Portal:Tokyo

The Tokyo Portal

Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis is the capital and most populous city of Japan. The population of the city proper was over 14 million as of 2023. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring prefectures, is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the world, with 33 million residents as of 2025^[update].

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^[update], 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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The architecture of Tokyo has largely been shaped by the city's history. Twice in recent history has the metropolis been left in ruins: first in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and later after extensive firebombing in World War II. Because of this and other factors, Tokyo's current urban landscape is mostly modern and contemporary architecture, and older buildings are scarce. Tokyo once was a city with low buildings and packed with single family homes, today the city has a larger focus on high rise residential homes and urbanization. Tokyo's culture is changing as well as increased risk of natural catastrophes, because of this architecture has had to make dramatic changes since the 1990s. Located off of Tokyo Bay which makes typhoons and rising sea levels a current risk, along with volcanoes and large earthquakes. As a result of this, a new focus has been placed on waterborne risks such as rising sea levels and seismic events.

Tokyo in recent years has been growing at a steady rate. As a result, new buildings have been built at increased heights in order to make the most out of the land they occupy. Tokyo continues to advance in technology and grow, which will continue to change its architecture for years to come. (Full article...)

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Detail of the Daikanransha ferris wheel at Palette Town in Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan

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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 1Taira no Masakado, who challenged the Emperor by becoming the effective ruler of Kanto (from History of Tokyo)
Image 2A 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 3A protest against the U.S.–Japan Security Treaty around the National Diet building on 18 June 1960 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 4An 1869 picture scroll of the 1772 Great Meiwa Fire (from History of Tokyo)
Image 5Commodore Matthew C. Perry's fleet during his second visit to Tokyo in 1854 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 6An 1814 handscroll depicting the Great Fire of Meireki (from History of Tokyo)
Image 7Yukio Mishima speaking during his coup attempt at the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force building on 25 November 1970 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 8Japanese children living in the ruins of Tokyo in 1945 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 9Picture 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 10The Kasumigaseki Building in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda (from History of Tokyo)
Image 11Map of operators in Greater Tokyo Area (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 12Tokyo-Wan Ferry Shirahama-maru (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 13Ginza (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 14Hokusai's painting of the 47 ronin storming Kira Yoshinaka's mansion (from History of Tokyo)
Image 15The 1964 Summer Olympics closing ceremony on 24 October (from History of Tokyo)
Image 16The Tokyo Skytree in 2014 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 17The Shintomi-za theater, as painted by Utagawa Hiroshige III in 1881 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 18Toei bus (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 19A section of the Tamagawa Josui in an 1856 painting by Hiroshige (from History of Tokyo)
Image 20This 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 21A 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 22Rokumeikan, a club mixing Japanese and European styles (from History of Tokyo)
Image 23A jar from the Yayoi period (300 BC to 300 AD) found in Kugahara, Ōta (from History of Tokyo)
Image 24Toyota Crown Comfort Nihon Kotsu Taxi (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 25This marker in Nihonbashi is the place from which distances along highways are reckoned. (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 26Nihonbashi Bridge, in a c. 1838–1842 painting by Hiroshige (from History of Tokyo)
Image 27Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower viewed from Odaiba (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 28Tokyo Haneda Airport (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 29Soil liquefaction in Kōtō after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake (from History of Tokyo)
Image 30The Ginza Line, Asia's oldest subway line, first opened in 1927 (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 31An 1809 etched print of the Senso-ji temple, before it was firebombed during World War II and rebuilt (from History of Tokyo)
Image 32Tokugawa Ieyasu, who made Edo the capital of his shogunate. (from History of Tokyo)
Image 33A German map of Tokyo from 1896 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 34A painting of the new Tokyo Imperial Palace (from History of Tokyo)
Image 35A 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 36Otoya Yamaguchi preparing to stab Inejiro Asanuma a second time at the Hibiya Public Hall on 13 January 1960 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 37Folding screen view of Edo in the 17th century, showing Edo Castle on the upper right corner (from History of Tokyo)
Image 38The Kabukicho district of Shinjuku in 1982, before police cracked down on its illegal activities (from History of Tokyo)
Image 39Shibuya (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 40Asakusa (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 41Emperor Meiji, moving from Kyoto to Tokyo after the fall of Edo in 1868 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 42Tokyo Imperial University's law building before 1902 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 43The 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 44A kawaraban (news broadsheet) depicting the damage of the 1855 earthquake (from History of Tokyo)
Image 45A view of the IMTFE in session (from History of Tokyo)
Image 46Tokyo streets at night (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 47Shinjuku (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 48A leaflet dropped by the U.S. over Tokyo during the bombings, urging civilians to leave the city (from History of Tokyo)
Image 49Police officers and Japan Defense Force troops responding to the scene of the 1995 subway sarin attack (from History of Tokyo)
Image 50The Metropolitan Police Department burning at Marunouchi, near Hibiya Park during the 1923 earthquake (from History of Tokyo)

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

... 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"?
... 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 cocoa is grown in Tokyo, almost 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) south of the city centre?
... that a haniwa horse in Tokyo National Museum is of particular significance due to its horse trappings?
... that Yamada's Symphony in F major had to be reconstructed after a maritime accident and after the bombing of Tokyo during WWII?

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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