Tokyo

History

Tokyo's rise to prominence can be largely attributed to two men: Tokugawa Ieyasu and Emperor Meiji. In 1603, after unifying the warring states of Japan, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made Edo (now Tokyo) his base of operations. As a result, the city developed rapidly and grew to become one of the largest cities in the world with a population topping 1 million by the 18th century. It became the de facto capital of Japan even while the emperor resided in Kyoto, the imperial capital.

Related Topics:
Tokugawa Ieyasu - Emperor Meiji - Shogun - Edo - Kyoto

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Since the city's early beginnings and even now, Edo/Tokyo has always had a large non-native population. Ieyasu himself was an outsider who brought many outsiders to help build the city and government. The sankin kotai system also required provincial warlords to periodically parade to Edo and keep a residence in the city along with key family members and samurai retainers. The term "Edokko" (child of Edo) was even coined (and still used today) to distinguish the natives from the non-natives.

Related Topics:
Sankin kotai - Warlords - Edokko

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After 250 years of the Tokugawa, the shogunate was overthrown by two southern prefectures (Chōshū and Satsuma) under the banner of restoring imperial rule. In 1869, the figurehead 17-year-old Emperor Meiji was moved to Edo, which was renamed "Tokyo". Tokyo was already the nation's political, economic, and cultural center, and the emperor's residence made it a de facto imperial capital as well with the former Edo Castle becoming the Imperial Palace.

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Tokyo went on to suffer two major catastrophes and has remarkably recovered from both of them. One was the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, and the other was World War II. The firebombings in 1945 were almost as devastating as the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Large areas of the city were flattened. Today, hardly a trace of the war is evident to visitors to the city, but many people still carry its emotional scars.

Related Topics:
Great Kanto Earthquake - World War II - Firebombings in 1945 - Hiroshima - Nagasaki

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After the war, Tokyo was rebuilt with excellent train and subway systems, which were showcased to the world during the city's 1964 Summer Olympics. The 1970s brought new high-rise developments, a new and controversial airport at Narita (1978), and a population increase to about 11 million (in the metropolitan area). In the 1980s, real estate prices skyrocketed during an economic bubble: many got rich quick, but the bubble burst in the early 1990s and many companies, banks, and individuals were caught with real estate shrinking in value. A major recession followed, making the 1990s Japan's "lost decade" which still continues today.

Related Topics:
1964 Summer Olympics - Narita

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Tokyo still sees new or renewed urban centers being developed on large lots of idle land. Recent projects include Ebisu Garden Place, Tennozu Isle, Shiodome, Roppongi Hills, Shinagawa (now also a shinkansen station), and Tokyo Station (Marunouchi side). Land reclamation projects in Tokyo have also been going on for centuries. The most prominent is the Odaiba area, now a major shopping and entertainment center.

Related Topics:
Ebisu - Roppongi Hills - Shinkansen - Odaiba

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