Travel Guides: Tokyo

Tokyo

Tokyo is the capital of Japan and its largest city. The city has 13,010,279 inhabitants (in 2010), about 10% of the population.

The city is situated in the middle of the archipelago’s main island of Japan, Honshu. Here is the seat of the government and residence of the Emperor of Japan. The name Tokyo is given to one of Japan’s 47 prefectures, including Tokyo and some neighboring areas and some islands from the south. The metropolitan area, the largest in the world, is home to about 30 million people. The city covers an area of 2187 km².

Tokyo was originally known as the Edo. It was renamed Tokyo when it became the imperial capital in 1868. In the early Meiji era, the city had the name “Tōkei”, an alternative reference for the same characters form the name Tokyo. Tokyo polarizes the industrial assembly Keihin (Yokohama, Kawasaki, Chiba), which provides 27% of the country’s industrial power. The general headquarters of commercial businesses, largely similar to those of American cities, is Kanda, headquarters of major banks and large companies in the shipbuilding, electronic machinery and cars.

The most imposing building is the TV tower with 333 meters in the west part of the city. In the center of town are the post office, ministries, central station and the Imperial Palace and the medieval walled water ditches. In the north district is out of Meiji University and Nihon, transport museum and park in Ueno, Tokyo University, several museums and the zoo. The Kannon Temple is located east of the city dating from the eighteenth century and the Asakusa district.

Tokyo Ginza

The park is located south of the headquarters building Hibya, the Supreme Court and to the south-east of the famous Ginza district of luxury, modern hotels and shopping centers. This aligns the well known street “Harumi” enchanting illuminated. In contrast to this district, Shinjuku district is called the “end times”, a neighborhood where poverty and misery prevail, until not long ago. Now, however, it has become a modern district with over 1 million inhabitants.

Tokyo is also the most important commercial center of the country, with over 400 institutions of higher education, 117 universities, 247 libraries, Japanese Academy (1879), 185 cinemas, 2000 temples, 160,000 restaurants, 60,000 registered taxis. In terms of industries, the most developed are: electronics, chemical, rubber, paper, textiles, ferrous metallurgy, machine industry, constructions. Tokyo is also a very large port on the Pacific Ocean, which communicates directly with another major port, Yokohama.

4 Star Hotels In Tokyo

The megalopolis industrial function is enormous. Together with Kawasaki and Yokohama form the so-called Keihin region, this has about one third of the country’s industrial production and is the largest complex for the Japanese, with traffic exceeding 80 million tons annually. Tokyo is joined by Kawasaki in a continuous mass of factories and urban construction, workers’ neighborhoods. Here are located tens of thousands of businesses and factories whose fumes and harmful gases covering the city and the sky is often impossible to look splendid silhouette of Fuji-san, Japan’s sacred volcano, which is formed from a volcanic cone with a height of 3376 m that has not erupted since 1707.

The “Holy Mountain” is the highest point of this country. Related volcanoes in Japan are 196 volcanoes, of which 30 are still active. Earthquakes and volcanoes ready to erupt are the biggest threats to a country as developed as Japan. Twin Cities: New York City, Beijing, Paris, New South Wales, Seoul, Jakarta, Sao Paulo, Cairo, Moscow, Berlin, Rome.

View Of The City From Tokyo Tower

With over 2,000 square kilometers, it is a vast and impressive city that combines the wonders of modern technology with traditional Japanese spirit. Most travelers are intimidated by the speed in which everything is happening so a very pleasant way to get acquainted with the city is to walk randomly on the streets and shop windows filled with multicolored neon to attract attention of passersby. Tokyo name means in Japanese, “Eastern Capital”.

It is very easy to travel, even without any knowledge of Japanese, most signs in both metro and train stations are both written in both English and romanji, but just in case, it can not hurt to know some basic elements and even to ask for directions to the restaurant to order something or you go shopping.

Tokyo, the largest urban area, is the capital of Japan, as we said before, and one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Tokyo is located at 35 ° 41 ‘lat N and 139 ° 46′ E long, mid-east coast of Honshu island, the largest of the four main islands of the archipelago of Japan.

The Famous Asasuka Shrine In Tokyo

The city occupies most of southern Kanto plain, the largest area of flat land in Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan since 1868, after the Tokugawa dynasty (1603-1867), who ruled from Kyoto, was dethroned. The city’s name was changed from Edo to Tokyo, which means “eastern capital.” Today Tokyo is the financial, industrial, commercial, educational and cultural center of Japan, also is the main hub for trade and diplomatic relations with the world.

From a technical standpoint there is no city Tokyo, because the title was abolished in a reorganization of government in 1943. The Tokyo exchange is a special administrative unit similar to a prefecture, the largest unit of local government regulations in Japan. It is called Metropolis Tokyo-to or Tokyo and consists of 23 special districts, 33 cities and eight suburbs. Tokyo metropolis occupies an area of approximately 2180 km2.

Castle Tokyo Cinderella

The Imperial Palace is located downtown. To the south and west of it are the most important government buildings like the Supreme Court and national ministries. Further south is Tokyo Tower which is 333m high. The Imperial Palace East of Marunouchi district is the largest business center. To the east lies the most important commercial center. The Imperial Palace is located north of Jimbocho, a neighborhood with lots of bookstores. Tokyo Dome is located north of the district and is a modern sports and concert hall.

Tokyo has a very large economy that includes: trade, finance, insurance, manufacturing, transport and others. The largest industrial complex in Japan is Keihin Industrial Region, which lies between Tokyo and Yokohama. In Tokyo, printing and publishing is in first place in the manufacturing industries, with a rate of 20%.

Port of Tokyo has expanded rapidly in recent years, reaching now to be in 2nd place in Japan in terms of trade value (after Yokohama). The first railroad in Tokyo and also in Japan was built in 1872, between the city and the port of Yokohama. A railway system known as “bullet trains” (because of speed and form of the locomotive) was inaugurated in 1964.

Most streets in Tokyo have historical value and are narrow, making them unsuitable for cars. The largest airport in Tokyo is Narita Airport. Over 20 million passengers use this airport every year. Tokyo is the center and the communications media of Japan. In 1990 Tokyo was the city with multiple phone lines in the world.

Tokyo is the largest urban area in the world with over 27 million inhabitants. Population density in the metropolis is 5443 inhab/km2, and in the 23 districts of 13,000 inhabitants/km square, while in Japan the population density is 328 inhab/km2. Congestion problems that arise are: traffic jams, high prices to rents, noise and air pollution. Because it is the capital and commercial center of the country, Tokyo attracts migrants from all over the country.

In particular they are young to come to college or university and often remain to work. In Tokyo are a large number of foreign immigrants, mostly from Korea, China, USA and the Philippines. Tokyo is the largest educational and cultural center of Japan. In Tokyo there are over 100 universities, where 30% of students learn. In the capital is also the National Museum (the largest in the country), that specializes in traditional Japanese art, Science Museum, National Museum of Modern Art.

Tokyo’s cultural life includes many festivals and celebrations. The city has many theaters where plays both traditional Japanese songs and modern songs. Another major attraction is the Tokyo Disneyland theme park.

Tokyo city appeared for the first time in history in XII century, when it was a village called Edo, located in the area where the river flows into Tokyo Bay, Sumira; city had no great importance until 1650, when it was captured by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Until the 18th century, Edo became an important commercial, cultural and political center. In 1868 the imperial court moved to Edo and the city’s name was changed to Tokyo.

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo has often been hit by destructive earthquakes and fires, the largest of which took place in 1923 when over 100,000 people have died and more than 200,000 buildings were destroyed, including several parks. During the Second World War, Tokyo has had major damage. Air raids between November 1944 and August 1945, destroyed large parts of the city.

Tokyo Dome

Tokyo was occupied by U.S. troops from September 1945 to April 1952. After 1954 there was a period of rapid expansion and refurbishment. In 1964 the Tokyo Olympics were held in the summer, and on this occasion was made more improvements the city: several new streets were built, hotels, railways suspended by Haneda Airport and sporting facilities. Since 1970 Tokyo has continued the rapid expansion of urbanized area. However, the government initiated projects to transform the city into an international metropolis.11