Tokyo Branch

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Tokyo, originally known as Edo, rose to political prominence in 1603 when it became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. By the mid-18th century, Edo had evolved from a small fishing village into one of the largest cities in the world, with a population surpassing one million. After the Meiji Restoration (1868), the imperial capital in Kyoto was moved to Edo, and the city was renamed Tokyo (lit. 'Eastern Capital'). Tokyo was greatly damaged by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and by Allied bombing raids during World War II. Beginning in the late 1940s, Tokyo underwent rapid reconstruction and expansion, which fueled the Japanese economic miracle, in which Japan's economy became the second-largest in the world at the time, behind that of the United States. As of 2025, Tokyo is home to 26 of the world's 500 largest companies, as listed in the annual Fortune Global 500. Tokyo was the first city in Asia to host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, in 1964, and also hosted in 2021. It hosted three G7 summits in 1979, 1986, and 1993.

In Their Own Story

On September 1, 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake struck the city, and the earthquake and subsequent fire killed an estimated 105,000 citizens. The loss amounted to 37 percent of the country's economic output. The destruction provided an opportunity to reconsider the planning of the city, which had changed its shape hastily after the Meiji Restoration. The high survival rate of concrete buildings promoted the transition from timber and brick architecture to modern, earthquake-proof construction. The Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, which opened in 1927, is the oldest underground metro line in Asia. Tokyo Station is the central hub for the Shinkansen, the country's high-speed railway network, and the city's Shinjuku Station is the world's busiest train station. Tokyo Skytree is the world's tallest tower.

Reader's Guide

Tokyo's nominal gross domestic output was 120.2 trillion yen (US$887.9 billion) in FY2022 and accounted for 21.2% of Japan's economic output, which converts to 8.43 million yen or US$62,291 per capita. Including the Greater Tokyo Area, Tokyo is the second-largest metropolitan economy in the world after New York, with a 2022 gross metropolitan product estimated at US$2.08 trillion. Although Tokyo's status as a leading global financial hub has diminished with the Lost Decades since the 1990s, when the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) was the world's largest, with a market capitalization about 1.5 times that of the NYSE, Tokyo is still a leading financial hub, and the TSE remains among the world's top five major stock exchanges. Tokyo is categorized as an Alpha+ city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. It ranked 14th in the 2024 edition of the Global Livability Ranking, and has been ranked as the safest city in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Tokyo is an international hub of research and development and an academic center, with several major universities, including the University of Tokyo, the top-ranking university in Japan.

Did You Know?

• Tokyo was originally known as Edo, a name meaning 'estuary' referring to its location at the meeting of the Sumida River and Tokyo Bay.
• The Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, which opened in 1927, is the oldest underground metro line in Asia.
• Tokyo Skytree is the world's tallest tower.
• Shinjuku Station is the world's busiest train station.
• Tokyo was the first city in Asia to host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, in 1964.