Tóquio

The province

Get to know Tóquio

Tokyo is Japan’s capital and one of the world’s largest urban areas. Officially a metropolis, it has 23 special wards at its core, cities to the west such as Hachiōji and Mitaka, and islands in the Pacific: the Izu Islands and, about 1,000 km away, the Ogasawara Islands, a UNESCO natural heritage site since 2011. The city was called Edo until 1868, when the emperor left Kyoto and moved here.

In the east, Asakusa hosts Senso-ji, the city’s oldest temple, with the Kaminarimon gate and the Nakamise shopping street. Across the Sumida River stands the Tokyo Skytree, 634 meters tall with observation decks. Ueno Park brings together the Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Western Art, designed by Le Corbusier and part of a UNESCO site. Akihabara concentrates electronics, manga and game shops.

In the center are the Imperial Palace, whose east gardens are open to visitors, and the shops of Ginza. To the west, Shibuya has the country’s best-known pedestrian crossing; Harajuku and Omotesandō offer fashion boutiques; and the Meiji Shrine sits in a forest planted in the early 20th century. Shinjuku has skyscrapers, the Shinjuku Gyoen garden and the observation deck of the metropolitan government building, which has free entry. The outer Tsukiji market and the artificial island of Odaiba complete the bay side.

The city has thousands of restaurants, from ramen and sushi counters to izakaya, and neighborhoods with distinct character, like Yanaka, with old streets, and Shimokitazawa. To the west, Mount Takao has trails about an hour from the center. The Ogasawara Islands are reachable only by ship, a trip of roughly one day.