Tokyo Metropolitan Government

Tokyo Metropolis is a metropolitan prefecture comprising 23 special wards, 26 cities, 5 towns and 8 villages. Its population is estimated at about 14.27 million (1 October 2025) on an area of about 2,199.94 km², making it the most densely populated prefecture in Japan.

Originally named Edo, the city began to flourish after Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa Shogunate there in 1603, and by the mid-eighteenth century it had more than a million inhabitants. With the Meiji Restoration of 1868 the Emperor moved to Edo, which was renamed Tokyo and became the capital of Japan. In September 1923 the Great Kanto Earthquake devastated the city, after which a reconstruction plan was drawn up.