Tokyo - geography.

Tokyo - geography. I INTRODUCTION Tokyo, capital of Japan and the most populated metropolitan area in the world, with more than 35 million inhabitants in 2003. Tokyo is located at the head of Tokyo Bay, midway along the eastern coast of Honsh? , the largest of the four main islands of the Japanese archipelago. The city occupies most of the southern part of the Kant? Plain, the largest area of flat land in Japan. Tokyo has been the capital of Japan since 1868, after the Tokugawa dynasty (1603-1867), which ruled from Ky?to, was overthrown. At that time the city's name was changed from Edo to Tokyo, which means "eastern capital." Today Tokyo is Japan's financial, industrial, commercial, educational, and cultural center; it is also the country's principal contact point for trade and diplomatic relations with the rest of the world. II TOKYO AND ITS METROPOLITAN AREA Technically, there is no such thing as a city of Tokyo, as that designation was abolished in a government reorganization in 1943. Instead, Tokyo is a special administrative unit similar to a prefecture, the largest units of local government in Japan. It is properly called T?ky ?-to or Tokyo Metropolis and consists of 23 special wards (ku), 26 cities (shi), seven towns, and eight villages. Tokyo Metropolis covers an area of about 2180 sq km (about 840 sq mi). The 23 wards, which comprise the area that used to be the city of Tokyo, cover about 620 sq km (about 240 sq mi). The rest of Tokyo Metropolis is the Tama district, a large suburban area stretching to mountains in the west, and two chains of small islands, the Izu Islands (Japanese Izu-Shichito) and the Bonin Islands (Japanese Ogasawara-Gunto), to the south in the Pacific Ocean. The Keihin Industrial Region is a term used to describe Tokyo and the surrounding industrial area, referring most specifically to the combination of Tokyo and two nearby coastal cities to the south, Kawasaki and Yokohama. The heart of Tokyo is the Imperial Palace and its surrounding grounds. This is where the emperor of Japan lives with his family, and where Edo Castle, the fortress associated with the founding of the city, once stood. To the south and west of the Imperial Palace, in the Kasumigaseki district, are most of Tokyo's important government buildings, such as the National Diet Building (seat of the national legislature), the offices of the prime minister, the Supreme Court, and the national ministries. Farther to the south is Tokyo Tower, which is 333 m (1,093 ft) high and resembles the Eiffel Tower; it was built in 1958 for communications and observation. To the east of the Imperial Palace is the Marunouchi district, the leading business district. Many of Japan's largest enterprises and financial institutions have headquarters here. The district's importance became notable after the Tokyo Central Station opened nearby in 1914. To the east of Marunouchi is Tokyo's most important shopping district, which extends from the Nihonbashi district in the north, to the Ginza district, famous for its retail and entertainment establishments, in the south. The streets of these districts are lined with many department stores, long-established specialty shops, and other businesses. To the north of the Imperial Palace is Jimbocho, a quarter with many bookshops. Tokyo Dome, a modern sports and concerts facility, is to the north of Jimbocho in Bunkyo Ward. To the west of the central city the terrain becomes increasingly hilly, rising to the Musashino Plateau. The eastern edge of the Musashino Plateau , called yamanote, has retained much of its well-to-do residential character. There are many foreign embassies, prestigious universities, hospitals, and other important institutions in this area, as well as Yoyogi Park, the Meiji Shrine and its grounds, and the Shinjuku Gyoen National Gardens. The largest and most prosperous of Tokyo's major commercial subcenters, Shinjuku, Sakurakabu , and Ikebukuro, are in this area. At 48 stories and 243 m (797 ft) tall, the Number One Building of Tokyo's new metropolitan government headquarters in Shinjuku is the tallest building in the metropolis. Other notable places on the west side are the nightclub district of Roppongi, the highfashion districts of Aoyama and Harajuku, and the Yebisu Garden Place in Ebisu, an elegant commercial complex that opened in 1994 at the site of an old brewery. Further to the west is the Tama district, a broad expanse of residential communities, including Tama New Town, a planned housing development that is expected to reach a population of about 300,000. Near the western margins of Tokyo Metropolis is Chichibu-Tama National Park, a scenic mountain area. The historic districts of Tokyo are mainly to the north and east of the Imperial Palace. In contrast to the more hilly Yamanote, much of this area is called shitamachi (the "low city"), and is the site of the crowded quarters of historic Edo. Kanda is one such district, now known for its many publishing companies, schools and colleges, and residences for students. The Kanda Shrine, one of the oldest in the city, holds a major festival every other year that celebrates the traditional way of life in the city. The Akihabara district nearby is noted as an emporium for Japanese-made electronic goods. Farther to the northeast is Asakusa, a district that developed around an historic temple called Sensoji, or Asakusa Kannon. The district thrived as an entertainment zone from the mid-18th to the early 20th centuries. Today Asakusa continues to attract worshipers to the temple, as well as many shoppers and tourists. Not far away is the commercial center at Ueno and Ueno Park. Beyond the park, the narrow lanes of the Nezu and Yanaka districts preserve the character of the old city's residential quarters. III ECONOMY Tokyo has an enormous economy, with about 800,000 businesses of all kinds and 8 million workers. Service industries, including wholesale and retail trade, finance, and insurance, made up the largest sector of the economy; services accounted for 72 percent of Tokyo's labor force in 1990. Secondary industries ranked second, with 27.5 percent of the labor force. Manufacturing dominates the secondary industries category and comprises about 20 percent of Tokyo's total labor force. Jobs in transportation account for most of the other secondary employment. Primary industries, such as fishing and agriculture, made up 0.5 percent of the economy. The long-term trend is a decline in manufacturing (which employed almost one-third of the labor force in 1970) and greater emphasis on services. Tokyo is especially important as the headquarters for most private companies in Japan, as well as the nation's center for finance, government, communications, and education. It also has the highest concentration of foreign companies doing business in Japan. The focus of Tokyo's service economy is its downtown central business district. This district is fairly large, with many office buildings and businesses located near the grounds of the Imperial Palace. It covers much of the city's three central wards, Ch??, Chiyoda, and Minato. Many of Japan's largest manufacturing corporations, financial institutions, and other companies are headquartered here, as are the Japanese offices of many foreign companies. The Marunouchi district in Ch?? Ward is especially notable as a concentration of company offices, while the famous Ginza area, also in Ch?? Ward, is known for its department stores, specialty shops, art galleries, and many fine restaurants. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is in a district of Ch?? Ward called Kabutocho. There are other important commercial centers outside the central business district at key interchanges of commuter rail lines. The largest of these so-called subcenters is Shinjuku, located on the west side of the heart of the city in Shinjuku Ward. Most of Tokyo's tallest buildings are located here in a planned district of office and hotel towers called New Shinjuku City Center. The offices of Tokyo Metropolitan Government (the equivalent of City Hall) moved to this district from Ch?? Ward in 1991. Other important subcenters include Shibuya, Ikebukuro, and Ueno. The city's largest manufacturing establishments are concentrated along the shores of Tokyo Bay. Here, extending from Tokyo to Yokohama, is the Keihin Industrial Region, the largest industrial complex in Japan. This district produces nearly one-fifth of the nation's total manufactured goods by value. It depends heavily on imported raw materials, and includes sprawling steel mills and shipyards, oil refineries, petrochemical manufacturers, and various assembly plants. There are many different products, including steel, chemicals, machinery, lumber, textiles, cameras and optical goods, electronic equipment, food products, and a wide variety of other consumer goods. There is also considerable manufacturing near the heart of Tokyo, particularly in older sections of the city close to the Sumida River. Manufacturing plants in the urban center are mostly small. In 1985 about 46 percent of the more than 93,000 manufacturing plants in Tokyo Metropolis employed only one to three people, while an additional 36 percent of factories had only four to nine workers. The largest category of manufacturing in Tokyo is printing and publishing, accounting for about 20 percent of all factories in the metropolis and nearly 22 percent of the manufacturing labor force. The port of Tokyo has expanded tremendously in recent years and is now the second largest in Japan (after Yokohama) in value of trade. In 1993 it accounted for approximately 14 percent of all trade by Japan's ports. Reasons for the port's growth include the deepening of sea lanes in Tokyo Bay, large reclamation projects to create room for new facilities and container terminals, and improvements to storage and distribution facilities. The largest categories of exports from the port of Tokyo are machinery, automotive parts, and chemical products. Imports include lumber, machinery, fruits and vegetables, processed foods and beverages, and marine products. Much of Tokyo's trade also goes through the port of Yokohama. That city has a better natural harbor and was developed after 1858 for the specific purpose of serving Tokyo with foreign trade. The first rail line in Tokyo (and in Japan) was constructed in 1872 to connect the city with the port of Yokohama. Since then freight and passenger rail networks have grown enormously, and Tokyo has emerged as the national hub for both. A high-speed passenger rail system known as the shinkansen was inaugurated in 1964. It is often referred to as the "bullet train" because of the speed and the shape of the locomotive. The first line connected Tokyo with ? saka. The line now extends southwest to Hakata on the island of Ky?sh? , and is known as the T?kaid?-San'y? Shinkansen. In 1982 the Tohoku Shinkansen and J?etsu Shinkansen were opened to Morioka in northern Japan and Niigata on the Sea of Japan (East Sea) coast, respectively. Rail and subway lines are extremely important in Tokyo commuting patterns. Some lines are privately owned, such as Keio and Odakyu, while some are operated by branches of Japan Railways and the Tokyo government. In the 23 wards alone, about 27 million passengers use mass transit each day. Tokyo Station, in Ch?? Ward, is the city's central station for commuters and intercity shinkansen traffic. It handles some 2500 trains each day and more than 700,000 passengers. Many other train and subway stations, in addition to bus routes and taxis, serve the downtown as well. Tokyo's busiest station is Shinjuku Station at a key rail interchange on the west side of the city. It handles more than 3 million passengers each day. Trains are notoriously crowded, especially during morning rush hours, and are often filled to more than double their capacity. White-gloved "pushers" are employed to patrol the platforms and shove riders inside jam-packed trains before doors close. The Yamanote Line is Tokyo's most crowded. It forms a loop around the inner part of the city and connects 29 stations, including both Tokyo Station and Shinjuku Station, along its 34.5-km (22-mi), 60-minute run. Much of the street pattern of Tokyo dates to historic times and is made of narrow, crooked lanes that are unsuitable for heavy use by automobiles. The radiating highways and expressways that were put in to modernize the road network are usually badly overcrowded, and traffic moves at a slow pace. Parking is a major problem. A person must provide proof of an off-street, overnight parking space to own a car in Tokyo. Tokyo's major airport is the New Tokyo International Airport, also called Narita Airport. It is located about 65 km (about 40 mi) east of Tokyo in the city of Narita, Chiba Prefecture. It opened in May 1978 as a replacement for the overcrowded Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport). Narita Airport is reached by two railways, the Narita Line and the Keisei Line, as well as limousine bus service. More than 20 million passengers use this airport each year. Narita is also important as an air freight port, particularly for imports of fresh foods, magazines, and newspapers. Haneda Airport, located along Tokyo Bay south of downtown Tokyo, is the city's primary airport for domestic travel. Tokyo Metropolis is the media and communications center of Japan. By the late 1980s the city included many of Japan's media and communications businesses, despite having only about 10 percent of the country's population. In the early 1990s some 2,400 monthly and weekly periodicals were being published in Tokyo. Moreover, there are eight general newspapers published in the city, as well as three economic and industrial newspapers and seven sports newspapers. The newspapers with the largest circulations are Yomiuri Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, and Asahi Shimbun. Tokyo is also the origin of most television and radio programming in Japan. In 1990 Tokyo had more telephone lines than any other city in the world. IV POPULATION The 23 special wards that make up what is considered Tokyo proper had an estimated population of 8,339,695 in 2007. Tokyo Metropolis extends to the west of the central city and has a population of 12,361,736 (2007); it is one of the largest urban areas in the world. Crowding is a serious problem, particularly in the 23 wards and close suburbs. In Tokyo Metropolis the population density is 5,443 persons per sq km (14,097 per sq mi), while in the 23 wards the density is 13,000 persons per sq km (33,670 per sq mi). By contrast, the average density for Japan as whole, itself a crowded country in comparison to other countries, is 328 persons per sq km (850 per sq mi). Problems that relate to crowding include traffic congestion, high land prices and rents, air and noise pollution, lack of open space and greenery, and blocked access to direct sunlight in areas of high-rise construction. Because it is the nation's capital and economic center, Tokyo attracts migrants from all parts of Japan. The number of young migrants is particularly large because they come to Tokyo to attend a college or university and often stay to begin working careers. Tokyo also has many migrants who come for jobs immediately after finishing secondary school. Only about 2 percent of the population is non-Japanese. The largest foreign groups are Koreans, which account for about one-half of all foreigners, Chinese, Americans, and Filipinos. Although the foreign population is a small percentage of the total, it exceeds 250,000 and is growing. The number of guest workers from developing Asian nations such as the Philippines, Iran, and Bangladesh grew especially quickly during the 1980s and early 1990s, both from legal migration and undocumented workers. The growing foreign population reflects expansion of Tokyo's role as a global economic hub. V EDUCATION AND CULTURE Tokyo is Japan's preeminent educational and cultural center. Within Tokyo Metropolis are more than 100 public and private universities (one-fourth of the nation's total), enrolling nearly 30 percent of the nation's university students. The most prestigious national university is the University of Tokyo (founded in 1877); two well-known private universities are Keio University (1858) and Waseda University (1882). Located in the popular Ueno Park are the Tokyo National Museum (1871), which specializes in traditional Japanese art and is the country's largest art museum; the National Museum of Western Art (1959); and the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (1926), which houses collections on the modern art of Japan as well as the Film Center, which has a collection of approximately 10,000 Japanese and foreign films. Also in Ueno Park are the National Museum of Science (1877), a popular attraction for children and school groups, and the municipal zoo. The Nezu Art Museum (1959) is in Aoyama. The Edo-Tokyo Museum, opened in 1993, is in Sumida Ward across the Sumida River from the center of Tokyo. It features exhibits on the history of the city. The National Diet Library (1948), National Archives (1971), and National Museum of Modern Art (1952) are near the Imperial Palace in a district of government buildings. Tokyo is also the national center of performing arts. The city has numerous theaters in which both traditional forms of Japanese drama (such as n ? and kabuki) and modern dramas are performed. Several symphony orchestras and many smaller musical organizations perform both Western and traditional Japanese music. There are also many theaters in Tokyo showing a large range of Japanese and foreign motion pictures. The cultural life of Tokyo also includes many traditional festivals and celebrations. In addition to the Kanda Festival, major festivals that draw people from all over Tokyo and beyond include the Sanno Festival at Hie Shrine and the Sanja Festival at Asakusa Shrine. Other popular celebrations take place at the Meiji Shrine and Yasukuni Shrine. There are also many neighborhood festivals at local shrines. Every year on the last Saturday in July there is an enormous fireworks display over the Sumida River that attracts more than 1 million viewers. When cherry blossoms bloom in spring, Tokyoites like to gather in parks such as Ueno Park, Inokashira Park, and the Shinjuku Gy?en National Gardens for picnics and strolls under the trees. Tokyo Disneyland, located close to the eastern boundary of Tokyo Metropolis in Urayasu city in Chiba Prefecture, is another popular attraction. VI HISTORY The site of Tokyo has been occupied since prehistoric times, but it first appeared in history in the 12th century as an obscure village called Edo ("Gate of the Inlet"), located where the Sumida River joins Tokyo Bay; at that time the waters of the bay and lagoons covered the area that is now the central commercial district. A fortified castle was built at Edo about 1457 by a provincial general named Ota Dokan, but the town had little importance until 1590, when it was taken over by Tokugawa Ieyasu, first of the Tokugawa shoguns (military rulers). In 1603 Tokugawa made Edo the capital of the shogunatel, though the imperial capital remained at Ky?to. The castle was enlarged to be the biggest in the land, and the tidal marshes were filled in. Quick growth of the town was ensured by Tokugawa's order that his daimyo (feudal lords) establish residences at Edo. By the 18th century Edo had become a major center of domestic commerce and arts as well as political authority. Along with the rest of Japan, Tokyo was kept isolated from foreign influences by a policy of national seclusion. This policy was enforced by the shoguns until the arrival of United States naval vessels under the command of Commodore Matthew C. Perry in Tokyo Bay in 1854. With the fall of the shogunate and the beginning of a national revolution known as the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the emperor's court was transferred to Edo and the name of the city was changed to Tokyo. Tokyo has frequently suffered disastrous earthquakes and fires. Major fires occurred in 1657, when Edo Castle was destroyed, and in 1872, when Ginza and other districts were devastated. Ginza was restored with modern, Western-style brick buildings. The most serious disaster in modern history, however, was the earthquake and fire of 1923, which took more than 100,000 lives and destroyed the greater part of the city. In the subsequent reconstruction, which was completed in 1930, more than 200,000 new buildings, including many of Western style, and seven reinforced concrete bridges spanning the Sumida River were erected. Several parks were also laid out. In Yokoamicho Park, the Hall of the Nameless Dead was constructed as a memorial to the approximately 40,000 people killed in the disaster at that site. During World War II (1939-1945) Tokyo suffered heavy damage. The first and most famous air raid on the city occurred on April 18, 1942, five months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. During the air raid a squadron of U.S. Air Force planes under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle bombed the city. Further raids between November 1944 and August 1945 reduced large sections of the city to rubble and ashes. Tokyo was occupied by U.S. troops from September 1945 to April 1952. A period of rapid expansion and renovation began after 1954; environmental problems such as air and water pollution increased with industrialization. Tokyo was the site of the 1964 Summer Olympic Games, and many improvements were made to the city in preparation for hosting the games. These improvements included the construction of several new roads, hotels, the shinkansen system, and a monorail to Haneda Airport, as well as facilities for athletic competitions. Since the 1970s Tokyo has continued the rapid expansion of its urbanized area to distant reaches of the Kant? Plain and to reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay. Also during this time the Tokyo government initiated projects aimed at increasing the city's status as an international metropolis. One major project is Tsukuba, a research and university town that was developed in the 1960s and 1970s in Ibaraki prefecture at the edge of Tokyo's urbanized area. In 1985 it hosted Tsukuba Expo '85, an international science and technology exposition. Another development is Makuhari Messe, an international convention and exhibition facility that was completed in 1989 in suburban Chiba Prefecture. A major project underway is Tokyo Teleport Town, a new commercial subcenter that is being built in Tokyo Bay. It is designed to be a futuristic business center with state-of-the-art communication links from Tokyo and cities all over the world; it also includes a model residential development. In March 1995 a poison gas attack in Tokyo's subway system killed 12 people and injured more than 5,500. Two more gas attacks occurred in April in Yokohama, and another took place in July in Tokyo. Aum Shinrikyo, a religious cult, was implicated in the attacks. These repeated terrorist acts have resulted in public concern over safety in Tokyo and other Japanese cities. Contributed By: Roman A. Cybriwsky Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. 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