TOKYO
Tokyo,[a] o icially the Tokyo Metropolis,[b] is the capital and most populous city in 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.
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. 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. From 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.[9] As of 2023, Tokyo is home to 29 of the world's 500 largest companies, as
listed in the annual Fortune Global 500—the second highest number of any city.[10]
Tokyo was the first city in Asia to host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, in 1964 and then
in 2021. It also hosted three G7 summits, in 1979, 1986, and 1993. Tokyo is an international hub
of research and development and an academic center, with several major universities, including
the University of Tokyo, the top-ranking university in Japan.[11][12] 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.[13] The Tokyo Metro
Ginza Line, which opened in 1927, is the oldest underground metro line in the Asia–
Pacific region.[14]
Tokyo's nominal gross domestic output was 113.7 trillion yen (US$1.04 trillion) in FY2021 and
accounted for 20.7% of Japan's economic output, which converts to 8.07 million yen or
US$73,820 per capita.[15] Including the Greater Tokyo Area, Tokyo is the second-largest
metropolitan economy in the world after New York, with a 2022 gross metropolitan product
estimated at US$2.08 trillion.[16] Although Tokyo's status as a leading global financial hub has
diminished with the Lost Decades since the 1990s, when the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) was
the world's largest, with a market capitalization about 1.5 times that of the NYSE,[17] Tokyo is still
a leading financial hub, and the TSE remains among the world top five stock major.
