A Visual Tour of Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan is the capital and one of the forty-seven prefectures of Japan. Within Tokyo are twenty-three municipalities. Here you will find information on the metropolis of Tokyo and its sub cities, a large photo gallery, and an active message forum that you will find helpful to ask questions or see what others are saying.

Basic Facts, Information and History

Tokyo is Japan largest city and also one of Japan's 47 prefectures, but is called a metropolis rather than a prefecture. The metropolis of Tokyo consists of 23 city wards, 26 cities, 5 towns and 8 villages at over 12 million people, if you include the surrounding prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, comprises a staggering 33 million inhabitants, making it the most populous metropolis in the world.

Just over 400 years ago when the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu decided to move his government to Tokyo. 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.