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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Tokyo Story (Japanese: 東京物語, Hepburn: Tōkyō Monogatari) is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama, about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children.

Upon release, it did not immediately gain international recognition and was considered "too Japanese" to be marketable by Japanese film exporters. It was screened in 1957 in London, where it won the inaugural Sutherland Trophy the following year, and received praise from U.S. film critics after a 1972 screening in New York City. (Full article...)

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Tokyo Tower (東京タワー, Tōkyō Tawā; pronounced [toːkʲoː taꜜɰᵝaː] ), also known by its official name Japan Radio Tower (日本電波塔, Nippon denpatō) is a communications and observation tower in the district of Shiba-koen in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, completed in 1958. At 332.9 meters (1,092 feet), it was the tallest tower in Japan until the construction of Tokyo Skytree in 2012. It is a lattice tower inspired by the Eiffel Tower, and is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations. It was constructed of steel, a third of which was scrap metal taken from US tanks damaged in the Korean War.

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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 1A jar from the Yayoi period (300 BC to 300 AD) found in Kugahara, Ōta (from History of Tokyo)
Image 2Tokyo Haneda Airport (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 3Marunouchi (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 4Toyota Crown Comfort Nihon Kotsu Taxi (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 5Map of operators in Greater Tokyo Area (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 6An 1809 etched print of the Senso-ji temple, before it was firebombed during World War II and rebuilt (from History of Tokyo)
Image 7Shinjuku (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 8Rokumeikan, a club mixing Japanese and European styles (from History of Tokyo)
Image 9The 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 10Otoya Yamaguchi preparing to stab Inejiro Asanuma a second time at the Hibiya Public Hall on 13 January 1960 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 11A protest against the U.S.–Japan Security Treaty around the National Diet building on 18 June 1960 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 12This 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 13A section of the Tamagawa Josui in an 1856 painting by Hiroshige (from History of Tokyo)
Image 14Tokyo from the air after the firebombing of the city, 1945 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 15A 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 16Soil liquefaction in Kōtō after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake (from History of Tokyo)
Image 17Nihonbashi Bridge, in a c. 1838–1842 painting by Hiroshige (from History of Tokyo)
Image 18The Ginza Line, Asia's oldest subway line, first opened in 1927 (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 19Commodore Matthew C. Perry's fleet during his second visit to Tokyo in 1854 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 20Picture 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 21The Kasumigaseki Building in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda (from History of Tokyo)
Image 22Emperor Meiji, moving from Kyoto to Tokyo after the fall of Edo in 1868 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 23Taira no Masakado, who challenged the Emperor by becoming the effective ruler of Kanto (from History of Tokyo)
Image 24A Tokyo taxi driver indicating a fare of 50 Sen by holding up five fingers, in 1932 (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 25The Metropolitan Police Department burning at Marunouchi, near Hibiya Park during the 1923 earthquake (from History of Tokyo)
Image 26The Shintomi-za theater, as painted by Utagawa Hiroshige III in 1881 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 27A leaflet dropped by the U.S. over Tokyo during the bombings, urging civilians to leave the city (from History of Tokyo)
Image 28JR Yamanote Line (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 29Ōta Dokan, who built the start to Edo Castle (from History of Tokyo)
Image 30An 1869 picture scroll of the 1772 Great Meiwa Fire (from History of Tokyo)
Image 31The funeral procession for Hirohito (by then renamed Showa) on 24 February 1989 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 32The Tokyo Skytree in 2014 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 33Toei bus (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 34A kawaraban (news broadsheet) depicting the damage of the 1855 earthquake (from History of Tokyo)
Image 35Ginza (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 36This marker in Nihonbashi is the place from which distances along highways are reckoned. (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 37A scene of the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, where 1,824 drones formed the 2020 Games' logo (from History of Tokyo)
Image 38Tokugawa Ieyasu, who made Edo the capital of Japan (from History of Tokyo)
Image 39A 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 40Asakusa (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 41Folding screen view of Edo in the 17th century, showing Edo Castle on the upper right corner (from History of Tokyo)
Image 42Tokyo streets at night (from Transport in Greater Tokyo)
Image 43A painting of the new Tokyo Imperial Palace (from History of Tokyo)
Image 44The 1964 Summer Olympics closing ceremony on 24 October (from History of Tokyo)
Image 45Tokyo Imperial University's law building before 1902 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 46A view of the IMTFE in session (from History of Tokyo)
Image 47Police officers and Japan Defense Force troops responding to the scene of the 1995 subway sarin attack (from History of Tokyo)
Image 48Yukio Mishima speaking during his coup attempt at the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force building on 25 November 1970 (from History of Tokyo)
Image 49Shibuya (from Special wards of Tokyo)
Image 50An 1814 handscroll depicting the Great Fire of Meireki (from History of Tokyo)

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

... that the wedding ceremony of Fukura P and Kazumi Takayama was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building?
... that in 1994 Kazuyoshi Akiyama conducted the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in the first performance of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron with Japanese musicians?
... that a haniwa horse in Tokyo National Museum is of particular significance due to its horse trappings?
... that professional sumo fighting stables are often housed in Shinto shrines when they travel outside of Tokyo?
... that Yamada's Symphony in F major had to be reconstructed after a maritime accident and after the bombing of Tokyo during WWII?
... that a 1:10 wooden model was used in the acoustic design of Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall?

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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