Tokyo
Tokyo (東京, Tōkyō, English: /ˈtoʊkioʊ/, officially Tokyo Metropolis (東京都, Tōkyō-to), is the capital of Japan. Tokyo forms part of the Kantō region on the southeastern side of Japan's main island, Honshu, and includes the Izu and Ogasawara Islands. Originally a small fishing village named Edo (江戸), the city became a prominent political center of Japan when Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters in 1603. When Emperor Meiji moved the imperial seat to the city from Kyoto in 1868, Edo was renamed Tokyo, literally "the Eastern Capital". The Tokyo Metropolis formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture (東京府, Tōkyō-fu) and the city of Tokyo (東京市, Tōkyō-shi). While commonly referred to as a city, Tokyo is a collective entity of multiple smaller municipalities, including 23 special wards and various bed towns in the western area.
Demographics
Registered foreign nationals
By age
By area
By Hours
Country | People |
---|---|
China | 199,949 |
South
Korea |
90,438 |
Vietnam | 32,334 |
Philippines | 32,089 |
Nepal | 26,157 |
Taiwan | 18,568 |
USA | 17,578 |
India | 11,153 |
Myanmar | 9,719 |
Thailand | 7,958 |
Others | 75,557 |
By age
Class | % |
---|---|
Juveniles | 1.4 mil |
Working | 8.5 mil |
Retired | 2.3 mil |
By area
Class | % |
---|---|
Tokyo | 12.79 mil |
Special
wards |
8.653 mil |
Tama Area | 4.109 mil |
Islands | 28 k |
By Hours
Class | % |
---|---|
Day | 14.978 mil |
Night | 12.416 mil |
Industry & Trade
Tokyo has the largest metropolitan economy in the world. According to a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Greater Tokyo Area (Tokyo-Yokohama) of 38 million people had a total GDP of $2 trillion in 2012 (at purchasing power parity), which topped that list.
Tokyo is a major international finance center; it houses the headquarters of several of the world's largest investment banks and insurance companies and serves as a hub for Japan's transportation, publishing, electronics and broadcasting industries. During the centralized growth of Japan's economy following World War II, many large firms moved their headquarters from cities such as Osaka (the historical commercial capital) to Tokyo, in an attempt to take advantage of better access to the government. This trend has begun to slow due to ongoing population growth in Tokyo and the high cost of living there. Tokyo was rated by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the most expensive (highest cost-of-living) city in the world for 14 years in a row ending in 2006.
Infrastructure
Tokyo, as the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, is Japan's largest domestic and international hub for rail and ground. However, its airspace has been under the US military's exclusive rights after World War II and some flight routes are returned to Japan. Public transportation within Tokyo is dominated by an extensive network of clean and efficient trains and subways run by a variety of operators, with buses, monorails, and trams playing a secondary feeder role. There are up to 62 electric train lines and more than 900 train stations in Tokyo. As a result of World War II, Japanese planes are forbidden to fly over Tokyo. Therefore, Japan constructed airports outside Tokyo. Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture is the major gateway for international travelers to Japan. Japan's flag carrier Japan Airlines, as well All Nippon Airways, has a hub at this airport. Haneda Airport on the reclaimed land at Ōta offers domestic and international flights.
Population
13,929,286
Inhabitant Demonym
Tokyoite
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