TOKYO PREFECTURE

Located in the southwestern part of the Kanto district.
Japan's capital, comprising 23 wards (ku), 26 cities (shi) and
13 town/villages (machi/mura). 
Includes the Izu and Ogasawara Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Although the third smallest prefecture in area, it has
12,000,000 people, almost a tenth of the entire population.
The prefectural capital is in Shinjuku Ward.












Edo / Tokyo has flourished as Japan's center for nearly
400 years, since Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Edo
shogunate early in the 17th century. 
In 1868 Edo was renamed Tokyo, and the emperor
moved there from Kyoto, making it the nation's true capital.
Now most political, economic and cultural functions are
concentrated in Tokyo, and in this international era,
it is a world center as well.

Tertiary industry predeominates, with a remarkable
concentration of information services in recent years.
Most companies listed on the two sections of the
Tokyo Stock Exchange have headquarters in Tokyo
which gather information, control production and trading,
manage finances and such.

The problems created by the concentration of various
government agencies in the city are much discussed recently.
The excessive density of businesses and population has
driven land prices to incredible levels.  In Tokyo, which
experienced the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923),
earthquake risk is high, and a movement to dispearse
overly concentrated functions is growing.

Areas in Tokyo

Marunouchi
Japan's representative business district,
directly in front of Tokyo Station.

Kasumigaseki
Government agencies are clustered here.

Ginza
Tokyo's oldest shopping district.  Its exclusive clubs
and bars also make it a famous nighttime haunt.







Akasaka
Known for top-ranking Japanese restaurants
where meetings among politicians often take place.

Shinjuku
East of the train station, which handles more
passengers than any other in Japan, is a major
shopping entertainment district.  To the west rise
the skyscrapers of the Shinjuku business center.







Shibuya, Harajuku, Aoyama
Fashionable areas that attract many young people.

Azabu, Roppongi
More foreigners gather here that in any other
neighborhoods in Japan.  Many restaurants and
night clubs with cosmopolitan atmosphere,
catering to the young.

Kanda, Ochanomizu
Kanda is famous for bookstores, especially
secondhand book stores.  Many high schools and
universities are in Kanda and Ochanomizu. 
Akihabara, the Main retail center for electric consumer
goods is in northeastern Kanda.







Ueno
On high ground west of the station is Ueno Park,
a center of culture dotted with museums. 
Ameyayokocho (Ame-yoko) has hundreds of shops
offering everything imaginable at discount prices.







Asakusa
This neighborhood has flourished around the temple
Sensoji since the Edo period.  Old shops selling sweets,
toys and other things line the route from
Kaminarimon Gate to the temple,
which bustles with each seasonal event.