Tokyo is Japan's capital and largest city. It is the home of 12 million people (8 million inside the 23 wards), but the greater Tokyo, with the surrounding prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, comprises a staggering 33 million inhabitants, making it the most populous metropolis in the world.
=> Go to the interactive map
History
Tokyo was just a small village 400 years ago, when the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu decided to move his government there. The place soon developed in Japan's largest city, and became the largest city in the world in the 18th century.
The name changed from Edo to Tokyo (which means "eastern capital") in 1867 when the shogunate collapsed and the new Meiji regime came to power, and the capital was officially displaced from Kyoto to Tokyo.
=> Click here for more about Tokyo's history
Orientation
One particularity of the city is that it does not have one center, but many. The official center is Nihombashi, from where all distances in Japan are measured. However, most tourists and shoppers will go to other centers like Ginza, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro or even Ueno, Asakusa, etc.
The Imperial Palaces premises mark the geographical center, although its access is limited to the Eastern Imperial Gardens and Kitanomaru Park. Another way of defining central Tokyo is to consider the area inside or along the JR Yamanote line.
=> Click here for more about Tokyo's geography and administrative areas
| 
