Tokyo

Japan’s capital, Tokyo is among the world’s most energetic cities with an aura that creates more than just sheer vigor in every visitor.  It brings together the most contemporary marvels of technology, architecture, and commerce that brush shoulder with the old and the traditional.  It’s a city where the burning rhythms of shopper culture crash with the more hushed moments lingering from older customs, and where its frantic city madness is softened by its most calm sceneries.   Tokyo has definitely something for anyone who’s everyone. 

Tokyo is among the forty-seven prefectures of Japan; however, it is dubbed as a metropolis than referred to as a prefecture.  Tokyo metropolis encompass twenty-three wards, twenty-six cities, five towns, and eight villages, counting Ogasawara and Izu islands, a number of little Pacific Islands found south of Japan’s major island Honshu.

At Tokyo’s center are the twenty-three city wards, which make up approximately one third of its metropolis’ area, at the same time as housing about eight of its roughly 12 million residents.  Until 1868, the metropolis was identified as Edo, a little 16th century castle town that became a political center of Japan in 1603 after Tokugawa leyasu founded his feudal regime there. Some decades later, Edo had become one of the most populous cities in the world. 

In 1868, with Meiji Restoration, the capital and emperor were moved to Edo from Kyoto, thereby renaming Edo to Tokyo or “Eastern Capital”.  In 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake destroyed huge areas of Tokyo, as well as the 1945 air raids.  Today, Tokyo stands as one of the great cities to visit, as well as the safest with extremely rare crime rate.  Although occasionally, like any other place in Japan, it still is shaken with earthquakes, the majority of which are completely harmless. 

Tokyo has also a lot to offer when it comes to marvelous sights; however, among the first places on the list of items to visit for the majority of tourists include the Meiji Shrine, the temples of Asakusa, and the Imperial Palace’s gardens.  The Tokyo Tower is the place to go for travelers seeking a viewing stage, but it’s quite an expensive choice. The metropolis is dotted with large and small museums, as well as great shopping centers, gastronomic restaurants, and excellent lodgings.

Tokyo is a destination of brilliant diversity from the usual places of travel, as most first- time visitors say, it’s like entering another planet, so be sure you’re ready for the culture shock that the majority of western travelers have encountered; always learn more about the place, it pays to be able to say “Arrigato Gozaimasu” to anyone deserving a “thank you”.