History of Tokyo

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 Kyōto.

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 Kantō 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.