Tokyo

Lore & Background

Tokyo, originally known as Edo, rose to political prominence in 1603 when it became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. After the Meiji Restoration (1868), the imperial capital in Kyoto was moved to Edo, and the city was renamed Tokyo. 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.

Reader's Guide

Tokyo is an international hub of research and development and an academic center, with several major universities, including the University of Tokyo. Tokyo Station is the central hub for the Shinkansen, the country's high-speed railway network, and the city's Shinjuku Station is the world's busiest train station. Tokyo Skytree is the world's tallest tower. The Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, which opened in 1927, is the oldest underground metro line in Asia.

Did You Know?

• Tokyo was the first city in Asia to host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, in 1964, and also hosted in 2021.
• Tokyo's nominal gross domestic output was 120.2 trillion yen (US$887.9 billion) in FY2022 and accounted for 21.2% of Japan's economic output.
• Tokyo has been ranked as the safest city in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit.