Tokyo
Vibrant Metropolis
Information about Tokyo
The vibrant metropolis of Tokyo is a city full of surprises!
After the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the small fishing village of Edo the seat of his government in 1603, it quickly became the largest city in Japan. With the Meiji Restoration and the beginning of the country's modernisation in the late 19th century, Edo was renamed Tokyo. The city then experienced a population explosion, largely due to the steady expansion of rail transport in the capital region.
Today, Tokyo is by far the largest metropolitan area in the world and, with about 38 million people, it has more people than the whole of Canada! Despite its enormous size, the city is very clean and livable. Neon lights and crowded intersections are often just a stone's throw away from quiet side streets which feel like part of a small village.
Tokyo has so much to offer! World-class exhibitions and museums, the greatest number of Michelin-starred restaurants (even ahead of Paris!), endless shopping opportunities for all tastes, modern and traditional architecture, the most complex and well-organized public transport system in the world, crazy fashion, and, above all, exciting and interesting people on every corner!
Interesting facts about Tokyo
Tokyo has had some dark chapters in its history. In 1923, the city was extensively destroyed in the great Kanto earthquake. Hundreds of thousands lost their lives due to collapsing buildings and the fires that subsequently spread throughout the city. After two decades of reconstruction, the city was again badly affected by the worst conventional bombing in history during the Second World War in 1945. None of this, however, could break the spirit of the locals. Today, the city is better positioned than ever and embodies a forward-looking cityscape with world-class infrastructure.
Tokyo has no real center. Instead, there are a number of sub-centers connected by a ring railway, the Yamanote Line. Each district has its own character and highlights. There's the flashy nightlife in Shinjuku's Kabukicho, the crazy youth fashion in Harajuku, the colorful neon signs in Shibuya, the alternative scene of Shimo-Kitazawa, the traditional atmosphere in Asakusa, and Japanese pop culture with video games and manga in Akihabara.
Tokyo (東京) literally means "eastern capital." This naming convention also exists in other regions of East Asia. Beijing (北京), for example, is the northern capital, and Nanking (南京) the southern capital.
Pictures of Tokyo
