Up until 1869 where was the city known as Edo? Up until 1869 where was the city known as Edo? +3 votes posted Nov 23, 2015 by Kapil Kapoor Share this question Your comment on this question: Email me at this address if a comment is added after mine:Email me if a comment is added after mine Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications. Anti-spam verification: To avoid this verification in future, please log in or register . 1 Answer +1 vote Before 1869 Tokyo was known as Edo. Edo was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868. During this period, it grew to become one of the largest cities in the world and home to an urban culture centered on the notion of a "floating world". On the September 3, 1868 Edo was renamed Tokyo.

answer Apr 22, 2016 by Fay Paul Your comment on this answer: Email me at this address if a comment is added after mine:Email me if a comment is added after mine Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications. Anti-spam verification: History of Tokyo (Edo) - Wa-pedia History of Tokyo Tokyo Imperial Palace (formerly Edo Castle). Tokyo was initially established in 1457. The city was then known as Edo (江戸, literally "bay-entrance" ). Tokyo is therefore a new city by Eurasian standards, far more recent than most European cities and almost as recent as the first European colonies in the Americas. The Tokugawa shōgunate was established in 1603 with Edo as its seat of government - the de facto capital of Japan, although the Emperor's residence remained in Kyoto, which had been the actual capital until that time.

In September of 1868, when the shōgunate came to an end, Emperor Meiji ordered Edo to be renamed "Tokyo" (東京), meaning "Eastern Capital." The new name was meant to emphasize Tokyo's status as the new capital of Japan, both temporally and spiritually. Tokyo has been generally accepted as the sole capital of Japan since 1869, when the Emperor took up permanent residence there. However, the capital was never legally "transferred" to Tokyo, leading some to question whether Kyōto may still be the capital, or a co-capital. The Great Kanto earthquake struck Tokyo in 1923, killing approximately 70,000 people; a massive reconstruction plan was drawn up, but was too expensive to carry out except in part. Despite this, the city grew until the beginning of World War II. During the war, Tokyo was heavily bombed, much of the city was burned to the ground, and its population in 1945 was only half that of 1940. Following the war, Tokyo was under military occupation and governed by the allied forces.

General Douglas MacArthur established the occupation headquarters in what is now the Dai-Ichi Seimei building overlooking the Imperial Palace. The American presence in Tokyo made it an important command and logistics center during the Korean War. Tokyo still hosts a number of U.S. military bases, including Yokota Air Base. During the 1950s and mid-1960s, Japan experienced what is widely described as the "economic miracle", which transformed the nation from wartime devastation to the world's second-largest economy by 1966. During this period, Japanese government policy placed priority on the development of infrastructure and manufacturing industries over social welfare. As a result, Japan came to dominate a range of industries including steel, ship-building, automobiles, semiconductors, and consumer electronics. Tokyo's re-emergence from wartime trauma was complete at the 1964 Summer Olympics, which publicized the city on an international stage and brought global attention to the "economic miracle". Beginning in the 1970s, Japanese cities experienced a massive wave of expansion as laborers began migrating from rural areas, and Tokyo was one of the most dramatic examples.

As it grew steadily into the economic bubble of the late 1980s, Tokyo became one of the most dynamic cities on Earth, with a tremendous range of social and economic activities, myriad restaurants and clubs, a major financial district, tremendous industrial strength, a wealth of shops, and world-class entertainment opportunities. The construction boom of the bubble years was one of the greatest in world history (as judged by the level of building expenditures in relation to the size of the economy), leading Tokyo to have an enormously more modern capital stock of buildings than similar metropolises such as London and New York City. Although the recession following the bursting of the "bubble economy" in the early 1990s hurt the city, Tokyo remains the predominant economic center of East Asia, rivaled only by Hong Kong and Singapore. On March 20, 1995, Tokyo became the focus of international media attention in the wake of the Aum Shinrikyō cult terrorist organisation attack with Sarin nerve gas on the Tokyo subway system (in the tunnels beneath the political district of central Tokyo) in which 12 people were killed and thousands affected (see Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway).

10 Interesting facts about Tokyo | Odysen Blog Odysen Products Plans Solutions Blog About Login 10 Interesting facts about Tokyo For anyone interested in visiting or curious for learning more about Tokyo, here’s a brief overview for help getting started. 1. Tokyo is the capital and largest city in Japan with over 13 million people. 2. It was named first named Edo from being a small fishing village in the early 1400’s, steadily growing and being the de facto capital from 1603, until the official capital was moved from Kyoto in 1869 and the city of Tokyo was established. The name Tokyo means Eastern Capital. 3. There are many national parks in Tokyo, making up 38% of the total land area. These include the Ueno Park known for its different museums, including a zoo, and a popular place for cherry blossom festivities. 4. Tokyo includes a number of islands, including the Izu Islands that form part of the Fuji Hakone Izu National Park. 5. Five of the top 25 amusement parts are in Tokyo. 6. Tokyo has the largest metropolitan economy worldwide, being a major finance, technology, export, and tourism hub. 7.

Museums include the Tokyo National Museum , the National Museum of Western Art, and Ueno Zoo. 8. Tokyo has the most Mechelin starred restaurants worldwide. 9. Festivals that you can attend include the Sanno at Hie Shrine , the Sanja at Akakusa Shrine, and the Kanda festivals. In the spring you can visit many cherry blossom festivals. 10. You can get around much of Tokyo by train, it has the most extensive urban railway network worldwide. Have your own networks with others in Tokyo If you regularly share content or work with people in Tokyo, here are a few benefits you get from using an Odysen solution: Use in your preferred language, including Japanese, English, Mandarin, Korean, Cantonese, and others. Have separate networks for different groups, keeping content focused for each. This could be having separate networks for different groups of friends, family members, organizations as well as using in professional environments, having separate networks for different clients or customers. Organize content with easy to use folders, add sub-folders to expand and see integrated views from respective parent folders.

Within each folder you can add content to the applications, including actions, notes, events, polls, photos, graphics, audio files, office files, videos, websites, and blogs. Get started and invite other users for free with the Basic plan. This includes the ability create as many networks as you’d like, use the applications, and initial storage for your photos, office files, audio and video files. Learn more about having your own networks with others in Japan, including using the applications, languages available, solution examples, and relevant blog articles. Published by Matt Founder and CEO of Odysen, involved with different writing and music freelancing activities, and have previously worked for larger technology businesses in the US, Europe and Asia. View all posts by Matt Posted on One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (1856-1858) by Utagawa Hiroshige One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (1856-1858) by Utagawa Hiroshige This series is Hiroshige 's last great achievment, being produced right up until his death in 1858.

It actually comprises 118 prints, and a title page; many of the prints are masterpieces as good as anything he ever did, but some are quite mediocre. While it was celebrated in his native Japan, it had if anything an even bigger impact in the West, where it heavily influence the Impressionists, especially Vincent van Gogh, who made oil studies of several of the prints (numbers 30 and 58) in it. Even by Japanese standards, it was a monumental undertaking, being the largest completed series of the sizeable oban prints in nishiki-e ever. ( Hokusai 's "One Hundred Poets", although started, was never completed.) It is the easiest of Hiroshige's series to find today, but it was printed in great numbers, and many prints are late impressions in poor condition. First editions can be detected by use of bokashi in the title cartouche.

Some prints in the series are attributed to his pupil, Shigenobu (Hiroshige II), especially the last three (by date, not by the canonical numbering), which appeared after Hiroshige's death, but argument as to exactly which or the two (or, more likely, which combination of their talents) is responsible for various prints continues to this day. Only one, a replacement for a print whose blocks had been lost, and which is explicitly signed by Hiroshige II, can definitely be attributed to him. The theme of famous places in Edo was one of Hiroshige's favourites, and one he returned to again and again , in what has been counted by one authority to be over 1,080 prints! Clearly, as an Edokko (native of Edo), Hiroshige loved his native city. This series is a tribute to Edo, including not only natural beauty, but also references to history, custom and legend. However, in this series he does not restrict himself to the most well-known places in the city, but seems to have been more interested in the compositional qualities that various places allowed.

Over three-quarters of the prints in this series show the water, which abounded in the Edo of that era, built as it was on a river delta. The mountains around Edo, especially the perfect peak of Fuji, also make common appearances. The series is a last grand farewell to the Edo that produced ukiyo-e , which was very soon to disappear in the reforms of the Meiji era. Tokyo History | JapanVisitor Japan Travel Guide Boom Town Tokyo history Overview of the history of Tokyo Tokyo has been the capital of Japan since only 1868. Tokyo's previous incarnation, a town called Edo, grew from an obscure fishing village of the 15th century to become the biggest city in the world by the 18th century. Tokyo has been Japan's center of real political power since 1603 (when it became the seat of the military Shogun rulers) - long before it became the nation's official capital (i.e. home to the Emperor).

As the seat of Japan's early modern warlords - the "rulers behind the throne" - and as the present-day capital of Japan, Tokyo has been the stage on which Japan's internal power struggles, encounters with the outside world, defeats, and triumphs, have taken place for the past four centuries. Besides being host to the machinations and fates of the great and powerful, Tokyo is also, of course, a city with a life and atmosphere of its own. This timeline of Tokyo's history will attempt to incorporate and convey the many influences: political, economic, social, and, not least, natural (mainly fire, earthquakes , and bad weather ), that have shaped this great city throughout its past, and will continue to shape its future. Tokyo pre-history The oldest records of human habitation in what is now Tokyo are the shell mounds left by communities that were part of the Jomon culture, which is thought to have lasted from about 10,000BC to 300BC. Jomon means "cord-marked" and refers to the elaborate pottery left behind with its characteristic coiled cord print ornamentation.

The first such mounds investigated were those found in the Oi district of Tokyo's Shinagawa ward by the US zoologist Edward S. Morse in 1877. Simpler and lighter-colored pottery was discovered in the Yayoi area of Tokyo's Bunkyo ward . It is thought to be left by a later culture, named "Yayoi," after the area in Tokyo. However, Yayoi culture is thought to have actually originated in west Japan, displacing the Jomon in about 100BC to 100AD. The various Yayoi culture villages that have been unearthed in the Kanto region (in eastern Japan) have all been in the present-day Tokyo area. Tokyo in history The earliest historical roots of what we now call Tokyo can be traced to the mid 7th century, known in Japan as the Asuka period. The Asuka period dates from 645 when there was a palace revolution, and extended until the end of the succeeding Nara period (710-794). In the Asuka period, the imperial court imposed on Japan the ritsuryo system, i.e.

a criminal and administrative code of law, embodied in what was called the Taiho Code, inspired by that used by China's Tang Dynasty (618–907). It is as part of the territory subject to the ritsuryo system that Edo/Tokyo makes its first appearance in historical sources. Musashi history At the time of ritsuryo in Japan, the area occupied by present day Tokyo formed part of the province of Musashi known for its copper mines. (Musashi comprised the districts of Tama, Toshima, Ebara, Adachi, and Katsushika. Present day western Tokyo was part of Musashi's Tama district.) Fuchu , now a city in the west of the Tokyo metropolitan area became the capital of Musashi in 645 - specifically the area near the present Okunitama Shrine. The main temple for the province of Musashi was in present-day Kokubunji City, next to and just north-west of Fuchu City. The temple is thought to have been completed by the late 750s.

(The oldest temple in Tokyo, however, is Sensoji Temple in the Asakusa district of Tokyo's Taito ward, established in 645.) Edo history Modern Tokyo has its direct roots in what began as the village of Edo in Musashi province. The first mention in historical records of Edo is in the Azuma Kagami, an official history from the Kamakura period written in about 1300. The name Edo is thought to date from the late Heian period (794-c.1189) or early Kamakura period (1185-1333) when Shigetsugu Edo founded the Edo clan and established his residence on the land that now forms the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo (which at that time was where the Sumida River entered Tokyo Bay).

After the demise of the Edo clan in the 15th century, O-ta Sukenaga, a samurai, poet, military tactician and, later, Buddhist monk (who adopted the name Dokan), designed and built a fortress on the site for his liege, Uesugi Sadamasa (1443-1494), work beginning on the walls and moats in 1457. The Imperial Palace , previously Edo Castle, in present-day Tokyo Present day Edo Castle, now the Imperial Palace in Tokyo Ieyasu Tokugawa and Edo history Edo's next appearance in Japanese history was in 1590 when the mightiest warlord at the time, Hideyoshi Toyotomi , offered his then-ally and underling, Tokugawa Ieyasu , eight provinces in Kanto, including Musashi, that Hideyoshi had just wrested from the Hojo clan. He offered them to Ieyasu in return for Ieyasu's five provinces in Mikawa (present day eastern Aichi prefecture ).

Ieyasu accepted, moved to Musashi, and erected the elaborate Edo Castle between 1593 and 1636 to replace the smaller, simpler one built by Dokan. Edo's entry onto the national stage in history Ieyasu Tokugawa eventually turned on his one-time ally, and defeated Hideyoshi's son, Hideyori Toyotomi, in 1600 at the Battle of Sekigahara. Ieyasu thus became Shogun, i.e. Japan's military overlord, in 1603, and Edo became the administrative center of Japan. The years from 1603 until the Tokugawa's downfall in 1868 are known in Japanese history as the Edo period , and the whole of Japan was controlled from Edo Castle. Japan's local chieftains, with their retinues, now became obliged to spend part of their time in Edo in obeisance to the Shogun, greatly stimulating the capital's economy and culture. William Adams in Edo history From the outset, the government in Edo featured the advisory services of William Adams : probably the first Englishman to ever come to Japan.

Adams had come to Japan in 1600 on a ship that was on its last legs, and, was imprisoned for a while in Osaka Castle. Ieyasu, still a supporter, at this stage, of Hideyoshi, interviewed Adams many times and took a liking to him. When Ieyasu set up his government in Edo, Adams was one of his foremost advisers - a trove of Western technological and political expertise - and was given free access to Ieyasu and Edo Castle. Adams was forbidden by Ieyasu to return to England, but in return was given a new name, Miura Anjin, and even a small domain in Uraga, making him Japan's first and only foreign-born samurai. He was also made a hatamoto, or bannerman: a high-ranking position in the Shogun's court. In 1601, Ieyasu Tokugawa initiated the Tokaido communications route consisting of 53 stations between Nihonbashi Bridge in Edo to Sanjo Ohashi Bridge in Kyoto , a total of 495.5 km (308 miles).

By the time of the completion of Edo Castle in 1637 (or, according to some accounts, in 1626), Edo had a population of around 150,000. The establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate (known in Japanese as the Bakufu regime) in Edo brought great prosperity to the city and saw a renaissance of the traditional Japanese arts . The demand for luxury goods mushroomed, giving rise to a new class of traders and craftsmen, and a whole new urban culture. As a merchant city, Edo was soon richly served by the entertainments of sumo and kabuki , as well as by pleasure quarters . Fires in 17th century Edo On March 2, 1657, about two-thirds of Edo (including Edo Castle, completed only 20 years before) was destroyed in the Great Fire of Meireki, originating in the Hongo district in present-day Bunkyo ward (home now to the University of Tokyo), killing over 100,000 people.

The reconstruction project of the next two years reorganized and rationalized the city to some extent, and ensured that its mercantile function remained strong. The "Greengrocer Oshichi" Legend in Edo history January 25, 1683 The Great Fire of Tenna saw Tokyo burn again, with an estimated 6,000 casualties. The Great Fire of Tenna gave rise to the incident by which Yaoya Oshichi ("Greengrocer Oshichi"), the daughter of an Edo greengrocer, became immortalized. During the disaster, the 15-year-old Oshichi fell in love with a temple pageboy of Shosen-in Temple, her family temple in Hongo. Thinking another fire would reignite their love, she tried to start one the next year, 1684, and, convicted of arson, was burnt at the stake for her pains. Her story became a theme in Japanese bunraku puppet plays. Also, with Yaoya Oshichi having been born in the Chinese year of the fire horse, it became inauspicious to bear a child in that year.

October 9, 1698 Another fire, the Chokugaku Fire, burnt the Ueno , Asakusa , and Senju areas of the city, killing over 3,000 people and destroying many daimyo (regional feudal lord) mansions and temple complexes. Two further conflagrations known as the Genroku Fires broke out in Edo in 1697 and then in 1698. The Genroku Akō incident in Edo history On April 21, 1701 Naganori Asano, a samurai lord, attacked the Shogun's master of protocol, Yoshinaka Kira, who had humiliated him, inside Edo Castle . For the grave offense of using arms inside the Shogun's residence, Asano was made to commit ritual seppuku (harakiri). At the end of the following year, his 47 masterless retainers avenged their master's death by attacking and beheading Kira at his residence in Ryogoku on December 14, 1702.

His head was presented to Asano's grave in Sengakuji Temple , in the Takanawa area of present day Minato ward. They then turned themselves in and were ordered to commit seppuku. This tale of loyalty became a classic known as Chushingura , better known in the English-speaking world as the 47 Samurai. 1707 During the last half of December, Mt. Fuji erupted several times in what was its last, and one of its most violent, eruptions. Edo only comes into the picture as having been covered in volcanic ash and scoria despite being 100 km (60 miles) away, demonstrating the fury of the eruption. The Kyoho Reforms in Edo history 1716 The 8th Shogun, Yoshimune Tokugawa (1684-1751) instigated two decades of reorganization known as the Kyoho Reforms, intending to halt what was seen as the growing decadence and profligacy of pleasure-addicted (read " sumo and kabuki addicted") peace-time Edo.

Edo's city government was reformed, the price of rice stabilized by regulation, production of luxury goods prohibited, public spending slashed, merchant guilds created for the purposes of more stringent government control and taxation, more fireproof building materials and methods promoted, martial arts and falconry encouraged, the rules requiring provincial feudal lords to spend time in Edo relaxed, the ban on Western books (except those relating to Christianity ) lifted, and the boundaries between castes reinforced. 1721 As part of the Kyoho Reforms, a suggestion box, the meyasubako, was placed at the entrance of Edo Castle for any member of the public to freely post suggestions, criticisms, or claims. In 1722, as a result of the Kyoho Reforms' suggestion box, the Koishikawa Sanitorium was established on the site of the present Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens in Bunkyo ward, near Iidabashi station. In 1736, Edo's economy had stagnated because of the deflationary Kyoho Reforms, specifically the forced stabilization of rice prices.

Therefore, in 1736, Shogun Yoshimune Tokugawa ordered a reflationary reminting of the coinage, which brought both increased prosperity and price stability for about the next 80 years. In 1771, the doctor, Toyo Yamawaki, carried out the first scientific autopsy in Japan on the body of a criminal executed at Edo's Kozukappara execution ground (in present day Arakawa ward), basing the procedure on the Dutch translation of the German Anatomische Tabellen. Surprised that it held true even for the Japanese physique, he proceeded to translate the book into Japanese. 1772: an inauspicious year in Edo history April 1 1772 The Great Fire of Meiwa was a massive catastrophe that laid waste most of the city. A fierce storm on August 2 then brought flooding and crop destruction to the whole surrounding Kanto area , followed by a storm of equal ferocity on August 19 that destroyed about 4,000 dwellings in Edo.

1787 - 1793, the chief senior councilor of the Bakufu, Sadanobu Matsudaira, embarked on the Kansei Reforms that transformed Tokyo. Believing in financial stringency and moral rectitude, Matsudaira forgave a lot of lower samurai debt, freeing the lower samurai from the grip of the official merchants and brokers. On the morals front, he clamped down on artistic expression, especially ukiyoe , punishing the most notable ukiyoe artists of the time: Utamaro, Toyokuni, and Shun-ei, with 50 days of having their hands manacled. By the end of the 18th century, Tokyo had grown into a city of over 1 million people the biggest in the world. Edo and foreign contact in history The 1830s featured the beginning of the foreign contact that would help trigger momentous changes a few decades later. Most of it was through Tokyo, or its environs. 1830 The American, Nathaniel Savory, landed on Chichijima Island in the Bonin Islands (the Ogasawara Islands , in Japanese now part of Tokyo).

He was the first person ever to live there, and founded a colony. In 1837, Charles W. King, an American merchant in Canton, sailed a merchant ship into Edo's Uraga Channel (just outside present Tokyo Bay) - the first known Western ship ever to enter - with the ostensible aim of returning three shipwrecked Japanese sailors, and the ultimate aim of opening trade with Japan. His ship was attacked, and he sailed away. In 1846, Commander James Biddle of the US Navy, on a mission from the US government, entered and anchored in Tokyo Bay with a request for a trade agreement, but was denied. Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry; photograph by Mathew Brady Edo and the history of the foreign contact debate - Commodore Perry The 1850s in Japan was a time of political crisis concerning the issue of whether the country should have relations with foreign powers, and, if so, what kind of relations. Being the center of political power, Edo was the main stage of this debate.

The key event of the 1850s was the landing on July 8, 1853, of US Navy Commadore Matthew Calbraith Perry at Yokosuka - on the isthmus just south of Yokohama , and about 50 km (30 miles) south of Edo - with an armed squadron and a letter demanding the opening of Japan to trade and a promise to return. True to his word, Commodore Perry returned in February 1854 with an even larger squadron and, on March 31, 1854, signed the Convention of Kanagawa with representatives of the Shogun, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to United States trade, granting coaling rights for U.S. ships, guaranteeing the safety of shipwrecked American sailors, and establishing a permanent U.S. consul in Shimoda . On July 29, 1858, the U.S. envoy, Townsend Harris, finally convinced Japan, which had stalled for two years, to sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan.

This treaty built on Perry's by opening up six ports to foreign trade and allowing, among other things, American citizens to travel freely in Japan (and live in Edo), and establishing extraterritoriality for them. It is the first of what later came to be known as the "unequal treaties" signed between Japan and other Western powers. It would also became the issue over which a civil war would erupt - between those Japanese who thought Japan should open to the West immediately, and those who thought it should wait. On November 11, 1855, the Great Ansei Edo Earthquake - of magnitude 6.9 - struck Edo, causing almost 7,000 deaths and 3,000 injuries. It triggered a fire, the Great Fire of Ansei, that destroyed most of the city. The aftershocks from the quake continued for 20 days. In 1858, Keio University, Japan's first institute of higher learning, opened in present-day Tokyo's Minato ward as a school for Dutch studies, founded by Yukichi Fukuzawa . It switched its focus to English studies in 1863.

The First Sakuradamon Incident in Tokyo history On March 24, 1860, Ii Naosuke, chief adviser to the Shogun was assassinated by 17 young anti-foreign rebel samurai from Mito province in front of the Sakuradamon Gate of Edo Castle. Ii Naosuke had been the most influential Japanese politician to sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States. He favored opening Japan to the West and, with the Ansei Purge, had driven out from government all who disagreed with this policy. His assassination opened the floodgates of anti-Bakufu Emperor-centered loyalism across the country. (Ironically, Mito was one of the three domains from which members of the ruling Tokugawa clan were eligible to be selected as Shogun.) In 1867, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, Japan's last shogun, surrendered power to the emperor and left Edo. Revolution in Tokyo history January 1868: Conflict between samurai from Satsuma province and the Bakufu forces.

The outer works of Edo Castle are set fire to, and, in response, Bakufu forces destroy the Edo residence of the daimyo of Satsuma, also known as the Palace of Satsuma. October 16 1868: Edo becomes the capital of Japan, and its name is changed to Tokyo. 1869 the Emperor moves to Tokyo from Kyoto , taking up residence in old Edo Castle, now the Imperial Palace . June 1869 Yasukuni Shrine is built to honor the victims who fought for the restoration of the Emperor in the Boshin War, (i.e. the war that accompanied Japan's transformation from the feudal Shogunate to a modern Emperor-centered state at the beginning of the Meiji Period ). The shrine is first known as Tokyo Shokonsha, which is changed to Yasukuni Shrine in 1879 as part of the campaign to promote State Shinto as a national(ist) religion.

The Emperor Meiji 1852-1912 moved from Kyoto to take up residence in his new "Eastern Capital" of Tokyo Modernization in Tokyo history 1869 Tsukiji in present-day Chuo ward is officially designated an area for foreign residents, and remains so until 1899. 1869 Japan's first telecommunications line is opened between Tokyo and Yokohama , and the first steam locomotive starts running in 1872 from Shimbashi to Yokohama. 1871 Tokyo Prefecture is established with the abolition of the old feudal domains in favor of the prefectural system. 1872 Tokyo Prefecture expands to include what are now the 23 wards of Tokyo . September 12, 1872 Japan's first railway line opens in Tokyo, between present-day Shiodome (then known as Shinbashi) and Sakuragicho (Yokohama). Begins operations on October 15. 1874 The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is established. 1881 Nippon Railway is founded: Japan's first private railway company. 1882, Japan's first zoological gardens are opened in Ueno .

July 28 1883 Nippon Railway opens Tokyo's first railway line, between Ueno and Kumagaya (in Saitama prefecture) - now part of the JR Takasaki Line. November 1884 The Chichibu Incident: disaffected agrarian workers from the Chichibu region in Saitama, near Tokyo, suffering from the heavy tax burden of the new Meiji regime, as well as depressed agricultural prices, enter Tokyo and battle with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the Imperial Japanese Army. 1885 Opening of the Shinagawa railway line between Shinagawa and Akabane, eventually to become the Yamanote Line . 1888 The Palace Castle (on the site of the present Imperial Palace ) is built on the site of old Edo Castle, which had been destroyed by fire in 1873. May 1 1889 Tokyo becomes a city, and is established with 15 wards. However, it does not maintain its own mayor or council, but is administered by the existing apparatus of Tokyo Prefecture. September 1, 1891 Completion of railway line between Ueno and Aomori by the Nippon Railway Company.

1893 Three districts of the Tama region in Kanagawa Prefecture , west of Tokyo, are annexed by Tokyo. 1898 Tokyo begins electing its own mayor. 1903 Tokyo's first trams start running. Tokyo history in the Era of Popular Violence: early 20th century The Hibiya Incendiary Incident was the start of 13 years of popular rioting, known as the Era of Popular Violence, or minshuu sohjohki, nine major riots taking place in Tokyo over that period. The Hibiya Incendiary Incident took place as follows. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 ended with the Treaty of Portsmouth, signed on September 5 1905. Japan, as victor (the first Asian victor over a Western power in modern times), benefited greatly from the Treaty, but, because Japan was militarily overstretched in Manchuria, and economically overstretched from the war effort, it did not benefit to the extent of its initial demands. This perceived "loss" sparked popular protest on the same day, and a collection of disaffected groups planned a protest in Tokyo's Hibiya Park .

In response, the police locked the gates to the park and refused to admit the crowd of over 30,000 that had assembled. In response to that, the crowd went on the rampage through Tokyo for the next two days, damaging or destroying over 350 buildings, including the Prime Minister's residence and 70% of the city's police boxes . The next few months saw similar, but generally not such violent, agitation in a number of other Japanese cities. This Hibiya Incendiary Incident led to the collapse of Prime Minister Katsura Taro's Cabinet on January 7 1906. Twentieth century Tokyo historical developments 1909 Tokyo railways first electrified. 1914 Tokyo Station is completed in the Marunouchi district of Chiyoda ward, right in font of the Imperial Palace gardens. Construction had commenced in 1908. It was built in celebration of Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War. It was built as a three-storied structure, but rebuilt after World War II bombing with its present two stories. August 12 1918 Rice Riots spread from western Japan to Tokyo.

The spiraling price of rice in the inflationary boom after the First World War created enormous hardship for both the rural population, which received no more for the rice it produced than before, and for the urban population. The ensuing riots in protest were the most widespread in Japanese history. September 29 1918 Prime Minister Terauchi and his Cabinet resigns to take responsibility for the situation that led to the Rice Riots. 1920 The Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingu) is built in Shibuya ward, about 2 km (1 1/4 mile) south of Shinjuku station, dedicated to the Emperor Meiji (1853-1912) and his wife the Empress Shoken (1849-1914) and commemorating the Emperor's role in the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The original was destroyed in World War II, and rebuilt in 1958. November 4, 1921 Prime Minister Takashi Hara is stabbed to death at the south gates of Tokyo Station by a right-wing railway worker.

September 1923, Tokyo is devastated by the Great Kanto Earthquake , with a magnitude of between 7.9 and 8.4, and a duration of at least 4 minutes. There are over 100,000 casualties. Being lunchtime, flames from cooking caused fires everywhere. Winds from a typhoon fanned the fires into a firestorm. The worst incident was the incineration of over 30,000 people who had sought refuge on the Army Parade Ground in Sumida . Vigilante hysteria based on rumors of Koreans taking advantage of the confusion to loot, and even poison wells, caused the death of about 230 Koreans. It was suppressed by Army action. Marunouchi in flames after the Great Kanto Earthquake, Tokyo, 1923 1924 Ueno Park opens on the site of Kaneiji Temple in Taito ward on land gifted by the Emperor Taisho. March 1925 The Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation (now known as NHK) makes the first radio broadcast.

1927 Japan's first subway line, the Ginza Line, is opened between Asakusa and Ueno 1928 the first general elections for the House of Representatives of the Diet (or Parliament) are held. 1930 Emperor Hirohito declares the post-earthquake rebuilding of Tokyo complete, at a special public ceremony. November 14, 1930 Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi is shot and wounded in Tokyo Station by an ultra-nationalist. 1930 The Tsubame express train service began, reducing the time taken from Osaka to Tokyo to 8 hours (average speed 60.2 km/h, maximum speed 90 km/h). In 1931 Tokyo Airport was completed at Haneda, and in 1941 the Port of Tokyo was opened. By 1935, the resident population of Tokyo had grown to 6.36 million, comparable to the populations of New York and London.

The Second Sakuradamon Incident in Tokyo history January 9, 1932, Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang attempts to assassinate Emperor Hirohito by throwing a grenade as he left the Imperial Palace through the Sakuradamon Gate. The attempt was unsuccessful, but provided China with an opportunity to criticize Japan for its colonization of Korea. Blood-Pledge Corps (or League of Blood) Incident in Tokyo history 9 February 1932 Former Finance Minister Inoue Junnosuke and, on 5 March, the Director-General of Mitsui, Dan Takuma, are shot and killed by members of the ultranationalist Blood-Pledge Corps (also translated as League of Blood). They were the first two of 20 assassinations of political and business leaders that the group planned, but were otherwise unable to carry out. 15 May Incident in Tokyo history May 15 1932 Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai is assassinated in the Prime Minister's residence by 11 young disaffected Naval officers, as an attempt to complete the Blood-Pledge Corps' assassination campaign and spark a coup d'etat.

The rebels were quickly defeated, and martial law was imposed over Tokyo until July 18. July 1932 Tokyo absorbs several outlying districts, increasing its number of wards from 15 to 35. Now with a population of about 4.9 million, it becomes the second biggest city in the world. 1935 The old Nihonbashi fish market, destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake, relocates to Tsukiji and reopens. First Lieutenant Niu Yoshitada and his rebel troops during the February 26 Incident February 26 Incident in Tokyo history 26-29 February 1936 About 1,400 troops seize key government buildings - the Diet Building , the headquarters of the Army Ministry, and the headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police - in an attempted coup d'etat. Prime Minister Keisuke Okada narrowly escapes death as the rebel officers kill his brother-in-law, mistaking him for Okada. It ends upon the direct orders of an angry Emperor Hirohito to attack the rebels.

Pacific War Tokyo history 18 April 1942 The Doolittle Raid, in which US Army planes bomb ten military and industrial targets in Tokyo the first air raid by the United States to attack a target on the main Japanese island of Honshu. July 1 1943 Tokyo City merged with Tokyo Prefecture to form the Tokyo Metropolitan Government : officially part of the central government. The governor of Tokyo gained a place in the Cabinet, directly under the Prime Minister. February-August 1945. US Air Force B-29 bombers destroy much of Tokyo, especially east of the Imperial Palace . Well over 100,000 people are killed, and many times that number wounded and/or made homeless. Most people killed were victims of the air raid of March 9th and 10th, a napalm firebomb attack (napalm's first ever notable use) said to have been the most destructive air raid in history. September 2, 1945 Japan formally surrenders to the US on the USS Missouri moored in Tokyo Bay. At the end of the war, Tokyo's population is now only approximately half that of 1940.

The charred remains of civilians killed in US air raids on Tokyo, 1945; photograph by Ishikawa Kouyou Post World War Two Tokyo history 1947 Tokyo Metropolitan Government is separated from the central government, and the number of wards is reduced to 23. December 23 1948 Hideki Tojo, wartime Premier of Japan; General Kenji Doihara, who had engineered the Mukden Incident in 1931; General Heitaro Kimura, former commander in Manchuria; General Iwane Matsui, responsible for the rape of Nanking; General Akira Muto, former chief of staff in the Philippines; ex-Premier (1936-37) Koki Hirota; and ex-War Minister Seishiro Itagaki are executed at Sugamo Prison in Ikebukuro (now the site of the Sunshine 60 shopping and entertainment building). February 1 1953 The national broadcaster, NHK makes the first commercial TV broadcast in Tokyo (and Japan).

June 8, 1953 A US Air Force plane crashes on takeoff from Tachikawa Airfield killing 129 people, making it the biggest air disaster in history at the time. 1954 Tokyo's first subway train line , the Marunouchi Line , is opened between Ikebukuro and Ochanomizu . July 8 1957 The Sunagawa Riots ensue when the US Air Force tries to extend its Tachikawa Airfield into the neighboring town of Sunagawa (now part of Tachikawa City ) resulting in cancellation of the project. 1958 Tokyo Tower is completed. Boom Town Tokyo history September 10 1960 First color television broadcast in Tokyo (and Japan). 1961 Tokyo's third subway line, the Hibiya Line , opens between Minami-senju and Naka-okachimachi. October 1 1964 The Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train line (planning for which began in 1940) opens, linking Tokyo to Osaka in just four hours instead of 6 hours 40 minutes.

October 10 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games open. October 8 1967 A university student is killed in battles with the police at Bentenbashi, near Haneda Airport , protesting the visit of Prime Minister Eisaku Sato to South Vietnam. 1968 Completion of the rebuilding of the Imperial Palace , destroyed in World War II . Built by the Takenaka Corporation in reinforced concrete in a modernist style. 1968 The Bonin Islands (Ogasawara Islands in Japanese) are returned to Japan by the US Navy after post-World War II occupation, and become part of Tokyo. October 21 1968 Battles take place outside Shinjuku Station between the police and protesters against the transportation of fuel for US forces by rail. December 1968 Riots by students at Tokyo University , Japan's most prestigious university, force the cancellation of entrance examinations. January 18-19 1969 Students of Tokyo University riot, occupy Yasuda Hall and fight with riot police. October-November 1969 Clashes between troops and protesters against the Japan-US Security Alliance.

1971 Clashes in February, July and September between police and protesters against the confiscation of farmland for the construction of Narita International Airport . November 1971 Mass riots against the Okinawa Reversion Agreement. 1977 The US Airforce returned Tachikawa Airfield to Japan. 1978 New Tokyo International Airport (present day Narita International Airport ) opens in neighboring Chiba prefecture . September 19 1984 The headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party are attacked with a flamethrower in protest against the construction of Narita International Airport. 1988 Tokyo Dome stadium opens. 1990 The collapse of the bubble economy sees land prices in Tokyo fall dramatically. December 1990 Construction of the new Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building , known as Tocho in Shinjuku is completed. 1993 Completion of the Rainbow Bridge : a 570-meter suspension bridge straddling northern Tokyo Bay and connecting Shibaura Wharf with Odaiba . March 20 1995 Sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway by the Aum Shinrikyo cult. 12 people killed and hundreds sickened.

1999 Right-wing politician and author, Shintaro Ishihara elected governor of Tokyo. July 2000 Mt. Oyama on Miyakejima Island (an island used as a penal colony during the Edo era) erupts, forcing the evacuation of all residents. 2000 The Oedo Subway Line opens. March 2007 Tokyo 2016 Olympic Games Bid Committee established. June 4 2008 Tokyo chosen as a finalist candidate host for the 2016 Olympics, along with Chicago, Rio De Janeiro and Madrid. 14 June 2008 Fukutoshin Subway line opens. 7 September 2013: Tokyo selected to host the 2020 Olympic Games A Brief History of Edo/Tokyo A Brief History of Edo/Tokyo Home / History Walks & Area Information / A Brief History of Edo/Tokyo Introduction For many travelers, Tokyo has a reputation as a confusing maze of neon lights and rivers of people crowding the streets at all time of day and night.

The reputation is well earned – Tokyo is one of the largest cities in the world, with close to nine million people calling the 23 Wards (or “Special Cities” as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government calls them) home. With no single city center, but rather several different “centers” – Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Ginza, Ueno, and Shibuya among them – Tokyo certainly can be confusing. And unlike Kyoto, there is physically very little remaining of Tokyo’s past. The Imperial Palace qualifies in once sense, but it only dates from the 1880s and unlike the imposing castles of Europe, there isn’t much to see that will connect you with the city’s deep and vibrant past. Nor are there any soaring cathedrals pulling the traveler back in time. There are a lot of temples and shrines, some with buildings even dating back to the 1600s, but these are few and far between, and most lack the presence to bring the city’s past back to life. Tokyo’s oldest nemesis, fire, also played its part in altering the city and hiding its glories from easy view.

Three major events in particular were instrumental in the shaping of the city: the Great Meireki Fire of 1657, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, and the Allied fire bombings of Tokyo (February – May of 1945). In each of these fires (fire was the major cause of loss of life and damage in the 1923 earthquake), more than 100,000 people lost their lives and 45~60% of the city lost. However, despite this, like a phoenix, Tokyo has risen from its own ashes and built itself anew, larger and grander than ever. Beginnnings Until Tokugawa Ieyasu made Edo the seat of power for his newly acquired fief in 1590, it was a small backwater fishing village on the edge of a shallow estuary surrounded by marshes. It is said that there were perhaps a hundred households in the village when Ieyasu entered the village with 8,000 troops of his own.

However, during his visit in 1609, the Spanish Governor-General of the Phillipines, Rodrigo De Vivero estimated the population of Edo at 150,000 people . Ieyasu wasted no time in setting plans in motion to bring clean water into the city and providing areas for his vassals and laborers to live. In order to bring in materials and supplies needed to build up the castle, he had the Dosanbori canal dug between 1590~1592. At the same time, he ordered construction begun on the first waterway, the Koishikawa Waterway, to provide good drinking water for Edo’s residents. In 1596, increasing the scope of the waterway system, the Kanda Waterway was started. This was eventually completed in 1629 and was 26km in length, bringing water in from natural springs in Inokashira Pond, Zenpuku-ji, and Myoushou-ji far to the west of Edo. Also in 1596, Ieyasu ordered the leveling of nearby “Mt.

Kanda”, 「神田山」just to the north of Edo Castle, to provide earth to fill in the estuary on the east side of the Castle and reclaim other parts of the marshy lowlands so that his vassals and the laborers would have places to live. Edo then began to grow, its population swelling rapidly every year, and getting an extra boost once the alternate attendance system was made official policy in 1635. By 1644, Edo had grown to a size of 44 sq. km in area and had a population estimated at 400,000. Of this area, 34 sq. km (77%) was designated as bukechi (samurai districts), with the remaining areas almost evenly divided between chouninchi (townspeople/commoner districts; 4.3 sq. km / 10%) and jinjachi (temple districts; 4.5 sq. km / 10%). These figures would change over the years, but generally speaking the samurai districts would take up about 70% of Edo, the commoner districts 15%, and the temple districts 15%.

Fire had always been a problem that plagued Edo, and in 1657 one of the greatest fires in its history swept through the city. The Great Meireki Fire, also known as the Long-sleeves Fire, burnt down 60% of the city over a two day period and claimed more than 100,000 lives. As destructive as the fire was though, it allowed a bursting-at-the-seems Edo to rebuild itself, with new city planning and construction laws aimed at keeping fires at bay. Included in these were the building of numerous hiyokechi (fire breaks and fire lanes), widening of streets, limitations on flame and lamp usage, as well as construction regulations stipulating the width of eaves and restricting permitted roofing materials. Finally, an organized fire fighting system was established with set areas of responsibility and control. The end result of this was a city that could more easily accommodate its continued growth and expansion. By 1721, the population had grown to more than 1,000,000 people – almost equally divided between samurai and commoner – making it the largest city in the world.

Over the next 150 years, Edo would continue to grow and would become the political, economic, and cultural center of Japan. In its early years, the daimyo and their vassals coming into Edo for their enforced one year stays brought the cultures and customs of their own provinces with them, but as the population of Edo grow more stable – daimyo were required to leave their wives and children in Edo year-round with retainers needed to support them and maintain their estates – the city began to develop its own style and culture. Edo culture (kabuki, ukiyo-e woodblock prints with scenes of the city and its beautiful women and famous actors, fashion) began to flow back to the provinces via the Great Highways that linked Japan together, providing the start of a more unified sense of identity and nation.

Crisis, Change, and the Meiji Restoration However, starting in the 1830s, the rigid social stratification imposed by the Shogunate, tension between increasingly wealthy and influential merchants and socially elite but indebted samurai, famine, a series of destructive earthquakes and tsunami, and finally, the arrival of Perry’s fleet in 1853, meant the beginning of the end for the Tokugawas. Several powerful (and traditionally anti-Tokugawa) daimyo from the west pushed for the restoration of the Emperor to power, and after a series of battles – ranging from Kyoto to Kan’ei-ji in Edo – they succeeded in their goal. On January 3rd, 1868, the Meiji Emperor was restored to power, but there would continue to be battles against Tokugawa loyalists until 1869. While the Meiji Restoration was a remarkably bloodless and smooth transition of regimes, it represented a huge crisis for the newly christened Tokyo.

Half of the city’s population had left to return to their home provinces, leaving the remaining half without a customer base and thus no means to support themselves – in May of 1868, the Meiji government even distributed rice to 430,000 residents of the city. However, as the new Meiji government was able to assert its control over the rest of the nation and its policies took hold, people began to flow back into Tokyo and in 1883, the population of the city once again topped one million. Meiji Period (1868-1912) Tokyo saw rapid Westernization and the build-up of its infrastructure. Japan’s first railway station opened in Shinagawa in 1872. Then in 1877, it held an international Industrial Exposition in Ueno Park. Many of the first Western style buildings in Japan were built in Tokyo in the 1890s, including the Bank of Japan. There was also in influx of foreigners in Tokyo as well due to the establishment of legations, embassies, and the opening of a settlement exclusively for foreigners in Tsukiji.

Tokyo, and Japan, rushed into the 20th century and started to make its presence felt on the international stage – decisively beating Russia in the Russo-Japan War of 1905 and then hosting the international Meiji Industrial Exposition of 1907. Just before noon on September 1st, 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake struck and the damage caused by the quake itself, and to a far greater degree, the fires it sparked, changed the face of Tokyo. Of the 15 wards that made up the city, only one was untouched by fire. Five wards on the east side of the city, that of commoner’s Low City, were the most heavily damaged, with damage to buildings at over 90%, and over 300,000 houses lost. Many of the older buildings that had remained from Edo, and were part of the city’s LowCity heritage, were lost forever. However, as always, the city rose from the ashes. Rubble and debris from the fires were used to fill in the numerous canals and waterways in Ginza, and the plans made to rebuild itself in a grand scale.

There would be parks, canals, and a new street plan with wide boulevards. Political infighting meant that in the end, of the originally proposed city rebuilding plan – with a budget of 46 billion yen – Tokyo received less than 1/8 of that to rebuild. Focus was on widening streets and rebuilding housing; with the national government taking responsibility for the major thoroughfares and Tokyo’s government handling the smaller streets. The layout of the city was still similar to Edo and many of its streets were simply wider versions running in the same courses as they had during the Edo period. Modern Tokyo Although Tokyo had been subject to bombing raids prior to 1945, they had been mostly ineffective – the high altitude of the bombers caused the bombs to fall off course and miss their intended targets. However, beginning in February of 1945, the B-29s were ordered to bomb from lower altitudes using incendiary bombs, and in the most devastating raid (March 9-10th), more than 41 sq. km of Tokyo were burned to the ground. As in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the east side of the city suffered the greatest losses.

It is estimated that in this one raid, more than 100,000 people died and a million made homeless; more than either the atomic bombings of Nagasaki or Hiroshima. After the war ended, Tokyo began the monumental task of cleaning up and rebuilding itself. However, as with the rebuilding plans of 1923, Tokyo once again saw the money it was to receive slashed and city planning proposals altered to the point of ineffectiveness. Primary among these was the reduction of projects that would have allowed modern roads and infrastructure to be built. The original 200km² set aside for this was reduced by 75% and plans for 10% of land to be devoted to green space and parks was reduced by 40%. Focus was once again shifted to widening streets and putting roofs over people’s heads. With so many people flooding back into the city, this housing had to be built on land originally slated for roads or open space. For those living in the city, of immediate concern were the huge amounts of debris from the bombings. Much of it was piled into the streets, impeding traffic and creating eye sores.

Repeating the 1923 earthquake yet again, most of this rubble was used to fill in the canals and other waterways of the city – this time the most noticeable being the complete filling in of the outer moat on the east side of the castle, just in front of Tokyo Station. As a result, the “Venice of the East” – Edo, with its 700 bridges and a vast system of waterways that moved goods and people through the city – finally disappeared from view. Still, as it always does, Tokyo rebuilt and rebounded. The city center shifted though, moving from the old Low City of the east and to the open and rapidly developing west – Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Shibuya. These areas grew up around the train stations and department stores clustered outside them, drawing people to these new centers and shifting the social, cultural, and commercial heart of the city with them. A City of Neighborhoods Despite the haphazard development, or perhaps because of it, Tokyo is very much a city of neighborhoods.

Life is centers on the local train station, and each neighborhood has its own mom-and-pop shops, the green grocer, the book store, ramen shops, and corner watering holes. Each neighborhood has its own flavor and very often a past that extends more than 150 years back to the Edo period. This is what makes Tokyo unique – the “808 machi (towns) of Edo” are still alive in the neighborhoods that make up the city and even though the city is one of the world’s largest, there is never a sense of being lost in a faceless metropolis. Every neighborhood is unique and has its own story, its tie to the city of the Shogun. Edo still lives side by side with modern Tokyo, and its history can been found on almost any street corner. About - Edo-ya Tokyo Cuisine Restaurant Edo-ya Tokyo Cuisine Restaurant 3050 W. Shaw Suite 112, Fresno, California 93711. Phone (559) 275-7535 Cuisine: The restaurant features an extensive presentation of culturally inspired and traditional Japanese cuisine.

Numerous favorites are prepared on the fifteen Teppan-Yaki grills. The private tatami rooms offer traditional selections that are also served in the dining area. The award winning sushi bar prepares fresh catches in sashimi, rolls or as selected. General Manager: Scott Sugimoto Decor: The ambience reminds one that they’ve come to a culture that invites warmth and practicality. Earth tones and soft lights surround and make the dining experience unforgettable. Harmonious environmental elements combine with various types and styles of wood, glass and metal to embrace the benefits of feng shui. Seating Options and Group Capacity: Teppan-Yaki table configuration can accommodate 22 adults. Tatami rooms are by strict reservation and can host groups from 1 to 22. Regular Dining tables are traditionally western in nature and can accommodate group sizes as large as 24 or as intimate as one. The sushi bar has 18 settings. The total capacity for regular dining is 60 and 150 for teppan-yaki.

Check Averages: Monday thru Saturday 11:30 – 2:30 Sunday 12:00 – 3:00 Monday thru Thursday 4:30 – 10:00 Friday & Saturday 4:30 – 11:00 Mastercard, Visa, Discover, American Express Reservations: Recommended History of Edo-Ya Here is a brief narrative on interesting points about Edo-Ya Tokyo Cuisine. This information also will outline Japanese cuisine in the United States and specifically in California. The roots of Edo-Ya in its locale on the northwest corner of Shaw and Marks go farther back than its opening in August of 1998. Edo, as most historians recognize is the former name of Japan’s largest city and capitol – Tokyo. It is most well known for its important role in the Tokugawa period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1867. The city of Edo/Tokyo was first settled during the 1100’s and grew in size until Tokugawa Ieyazu made this town his home and the administrative capital of his world.

Japan’s emperor reigned in secluded majesty at the imperial capital in Kyoto; however, the true center of power, government, the economy and social life was Edo, where the Shogun lived and ruled the country. For most people in Japan today, Edo is still more than just a historical city. It also remains a symbolic image and meaning. It represents nearly everything that the Japanese consider a part of their “traditional” culture By the 1700s, there were around 1.2 million Japanese living in this burgeoning metropolis. This made Edo the largest city in the world, doubling its western counterparts Paris and London. The size of this city was assisted by the Tokugawas’ system of requiring all underlings to spend a portion of each year in the city. The presence of all of these nobles fueled the artisans, craftsmen, and other townsfolk, and built up many of the arts. Reports from outsiders at this time marvel at the cleanliness and orderliness of the city. The city was broken up into distinct trade districts – cobbler sections, tailor sections, and so on. There were then as today fish sections kept completely separate from the fruit and vegetable areas.

Prior to the 1800’s Japan was determined to be an isolationist culture. Western books, trade and influence were almost non-existent. Trade with other countries during the mid-1800’s was considerably restricted. In 1853, and 1854 U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry was successful in getting the government to open ports to accommodate international trade. This trade was limited until events took place in 1868 that caused the Tokugawa government to fail and trade to thrive. In 1869 the Emperor Meiji decided to move to Edo, and in 1889 the new Imperial Palace was constructed. It was then that Edo was renamed to Tokyo, or “Eastern Capital”. The days of feudalism were over and the new centralized government was left in the hands of those in favor of westernization and commerce. Even in modern times, Tokyo represents a city of grandeur to the Japanese. When its citizens look at this city, they see not only the modern metropolis but also the visions of what this city once was to the nation.

And although modern Tokyo may look very “Western” on the surface, in its very core the spirit of Edo still lives on. It is a symbol of culture and cuisine that is embraced in all aspects at Edo-ya Tokyo Cuisine in Fresno, California. About Edo-Ya The restaurant features an extensive presentation of culturally inspired and traditional Japanese cuisine. Numerous favorites are prepared on the fifteen Teppan-Yaki grills. The private tatami rooms offer traditional selections that are also served in the dining area. Contact Edo-Ya

Question: Up until 1869 where was the city known as Edo?
Answer: Japan