyo)
Image 15The Shintomi-za theater, as painted by Utagawa Hiroshige III in 1881 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 16Shibuya (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 17Ginza (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 18Police officers and Japan Defense Force troops responding to the scene of the 1995 subway sarin attack (from History of Tokyo)
Image 19A Tokyo taxi driver indicating a fare of 50 Sen by holding up five fingers, in 1932 (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 20The 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 21Tokyo from the air after the firebombing of the city, 1945 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 22Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower viewed from Odaiba (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 23Taira no Masakado, who challenged the Emperor by becoming the effective ruler of Kanto (from History of Tokyo)
Image 24A section of the Tamagawa Josui in an 1856 painting by Hiroshige (from History of Tokyo)
Image 251960 protests against the United States-Japan Security Treaty (from History of Tokyo)
Image 26Commodore Matthew C. Perry's fleet during his second visit to Tokyo in 1854 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 27Picture 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 28This marker in Nihonbashi is the place from which distances along highways are reckoned. (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 29Map of operators in Greater Tokyo Area (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 30A 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 31JR Yamanote Line (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 32The 1964 Summer Olympics closing ceremony (from History of Tokyo)
Image 33Toei bus (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 34Asakusa (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 35Folding screen view of Edo in the 17th century, showing Edo Castle on the upper right corner (from History of Tokyo)
Image 36The Tokyo Skytree in 2014 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 37Soil liquefaction in Kōtō after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake (from History of Tokyo)
Image 38Ōta Dokan, who built the start to Edo Castle (from History of Tokyo)
Image 39A kawaraban (news broadsheet) depicting the damage of the 1855 earthquake (from History of Tokyo)
Image 40Rokumeikan, a club mixing Japanese and European styles (from History of Tokyo)
Image 41A view of the IMTFE in session (from History of Tokyo)
Image 42The Metropolitan Police Department burning at Marunouchi, near Hibiya Park during the 1923 earthquake (from History of Tokyo)
Image 43Yukio Mishima giving a speech during his 1970 coup attempt at the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force building (from History of Tokyo)
Image 44Tokyo's 23 special wards, one part of the Tokyo Metropolis prefecture (from History of Tokyo)
Image 45An 1809 etched print of the Senso-ji temple, before it was firebombed during World War II and rebuilt (from History of Tokyo)
Image 46An 1869 picture scroll of the 1772 Great Meiwa Fire (from History of Tokyo)
Image 47The Nikkei 225 stock market index from 1970 to 2024 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 48An 1814 handscroll depicting the Great Fire of Meireki (from History of Tokyo)
Image 49A painting of the new Tokyo Imperial Palace (from History of Tokyo)
Image 50Marunouchi (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 51Shinjuku (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 52A leaflet dropped by the U.S. over Tokyo during the bombings, urging civilians to leave the city (from History of Tokyo)
Image 53A German map of Tokyo from 1896 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 54The Ginza Line, Asia's oldest subway line, first opened in 1927 (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 55Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara in 2003 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 56Tokyo-Wan Ferry Shirahama-maru (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 57Nihonbashi Bridge, in a c. 1838–1842 painting by Hiroshige (from History of Tokyo)
Image 58Tokyo Haneda Airport (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 59A 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 60A scene of the 2020 Summer Olympics' opening ceremony, where 1,824 drones formed the Games' logo. (from History of Tokyo)

Did you know (auto-generated) -

... that a 1:10 wooden model was used in the acoustic design of Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall?
... that self-help author Beth Kempton held positions at both the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Tokyo and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London?
... that professional sumo fighting stables are often housed in Shinto shrines when they travel outside of Tokyo?
... that cocoa is grown in Tokyo, almost 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) south of the city centre?
... that Izawa Takushi is called the "Quiz King from Tokyo University"?
... that Makoto Nishimoto tried to run in the 2020 Tokyo gubernatorial election as his nickname "Super Crazy-kun"?

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Topics

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

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