Tokyo: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is situated at the head of Tokyo Bay on the Pacific coast of central Honshu. First developed into a city during the Tokugawa period (1603–1867), when the site was known as Edo, Tokyo is the core of the Tokyo-Yokohama Metropolitan Area, commonly called Greater Tokyo. The city is Japan's major cultural centre as well as its main transportation hub.

Facts

Birthplace Of	Abe Kо̄bо̄ • Abe Shinzo • Akihito • Rocky Aoki • Olivia de Havilland • Joan Fontaine • Hatoyama Yukio • Hirohito • Hiroshige • Hokusai • Ishibashi Tanzan • Ishihara Takashi • Katsu Shintarо̄ • Kitano Takeshi • Kurosawa Akira • Fumihiko Maki • Masako • William McDonough • Miyazaki Hayao • Miyazawa Kiichi • Yoichiro Nambu • Naruhito • Ken Ogata • Yoko Ono • Yoshio Taniguchi • Tokugawa Yoshinobu • Goro Yamaguchi • Yoshida Shigeru • Banana Yoshimoto • Yukawa Hideki
Death Location Of	Abe Kо̄bо̄ • Hildegard Behrens • Takeo Doi • Duck Dunn • Donn Eisele • Kenji Ekuan • Yukio Endo • Fujita Den • Fukasaku Kinji • Fukuda Takeo • Hagiwara Sakutarо̄ • Hatoyama Ichirо̄ • Hirohito • Hiroshige • Ibuka Masaru • Ichikawa Kon • Kinoshita Keisuke • Kishi Nobusuke • Konoe Fumimaro • Kurosawa Akira • Mifune Toshirо̄ • Mishima Yukio • Morita Akio • Yukio Ninagawa • Sata Ineko • Shiga Naoya • Shima Hideo • Richard Sorge • Suzuki Zenkо̄ • Hideko Takamine • Tanaka Kakuei • Tange Kenzо̄ • Yamaga Sokо̄ • Yosano Akiko
Location	Tokyo, Japan
Latitude/Longitude	35.6894875, 139.6917064
Size Of Area	240 sq mi (621 sq km)
Population	9,272,740 (city estimate, 2015)
Currency	yen
Language	Japanese
Time Zone	Japan Standard Time (JST)
Points Of Interest/Tourist Attractions	Ginza • Ueno Zoological Gardens • Koishikawa Botanical Garden • Tokyo National Museum • National Museum of Modern Art • National Museum of Western Art • National Science Museum • National Diet Library
Headquarters Of	Asahi shimbun • Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank • Export-Import Bank of Japan • Fuji Bank • Fujitsu Limited • Hitachi, Ltd. • Honda Motor Company, Ltd. • Idemitsu Kо̄san Co., Ltd. • Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Company, Ltd. • Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency • Mainichi shimbun • Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group • NEC Corporation • Nippon Steel Corporation • Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. • NKK Corporation • Risshо̄-Kо̄sei-kai • Toshiba Corporation • Trilateral Commission • Yomiuri shimbun
Related Events	Bombing of Tokyo • Doolittle Raid • Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games • Tokyo subway attack of 1995 • Tokyo-Yokohama earthquake of 1923

Top Questions

What was Tokyo once called?

Tokyo was formerly (until 1868) known as Edo, the name of the small fishing village that existed on the site for centuries. Edo's development into a city did not occur until the Tokugawa period (1603–1867), when it became the capital of the Tokugawa shogunate. During this period, however, the imperial family remained in Kyōto, the ancient imperial capital. With the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ended the shogunate, the capital was moved to Edo, and the city was renamed Tokyo, meaning "eastern capital."

Where is Tokyo located in Japan?

Tokyo is located at the head of Tokyo Bay on the Pacific coast of central Honshu. Tokyo is the focus of the vast Tokyo-Yokohama Metropolitan Area, often called Greater Tokyo.

When was Tokyo bombed?

The Bombing of Tokyo took place March 9–10, 1945, during the final stages of World War II. The firebombing raid (codenamed "Operation Meetinghouse") was carried out by the United States. The bombing is often cited as one of the most destructive acts of war in history.

When were the Tokyo Olympics?

Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games in 1964; the 1964 Summer Games, which took place October 10–24, constituted the first time that the Olympic Games were hosted in Asia. Tokyo is set to host the Olympic Games again in the summer of 2020.

Did You Know?

Tokyo is home to the Tokyo Skytree, recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's largest tower. While the tower was under construction, its developers found out that the Canton Tower, built about the same time in Guangzhou, China, would be roughly the same size as the Skytree; soon thereafter, an antenna measuring some 20 metres (67 feet) tall was added to the top of the Skytree.
The blooms of the cherry tree, known in Japan as sakura, have long been of immense symbolic importance to the nation, and the blossoming of cherry trees traditionally heralds the arrival of spring in Japan; in an annual tradition that began in 1951, meteorologists publicly forecast the much-anticipated blossoming of the cherry trees each year.