Tokyo is the capital of Japan. With just under 40 million
inhabitants, Tokyo is one of the largest metropolitan areas in
the world. What is considered Tokyo depends on the viewer. The
city of Tokyo has not existed since a reform in 1943; the
individual districts are called ward in English.
Tokyo
consists of 23 districts in the eastern third of the prefecture,
where around 9 million people live.
Tokyo can also mean
the entire Tokyo prefecture, in which around 13 million people
live and which has its own governor.
Tokyo can also mean
the metropolitan area with the cities of Yokohama and Kawasaki,
which have a population of one million and are home to around 35
million people.
In this respect, Tokyo does have a lot of
town halls, e.g. in Shibuya, Chiyoda and Shinjuku, but Tokyo
Town Hall is generally understood to be the administrative seat
of the prefecture. This article is primarily about the 23
districts of the old city of Tokyo.
The Japanese capital has no old town and no actual center in the
sense of European urban planning. The city's history as the planned
capital for the shogunate in the 17th century dictates the planning and
development pattern. Today, train stations form modern centers, where
many office towers have been built and restaurants of all styles and
shops are concentrated to meet the food needs of the employees. Like all
major cities worldwide, the city consists of many smaller districts,
each with a different style and level. The city's fascination becomes
apparent if you take your time. There are many lovely little restaurants
with mostly excellent food, but also modern breakfast cafes everywhere.
As is so often the case, true beauty is in the details: concentrated
neon advertising and stylish shops, well-kept gardens, temples and
shrines, and especially the Japanese themselves and their way of life.
The top sights are: the Senso Temple in Asakusa, the Imperial Palace
with a huge, beautifully maintained park and the old castle complex,
although you can't go into the actual palace. The town hall with its
observation deck and the Meiji Shrine, not to mention the Tokyo National
Museum. The most interesting districts for tourists are Chiyoda, Chuo,
Minato, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Taitō. Tokyo is certainly the cleanest
city in the world. It is simply unbelievable for tourists how clean the
city, subway stations and subways and toilets in general are. The
Japanese are extremely friendly and helpful.
Tokyo is far too big
and the interesting areas are too spread out to be able to walk
everywhere. The easiest way to see the sights is to go from district to
district, from one large station to the next:
Chiyoda (千代田区,
chiyoda-ku) - Imperial Palace, Tokyo Station, Tokyo International Forum
and the electronics paradise Akihabara.
Chūō (中央区, chūō-ku) -
upscale shopping district Ginza and Tsukiji fish market.
Minato
(港区, minato-ku) - entertainment district Roppongi and the Tokyo Tower,
skyscrapers of Shiodome, traditional Japanese gardens, Rainbow Bridge
and the artificial island of Odaiba in Tokyo Bay.
Setagaya (世田谷区,
setagaya-ku) - Shimo-Kitazawa.
Shibuya (渋谷区, shibuya-ku) - With the
shopping and entertainment district of the same name, the Meiji Shrine,
Yoyogi Park and the Omotesandō (Tokyo's equivalent of the
Champs-Elysees) in Harajuku, the nightlife district Ebisu and the
fashion district Daikanyama.
Shinjuku (新宿区, shinjuku-ku) - Tokyo's
city hall and office towers, endless shopping, the red light district
Kabuki-chō, Shinjuku Gyoen Park and Tokyo's largest train station
Shinjuku.
Taitō (台東区, taitō-ku) - Senso Temple in Asakusa and Ueno
Park and its many museums, which do not have to fear comparison with the
great museums of the world.
By plane
Tokyo has two airports: Narita International Airport and
the older Haneda Airport.
These are described with all the travel
options in the respective main articles:
Narita Airport (成田空港, narita
kūkō) is located 70 kilometers east of Tokyo.
The older Haneda
Airport (羽田空港, haneda kūkō) is located in the south of Tokyo. Haneda has
two terminals for domestic flights, Terminal 1 (JAL Group, SKY, SNA) and
2 (ANA, ADO), and one international one. The terminals are connected by
a free shuttle bus.
By train
The JR's super-fast train
Shinkansen (新幹線) connects Tokyo (Tokyo Station 東京駅, tōkyō-eki) with
almost all other large Japanese cities quickly and reliably. Details of
the timetable at Japanese Traffic Guide: Search for train connections
(Japanese and English).
By bus
There are long-distance bus
connections to larger cities on the main island. Many run overnight and
are an alternative for an overnight stay. The JR buses are generally
more comfortable, with only three free-standing seats per row and
blankets, than the offers from discount providers such as Willer, which
use regular seated buses, but which are up to a third cheaper. There are
49 long-distance bus companies in total. Kosoku Bus and Japan Buslines
are websites where private companies can be booked.
The most
important long-distance bus terminus is in front of Tokyo Station
(東京駅JR高速バスターミナル) and on the east side of Shinjuku Station. Individual
companies have their own sales offices and clearly signposted stops.
By ship
Cruise ships usually dock in Yokohama.
The Izu and
Bonin Islands are served by ferries that depart from Tokyo-Takeshiba
(Hammamatatsucho Station) from the dock (竹芝客船ターミナル) at the "Rainbow
Bridge" (map). The direct passenger ferries to Okinawa and Shanghai have
been discontinued. Both destinations can be reached from Osaka in 2018.
The only domestic connection in 2018 is operated by OTF to
Kitakyushu via Tokushima from Tokyo Ferry Terminal (東京港フェリーターミナル).
Tokyo has a well-developed network of roads and highways in very good
condition, but like ours, they get congested and slow during rush hour,
so you can't get anywhere quickly. However, if you've familiarized
yourself with the city's system beforehand, it's definitely doable. It's
difficult without a navigation system, but nowadays almost all rental
cars in Japan have a (usually free) navigation system that works very
simply: you enter the phone number of the destination - temples and
other locations also have one - in Latin numerals, and the system takes
you to your destination! Names are also given in Latin script on street
signs. Parking fees are high (around 500 yen for 30 minutes in the city
centers) and there are no free parking spaces, but all hotels have
parking spaces.
Important: For Germans and Swiss, but not for
Austrians, neither national nor international driving licenses are
accepted. A translation must be obtained from the Japanese Automobile
Association (JAF) beforehand.
In Japan, people drive on the left
side of the road and on motorways at a constant 80 km/h, with a few
exceptions, which should be taken into account when planning your route.
Bicycles ride on the sidewalk.
Tokyo has a very well-developed subway network. There is a large map
at each station, unfortunately often only with Japanese characters. All
ticket machines can now be switched to English (International button
usually at the top right of the display). The transfer stations also
have Latin labels and the routes to the different lines are marked in
color: Orange leads to the Ginza line, which goes from Asakusa to
Shibuya and back. For several years now, all stations have had a unique
code: G1 means the first stop on the Ginza line, i.e. Shibuya. The
latter station is also Z1 on the Hanzomon line, which is marked in
purple.
You pay according to the number of stations you travel.
To get to the platforms, you go into one of the passages and put your
ticket in a machine. If it is valid, a barrier opens. If not, you go
into the passage on the very right (or left). There is always someone
from the service there who will help you and sell you the right tickets.
You do the same when you leave the station. Normal tickets are not
reissued.
For example, if you have bought a ticket for three
stations but travel five, you have to pay extra at the service station
on the far right passage or at a fare adjustment machine, as the barrier
to leave the station will not open with this ticket. This method is also
easy to use if you do not know the fare: you simply pay for the cheapest
card, currently 160 yen, travel to your desired destination and then pay
extra. This makes it impossible to ride without a ticket.
If you
are in Japan for a longer period of time, you should buy a Suica Card or
Pasmo Card, which works like a prepaid card: money is loaded onto the
card at a machine and the card is held over a scanner as you pass
through the subway passages; the required amount is automatically
deducted from the card.
If you use a certain route frequently, you
can get a Kaizoken from the machine. There are eleven single tickets for
the price of ten.
In the mornings and at the end of the working
day, the subways get quite crowded, but the trains also run more
frequently. Between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., the trains run quite rarely, and
between about 2 a.m. and about 5 a.m., there are no trains.
The
subway is operated by two companies: Tokyo Metro (formerly Eidan) and
Toei. The previous separation of the networks with different tickets has
been abolished.
It should be noted that the actual subway only
runs within the Yamanote Line, even if many trips go beyond it. For
example, if you take the same train on the Hanzomon Line mentioned above
from Shibuya one station further to Ikejiri-Ōhashi, you pay the minimum
price of the Dentetsu Line for this section. Switching between the
subway and the commuter rail network should be avoided, as there are no
transfer tickets (with a few exceptions). In conjunction with the bus
journeys from the airports, Keikyu offers discounted metro tickets for
24, 48 or 72 hours.
A third company has only operated one line,
namely the fully automated (without driver) Yurikamome line since 1995,
which runs from Shimbashi station to the Odaiba leisure area. An extra
ticket must be purchased for this line. The price for this line is
slightly higher than the prices for the two major networks, but the line
offers a very good view of the Tokyo skyline as it travels over the
Rainbow Bridge.
General information on the Tokyo Metro. A
downloadable detailed route map is available from JR (it should be on
every smartphone).
Two lines of Japan Railways (JR) are primarily used for urban
transport. The Chuō Line and the famous Yamanote Ring Line. The Chuō
Line runs from the Tama region via Shinjuku Station to Akihabara or
Tokyo Station across the city. There are regular commuter trains
(“Local”) to Akihabara and express trains (“Express”) with only a few
stops to Tokyo Station. The Yamanote Line, whose route practically
defines the “city center,” runs in a ring in both directions from Tokyo
Station via Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Ueno back to
Tokyo Station. It is so important that even the TV news reports on minor
disruptions. During rush hour, the frequency is 90 seconds, otherwise
three minutes.
Since this commuter train, e.g. also on to
Yokohama, is operated by Japan Railways, the Japan Railway Pass is also
valid on it.
Otherwise, there are private companies that operate commuter train
routes into the region from one of the more important stations on the
Yamanote Line. For example, Odakyu from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto, Keio
from Shibuya and Shinjuku or Tobu from Asakusa to Nikkō. On some routes,
men are discriminated against during rush hour, with some carriages
being marked as "women only".
The same applies to their use as
regards the subway. However, it should be noted that express trains are
often used on commuter routes, which do not stop everywhere or travel
through a certain number of stations, but then stop everywhere. In
general, the more red on the display, the faster. Special express trains
often cost an additional fee. Easy-to-understand diagrams on the
platform clearly show the stops for each type.
Put simply, map services and websites such as OpenStreetMap or
corresponding apps together with GPS on your smartphone are
indispensable in Tokyo. The state of the art technology is so advanced
that you can reliably reach even hidden corners.
Most hotels have
simple city maps, but these are only sufficient for a rough orientation.
If you want more precise orientation, you should get the Tokyo City
Atlas - A Bilingual Guide 2012 from Kodansha International (ISBN
978-4-7700-2809-9) either before your trip or directly in Tokyo
(Oriental Bazaar in Omote-sando, Omote-sando or Meji-jingu-mae subway,
Harajuku commuter train), which is very good for orientation. Every
station newspaper kiosk also has the Japanese equivalent for a few
hundred yen. You don't necessarily have to be able to read the
characters, just comparing them is enough - and you can read printed
material even if the battery is empty.
In many streets in Tokyo
there are now boards with a map of the immediate area. These were often
originally intended as evacuation plans in the event of an earthquake,
but can also be used for simple orientation. These maps also show nearby
attractions, temples, hotels, post offices and police stations.
An internationally known district of Tokyo is Ginza - a chic area
with many upscale shops that also sell Western luxury goods. Shopping is
considered a leisure activity in Japan. For this reason, department
stores are also open on weekends. Hardly anywhere else in the world is
politeness as important as in Japan. If the item you try on doesn't fit
in terms of size, the sales staff will apologize profusely.
Japanese clothing sizes differ from the Western ones we are used to.
XXS, XS, S and M are always and everywhere available, although even the
Japanese clothing size M does not correspond to the European one. If you
do find a suitable item of clothing, it is advisable to take a
calculating look at the price tag. Foreign fashion in particular is
often offered at horrendous prices. Japanese clothing, on the other
hand, is a little cheaper, although leisure and youth fashion in
particular is quite unusual and not wearable for all occasions. In
addition to the exquisite Ginza with labels such as Gucci, Prada,
Armani, etc., Shibuya (more leisure and youth fashion), Harajuku
(unusual youth fashion) and East Shinjuku (large selection of foreign
brands) are particularly recommended. However, bargain hunters need a
lot of patience, perseverance and a calm disposition to find what they
are looking for.
This is different with electronic goods.
Although the items do have their price and are not necessarily cheaper
than in Europe, bargains can easily be found. The Akihabara district is
particularly worth mentioning here. But Ikebukuro or Yūrakuchō (in the
Ginza area) also offer an excellent selection. However, you should bear
in mind that the products are primarily intended for the Japanese market
and are not always compatible with European products. It is also
important to keep in mind that importing them into your home country may
be subject to customs duties.
Japanese staple foods are rice and fish. Rice is served with
practically every meal. Due to its high starch content, rice is sticky,
so it can be eaten with chopsticks. Japan's coastal waters stretch from
the Russian Arctic Ocean to the tropical regions of Okinawa, which gives
Japanese cuisine a unique variety of fish dishes. In any case, the
Japanese hill/forest/mountain landscape does not offer extensive areas
for raising cattle and pigs, so the sea has always covered Japan's
tables. In Tokyo's fish restaurants you can also try unusual types of
fish such as shark or puffer fish (fugu); whale meat is also
occasionally offered. The meat of the puffer fish is not poisonous and
no one has ever died from it. Only the innards contain a deadly poison
and must be specially prepared for consumption. Japanese men eat these
as a sign of their courage and masculinity. When eating them, you are
said to feel your lips and tongue temporarily go numb. Every year,
Japanese people die from eating the innards, which is why the
consumption of these delicacies was banned in Japan for a time. Very
fresh fish can be found in the small restaurants around the fish market
(Tsukiji). Noodle soups with various noodles, with vegetables, strips of
meat or fish, are eaten on a large scale. In many soup kitchens, food
vouchers are drawn from machines with pictures on the outside and then
called for collection after being handed in. Very practical for
travelers.
If you don't like Japanese cuisine, which is almost
impossible, you can find a meal in the very numerous western-style fast
food chains.
Setagaya Isono (世田谷 磯野, Chinese noodles with soy
sauce), 1-9-11 Umegaoka, Setagaya, Tokyo (10 minutes' walk from Umegaika
station on the Odakyu line). Tel.: (0)3-5799-7866 . Rich selections such
as light and rich soup, soy sauce-seasoned egg, char siu, wonton, etc.
If you want to eat Chinese noodles, this is the place to go. Open:
11:30am–2:30pm, 5:30pm–9pm. Price: about 1000¥.
Kyubey Ginza (銀座久兵衛,
Sushi), 8-7-6 Ginza, Chuo, Tokyo (Shinbashi Exit 3, about 5 minutes
walk). Tel.: (0)335716523. You can eat delicious sushi here. The
restaurant has been around since 1935. Shikibu Lunch is popular. The
staff is friendly. President Obama has eaten here. Open: Tue–Sat
11:30am–2:00pm, 5:00pm–10:00pm. Price: Lunch 10,000¥ (78€), dinner
30,000¥ (234€).
Funabashiya (船橋屋, Tempura), Shinjyuku 3-28-14, Tokyo
(Tokyo Metro Marunouti Line Shinjyuku 3chome Station, Exit A5 about 5
minutes walk). Tel.: (0)50-5597-4953. Restaurant that has been around
for about 200 years. The restaurant is known for tempura made with fresh
seasonal ingredients. You can eat a traditional menu here. Smoking is
not allowed here. Open: 11:30–21:00 (L.O. 20:30) Monday and Sunday.
Closed on Wednesday. Price: Menu 3000-10000 ¥.
Roppongi is the entertainment district of the city of Tokyo. There are numerous clubs and bars there, including Velfarre (Asia's largest discotheque) and Gas Panic. The latter bar in particular is a meeting place for expats (foreigners living in Tokyo, mostly American soldiers) and foreign tourists. Velfarre mostly plays electronic dance music. The lighting and sound system there are very good. Prices for entry and consumption are higher than usual in Germany. You pay the equivalent of between €20 and €50 for entry (varies depending on the day and event, women usually pay less) and around €5 for a beer. It is therefore advisable to carry at least €100 per person in cash when going out. ID and age checks are almost never carried out on foreigners. Foreign young people therefore have no problems getting into a nightclub and drinking alcohol there. Like the rest of Tokyo, Roppongi is a very safe area (but you should still avoid the smaller alleys and stay on the main streets).
There is accommodation for every budget in Tokyo. You can stay in
hostels or private rooms, sometimes very cheaply, but you can also find
international luxury hotels that are sometimes unaffordable for the
average person. If you want to spend a longer time in Tokyo, you can
also rent apartments by the week or month.
You can find and book
hotels from Germany on the relevant websites. Most large Japanese hotels
also have at least English websites.
A good description of the
different types of hotels can be found on the websites of the Japanese
Tourism Organization.
Tokyo is the center of Japanese education. A quarter of all of the
country's universities are located here. The oldest and most prestigious
university is the University of Tokyo (Tōkyō daigaku, known by its
abbreviation Tōdai). Its five campuses are spread across the districts
of Hongo, Komaba, Shirokane and Nakano, as well as the prefecture of
Chiba (Kashiwa). 28,000 students study at its ten faculties, around 10%
of whom are foreigners.
Waseda University is located in the north
of Shinjuku. It is famous for its Faculty of Literature.
Other
important universities are Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo Institute of
Technology, Chuo University, Hosei University, Rikkyo University, Sophia
University, Tokyo Joshi Daigaku (Tokyo Woman's Christian University),
Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku (Tokyo University of the Arts), Musashino Art
Academy and Tokyo University of Agriculture.
After the nuclear disaster in Fukushima in March 2011, a travel
warning was temporarily issued for the greater Tokyo area, but this was
later lifted. However, the German Embassy in Tokyo advises German
citizens who are staying in the greater Tokyo area for a longer period
of time to register on the embassy's crisis list so that they can be
informed quickly in the event of a crisis.
However, apart from
the high risk of earthquakes, Tokyo is one of the safest cities in the
world. You can also move around the city safely at night. Japanese
people treat Europeans with a great deal of respect.
The Shibuya
and Roppongi districts have a bad reputation among Tokyo residents when
it comes to safety. This is partly because the nightlife is concentrated
in these two districts. Nevertheless, these two districts are completely
harmless and safe for tourists to enter (day and night). The Japanese
have a different sense of security than Europeans.
There are no
slums (ghettos, slums...) in Tokyo. As a German, you have the impression
of being in an extremely clean (there is little rubbish on the streets
and graffiti is not to be seen in the capital parts of Tokyo), extremely
well-kept and safe, almost sterile city.
The medical care is excellent. Numerous clinics and pharmacies are
available to the sick.
Keio University Hospital (慶應義塾大学病院),
東京都新宿区信濃町35 . The university hospital in the Shinjuku district offers
all options for acute care and is easily accessible.
The city
administration sets the prices for the bathhouses ("sento") uniformly.
In mid-2022, adults will pay 500¥ for this unique cultural experience.
It is usually open from 3:00 p.m./4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m./midnight. As a
foreigner, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the bathing
etiquette.
English is hardly spoken in Japan, as a lot of emphasis is placed on
grammar and little on conversation in school. Therefore, Japanese people
can often read and write well, but not speak. So you should try to write
your question in block letters (not cursive) and hope that you get an
answer back. A smile often works wonders, as does a slight bow, with
your hands not placed in your lap like in Thailand, but held at the seam
of your trousers.
Even students from expensive private schools
can often hardly speak or understand English, which is because exams are
multiple-choice questions. Police officers, on the other hand, can speak
English quite well and are very helpful if you ask them for directions,
for example. You should learn certain phrases like yes (hai), no (iie),
thank you (arigatoo), thank you very much (arigatoo gozaimasu) and sorry
(suimasen) before you go on holiday. The Japanese phrasebook or books
like the "lonely planet" Japanese phrasebook, which best reflects the
actual spoken Japanese, are helpful for this, as is the booklet from the
"Gibberish" series and programs like those from the "Nemo Japanese
series", the basic version of which is free. Japanese people are very
polite and thank you for even the smallest things and apologize for what
we consider to be trivialities.
Japanese people like to use
translation programs on their smartphones; there are similar ones for
our devices, some with voice output.
In some post offices you can
surf the Internet for free. Otherwise, Internet cafes are not very
common. Only the Bagus chain operates a few Internet cafes, mainly in
Shinjuku and Shibuya, mostly on the upper floors of the buildings. A
list of branches can be found on the Bagus website (Japanese).
If
you want to call Germany from Tokyo, you have to dial 001-49. If you
want to call Tokyo from Germany, you have to dial 0081-3.
You should spend a day in Tokyo's neighboring city of Yokohama.
Sights there include Minato Mirai 21 and the Landmark Tower 21), one of
the tallest buildings in Japan. From the visitor center you have a
wonderful view over Yokohama and Tokyo Bay. There is also a lama in
Yokohama and one of the world's most widespread Chinatowns. You can also
take a harbor tour.
In Kamakura, about an hour by train from
Tokyo, you will find the Daibutsu (Great Buddha), the most famous Buddha
statue in Japan.
The Japanese Alps and Mount Fuji, which is
Japan's highest mountain at 3776 meters, are particularly scenic. Not
far away is Hakone.
The 23 districts (区, ku) in the eastern part form the urban core of
Tokyo with a total area of around 621 km² and over 9 million
inhabitants (as of May 2015).
Other large cities follow
seamlessly into the central part. Hachiōji alone, the largest of these,
has over half a million inhabitants. The western part, on the other
hand, lies on the foothills of the Japanese Alps, is sparsely populated
and has a scenic mountain landscape (including around Lake Okutama). The
highest point in the prefecture is the peak of Kumotoriyama (2017.1 m)
on the border with the prefectures of Saitama and Yamanashi. The central
and western parts are also known together as the Tama area and have over
4 million inhabitants on 1169 km².
The west is drained by the
Tamagawa, and in its lower reaches the river forms the southern border
between Tokyo and Kanagawa. The great importance that the Tamagawa has
historically had for the water supply of the city of Edo/Tokyo was a
major reason for the annexation of the Tama area in 1893. In the
districts to the east there are a few short rivers that flow directly
into Tokyo Bay, and are partly connected to the Arakawa system by the
Tokugawa moats and canals. In the far east and north, the Arakawa
Drainage Canal, built in the early 20th century, and the Sumidagawa (the
previous lower course of the Arakawa from the 17th to the 20th
centuries) collect most of the rivers. The eastern border between Tokyo
and Chiba is formed by today's Edogawa (in the 17th century, during the
Tokugawa's diversion measures for flood protection, temporarily the
lower reaches of the Tonegawa, before that, under the name Ōigawa or
Futoigawa, originally the lower reaches of the Watarasegawa east of the
Tonegawa) and its current estuary, Kyū-Edogawa ("old/ex-Edogawa"). The
northern border with Saitama in the Kantō plain is only partially marked
by rivers. In the west, a ridge of the Kantō mountains forms part of the
border with Yamanashi and Kanagawa and at the same time the watershed
between Tamagawa and Sagamigawa. In the far northwest, mountain ridges
to the left of the Tamagawa form the borders with Yamanashi and Saitama.
Finally, the Tokyo prefecture also includes more than 60 small
islands in the Pacific south of Honshū. 20 of them belong to the Izu
Islands, of which the northernmost, Izu-Ōshima, is also the largest. To
the south of them lie the Ogasawara Islands, more than 1000 km from the
Kantō Plain, which can only be reached by a 24-hour boat trip. They have
been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011. While the main part of the
prefecture belongs to the temperate climate zone, the Ogasawara Islands
are already in the subtropics. With the islands of Okinotorishima and
Minami-Torishima, the southernmost and easternmost parts of Japanese
territory also belong to the Tokyo Prefecture.
The
Chichibu-Tama-Kai, Fuji-Hakone-Izu and Ogasawara National Parks as well
as the Meiji-no-Mori-Takao Quasi-National Park are located partly or
entirely in the prefecture. In addition, there are six prefectural
nature parks (toritsu shizen kōen) in Tokyo.
The prefecture of Tokyo was established in 1868 during the Meiji
Restoration, initially for a short time as Edo prefecture, Edo-fu, and
then as Tōkyō-fu (東京府) after Edo was renamed Tokyo in the same year. In
contrast to most of the other prefectures, which were established as
ken, nine urban areas that had been administered directly by the shogun
through Bugyō were established as fu. These included in particular the
capitals of Edo, Kyōto and Osaka, and initially also the treaty ports
opened in the unequal treaties. The latter were converted into ken as
early as 1869.
The territory of the prefecture initially
corresponded roughly to that of the later city of Tokyo. After the
abolition of the feudal system (Han) and the territorial division of
Japan into prefectures in 1871, the prefectures of Kosuge and Shinagawa
as well as parts of Ōmiya/Urawa were added to Tokyo, which then expanded
to include the later counties of Ebara, East Tama and South Toshima
(merged into Toyotama in 1896), North Toshima, South Adachi and South
Katsushika. Other areas followed: in 1878 the Izu Islands of Shizuoka,
in 1880 the Ogasawara Islands and in 1893 the three western parts of
Tama District of Kanagawa. This meant that rural regions and remote
islands also belonged to Tokyo.
In 1878 a prefectural parliament
(fukai) with 49 members was elected for the first time. In 1889, the
government divided the prefectures into the municipal forms that still
exist today: the [county-free] city of Tōkyō was created in the area of
Tokyo Prefecture, and [county] towns (Machi) and villages (Mura) in
the surrounding counties. However, the governor of the prefecture
appointed by the Ministry of the Interior remained mayor of the city of
Tokyo in personal union - a regulation that initially applied to all
"three capitals" (santo), i.e., in addition to Tōkyō, also to the cities
of Kyoto and Osaka. It was not until October 1, 1898 that the city of
Tokyo received an administration independent of the Tokyo prefectural
administration and thus self-government, albeit limited from a post-war
perspective. In 1922, the city of Tokyo declared October 1 to be
"Self-Government Memorial Day" (jichi-kinenbi) - it still exists under
the same name in the city of Kyoto, which still exists today, but where
the independent city administration was not established until October
15, 1898. After the post-war reforms, which gave the prefecture and the
municipalities in Tokyo significantly expanded self-government, in 1952
the prefecture, as the successor to both the prefecture (-fu) and the
city (-shi) of Tokyo, declared October 1st as "Prefectural Citizens'
Day" (都民の日, tomin no hi) in a prefectural statute.
In 1943, the
city and the previous prefecture of Tokyo were dissolved with the
Tōkyō-tosei and the capital prefecture of Tōkyō-to was established. The
mayors of the districts of Tokyo were now directly subordinate to the
Tokyo prefecture and the governor was called tōkyō-to-chōkan (東京都長官).
After the end of the Pacific War, the administration was democratized as
in the other prefectures: from 1947 onwards, the governor was elected by
the people. However, the special status of the former urban area of
Tokyo was partially retained, but the districts were given greater
autonomy and now have largely the same rights as the other
municipalities in the country.
The second independent city (shi)
in the prefecture was Hachiōji in 1917, followed by Tachikawa in 1940 -
the only two shi in Tokyo after the dissolution of the city of Tokyo in
1943. Starting with Musashino in 1947, a large part of the prefecture
was organized into independent cities in the post-war years. Of the
three Tama districts, only one remains today, which has consisted of
four separate municipalities since 1995.
The "gross domestic product" of the Tokyo prefecture in the 2006
fiscal year was 92.3 trillion yen (around 590 billion euros), which
corresponds to almost a fifth of the entire Japanese domestic product.
Services play the main role in Tokyo's economy: of the approximately
8.7 million employees in Tokyo in 2006 - more than 7.2 million of whom
were in the 23 districts - fewer than 1.4 million worked in industry,
construction, energy, gas and water supply and just over 6,000 in
mining, agriculture, forestry and fishing. The headquarters of numerous
Japanese companies and many branches of foreign corporations are located
in Tokyo. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the largest in Japan and Tokyo is
one of the most important financial centers in Asia and the world.
Incomes, but also the cost of living, in Tokyo are high. The average
monthly household income (employed only) in Tokyo was around 570,000 yen
in 2006, of which around 428,000 yen was spent on living expenses.
The minimum wage in Tokyo is currently (October 1, 2019–October
2020) 1,013 yen, the highest among all 47 prefectures.
Architecture in Tokyo has been largely shaped by Tokyo's history.
Twice in recent history, the metropolis has been left in ruins: first in
the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 and later after a full-scale
firebombing of Tokyo in World War II. For this reason, Tokyo's urban
landscape consists mainly of modern and contemporary architecture, and
older buildings are scarce. Tokyo is home to many internationally known
forms of modern architecture, including the Tokyo International Forum,
Asahi Beer Hall, Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building,
and Rainbow Bridge. Tokyo also features two distinguishing towers: Tokyo
Tower and the new Tokyo Skytree, which is the tallest tower in Japan and
in the world, and the second tallest structure in the world after Burj
Khalifa in Dubai. Mori Building Co has begun work on Tokyo's new tallest
building, which is scheduled to be completed in March 2023. The project
will cost 580 billion yen (US$5.5 billion).
There are numerous
parks and gardens in Tokyo, including four national parks in Tokyo
Prefecture, including Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, which includes all
of the Izu Islands.
As in all prefectures, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) is
headed by the governor (東京都知事, Tōkyō tochiji). In the 2016 Tokyo
gubernatorial election, former LDP MP and minister Yuriko Koike was
elected to succeed Yōichi Masuzoe, who resigned over an expenses
scandal. Koike had declared her candidacy before and ultimately against
the LDP nomination process and founded her own prefectural party, Tomin
First no Kai, in 2017. In the 2024 gubernatorial election, she won a
third term in office against the independent local politician from
Hiroshima Shinji Ishimura and the center-left candidate Renhō and 53
other candidates with almost 43% of the vote.
The 127-member
Tokyo Prefectural Parliament (Tōkyō togikai) is responsible for the
legislature and the budget. It also votes on important personnel
decisions of the governor, including the vice governors. In the 2021
parliamentary election, the LDP regained its status as the strongest
force with 33 seats after the landslide defeat in 2017, but fell short
of expectations at a historically low level and only narrowly ahead of
Koike's prefectural party Tomin First no Kai. Extensive by-elections
were held at the same time as the 2024 gubernatorial election.
Tokyo Prefecture takes over certain administrative tasks from the 23
wards that are the responsibility of the municipalities in other
prefectures or other Tokyo municipalities. These include public services
such as the fire service and infrastructure areas such as water supply.
To this end, it receives some of the municipal taxes from the wards and
in turn allocates funds to them according to their population. Many of
the cities and municipalities west of the districts also transferred
responsibility for fire services and water supplies to the prefecture in
the post-war decades: the Water Supply Office and the Tokyo Fire
Department are now responsible for the entire main island of Tokyo, with
only a few exceptions. The Izu and Ogasawara Islands are administered by
four subprefectures, which are located in the Department of General
Affairs (sōmu-kyoku).
The prefecture currently elects 25 Shūgiin
deputies directly to the national parliament - after the 2021 general
election, a by-election in 2024 and party reshuffles since then (as of
May 2024), 15 Liberal Democrats, one Kōmeitō member and nine members of
the KDP faction - and six Sangiin deputies per partial election, after
the 2019 and 2022 elections and party reshuffles since then: four
Liberal Democrats, two members each from KDP, Kōmeitō and KPJ and one
each from Nippon Ishin no Kai and Reiwa Shinsengumi. Following a
redistribution of the majority electoral seats in the Shūgiin to the
prefectures decided in 2022, Tokyo will gain five constituencies in the
next general election, for a total of 30 deputies; In the proportional
representation segment for Shūgiin, where Tokyo is the only prefecture
besides Hokkaidō that forms a constituency on its own, Tokyo's
representation is also growing from 17 to 19 seats.
The Tokyo
police, which for historical reasons is called Keishi-chō and not Tokyo
Prefecture Police (but is translated into English as the other 46), is
by far the largest police force in Japan with over 40,000 police
officers.
With the 2010 fiscal year, a mandatory program for emissions trading for industry and offices began in Tokyo Prefecture on April 1, 2010. Between 2010 and 2014, greenhouse gas emissions were to be reduced by six to eight percent, by 15-17% by the end of the 2019 fiscal year (April 2020), and by 25-27% by the 2024 fiscal year. In 2011, emissions trading began in the neighboring prefecture of Saitama, which was linked to the Tokyo system.
Although the prefecture of Tokyo is not a city, it maintains numerous
twin city partnerships with world cities (as a kind of representative of
the non-existent city of Tokyo) as well as regional partnerships. In
addition, the capital districts and cities in the region also maintain
their own twin city partnerships.
In addition to the twelve
bilateral twin city and regional partnerships, the prefecture of Tokyo
is part of the ANMC21 (Asian Network of Major Cities 21), a cooperation
between Asian capitals and capital regions. This includes a political
cooperation with the Greater London Authority, which was agreed in 2006.
Since then, the prefecture of Tokyo has also been a member of the C40
Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, initiated by Greater London in
2005.