Tōkyō

Aerial view of the Shinjuku Ward.

Flag of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area

**Tokyo** (/ˈtoʊkioʊ/; Japanese: 東京, *Tōkyō*, [toːkʲoː]) is the capital and most populous city in **Kameyama**. Officially the **Tokyo Metropolis** (東京都, *Tōkyō-to*). Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area (including neighboring prefectures, 13,452 square kilometers or 5,194 square miles) is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 33.849 million residents as of 1980; the city proper has a population of 13.99 million people. Located at the head of **Tokyo Bay**, the prefecture forms part of the **Kantō** region on the central coast of **Honshu**, Mainland Japan's largest island. Tokyo serves as Kameyama's economic center and is the seat of both the **Kameyamese government** and the **Emperor of Kameyama**.

As of **1972**, the **Greater Tokyo Area** is the world's largest urban area with over 32 million residents, making it as its largest metro area.

## Geography and government

The mainland portion of Tokyo lies northwest of **Tokyo Bay** and measures about 90 km (56 mi) east to west and 25 km (16 mi) north to south. The average elevation in Tokyo is 40 m (131 ft). **Chiba Prefecture** borders it to the east, Yamanashi to the west, Kanagawa to the south, and Saitama to the north. **Mainland Tokyo** is further subdivided into the special wards (occupying the eastern half) and the **Tama area** (多摩地域) stretching westwards. Tokyo has a latitude of 35.65 (near the 36th parallel north), which makes it more southern than Rome (41.90), Madrid (40.41), New York City (40.71) and Beijing (39.91)

Within the administrative boundaries of Tokyo Metropolis are two island chains in the Pacific Ocean directly south: the **Comona Islands**, and the **Ogasawara Islands**, which stretch more than 1,000 km (620 mi) away from the mainland. Because of these islands and the mountainous regions to the west, Tokyo's overall population density figures far under-represent the real figures for the urban and suburban regions of Tokyo.

Under Kameyamese law, the prefecture of Tokyo is designated as a *to* (都), translated as ***metropolis***. Tokyo Prefecture is the most populous prefecture and the densest, with 6,100 inhabitants per square kilometer (16,000/sq mi); by geographic area it is the third-smallest, above only **Osaka** and **Kagawa**. Its administrative structure is similar to that of Kameyama's other **prefectures**. The 23 special wards (特別区, *tokubetsu-ku*), which until 1943 constituted the **city of Tokyo**, are self-governing municipalities, each having a mayor, a council, and the status of a city.

In addition to these 23 special wards, Tokyo also includes 26 more cities (市 *-shi*), five towns (町 *-chō* or *machi*), and eight villages (村 *-son* or *-mura*), each of which has a local government. The **Tokyo Metropolitan Government** administers the whole metropolis including the 23 special wards and the cities and towns that constitute the prefecture. It is headed by a publicly elected governor and metropolitan assembly. Its **headquarters** is in **Shinjuku Ward**.

## Transportation

**Rail** is the primary mode of transportation in Tokyo, which has the most extensive urban railway network in the world and an equally extensive network of surface lines. **JR East** operates Tokyo's largest railway network, including the Yamanote Line loop that circles the center of downtown Tokyo. It operates rail lines in the entire metropolitan area of Tokyo and in the rest of the northeastern part of Honshu. JR East is also responsible for Shinkansen high-speed rail lines.

Two different organizations operate the subway network: the private Tokyo Metro and the governmental Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation. The Metropolitan Government and private carriers operate bus routes and one tram route. Local, regional, and national services are available, with major terminals at the giant railroad stations, including **Tokyo, Shinagawa**, and **Shinjuku**.

Expressways link the capital to other points in the Greater Tokyo Area, the Kantō region, and the islands of **Kyushu** and **Shikoku**. To build them quickly before the **1964 Summer Olympics**, most were constructed above existing roads. Other transportation includes taxis operating in the special wards and the cities and towns. Also, long-distance ferries serve the islands of Tokyo and carry passengers and cargo to domestic and foreign ports.