which island is the capital city of japan located

Tokyo (東京都 Tōkyō-to, literally "Eastern Capital") (/ˈtoʊkioʊ/, Japanese: [toːkʲoː] ( listen)), officially Tokyo Metropolis,[6] is the capital city of Japan and one of its 47 prefectures.[7] The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world.[8] It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government. Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands.[9] Formerly known as Edo, it has been the de facto seat of government since 1603 when Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters. It officially became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from the old capital of Kyoto in 1868; at that time Edo was renamed Tokyo. Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture (東京府, Tōkyō-fu) and the city of Tokyo (東京市, Tōkyō-shi).

Tokyo

Tokyo is often referred to as a city, but is officially known and governed as a "metropolitan prefecture", which differs from and combines elements of a city and a prefecture, a characteristic unique to Tokyo. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government administers the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo (each governed as an individual city), which cover the area that was the city of Tokyo before it merged and became the metropolitan prefecture in 1943, the 30 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture, and the two outlying island chains. The population of the special wards is over 9 million people, with the total population of the prefecture exceeding 13 million. The prefecture is part of the world's most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 37.8 million people and the world's largest urban agglomeration economy. In 2011, the city hosted 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city in the world, at that time.[10] Tokyo ranked third (twice) in the International Financial Centres Development IndexEdit. The city is also home to various television networks such as Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon Television, NHK and the Tokyo Broadcasting System.

Tokyo ranked first in the Global Economic Power Index and third in the Global Cities Index. The city is considered an alpha+ world city – as listed by the GaWC's 2008 inventory[11] – and in 2014, Tokyo was ranked first in the "Best overall experience" category of TripAdvisor's World City Survey (the city also ranked first in the following categories: "helpfulness of locals", "nightlife", "shopping", "local public transportation" and "cleanliness of streets").[12] In 2015, Tokyo was ranked as the 11th most expensive city for expatriates, according to the Mercer consulting firm,[13] and also the world's 11th most expensive city, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's cost-of-living survey.[14] In 2015, Tokyo was named the Most Liveable City in the world by the magazine Monocle.[15] The Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world.[16][17] Tokyo was ranked first out of all sixty cities in the 2017 Safe Cities Index.[18] The 2016 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked Tokyo as the 3rd-best city in the world to be a university student.[19] Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, the 1979 G-7 summit, the 1986 G-7 summit, and the 1993 G-7 summit, and will host the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Paralympics.

Tokyo was originally known as Edo (江戸), which means "estuary".[20] Its name was changed to Tokyo (東京, Tōkyō, 東 tō "east", and 京 kyō "capital") when it became the imperial capital with the arrival of Emperor Meiji in 1868,[21] in line with the East Asian tradition of including the word capital (京) in the name of the capital city (like Kyoto-京都, Beijing-北京 and Nanjing-南京).[20] During the early Meiji period, the city was also called "Tōkei", an alternative pronunciation for the same characters representing "Tokyo", making it a kanji homograph. Some surviving official English documents use the spelling "Tokei";[22] however, this pronunciation is now obsolete.[23]

The name Tokyo was first suggested in 1813 in the book Kondō Hisaku (ja) (Secret Plan of Commingling), written by Satō Nobuhiro.[citation needed] When Ōkubo Toshimichi proposed the renaming to the government during the Meiji Restoration, according to Oda Kanshi (織田完之),[vague] he got the idea from that book.

Tokyo was originally a small fishing village named Edo,[9] in what was formerly part of the old Musashi Province.[24] Edo was first fortified by the Edo clan, in the late twelfth century. In 1457, Ōta Dōkan built Edo Castle. In 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu made Edo his base. When he became shōgun in 1603, the town became the center of his nationwide military government. During the subsequent Edo period, Edo grew into one of the largest cities in the world with a population topping one million by the 18th century.[25] Edo became the de facto capital of Japan,[26] even while the Emperor lived in Kyoto, the imperial capital. During this time, the city enjoyed a prolonged period of peace known as the Pax Tokugawa, and in the presence of such peace, Edo adopted a stringent policy of seclusion, which helped to perpetuate the lack of any serious military threat to the city.[27] The absence of war-inflicted devastation allowed Edo to devote the majority of its resources to rebuilding in the wake of the consistent fires, earthquakes, and other devastating natural disasters that plagued the city. However, this prolonged period of seclusion came to an end with the arrival of American Commodore Matthew C. Perry in 1853. Commodore Perry negotiated the opening of the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate, leading to an increase in the demand for new foreign goods and subsequently a severe rise in inflation.[28] Social unrest mounted in the wake of these higher prices and culminated in widespread rebellions and demonstrations, especially in the form of the "smashing" of rice establishments.[29] Meanwhile, supporters of the Meiji Emperor leveraged the disruption that these widespread rebellious demonstrations were causing to further consolidate power by overthrowing the last Tokugawa shōgun, Yoshinobu, in 1867.[30] After 265 years, the Pax Tokugawa came to an end.

In 1869, the 17-year-old Emperor Meiji moved to Edo, and in accordance the city was renamed Tokyo (meaning Eastern Capital). The city was divided into Yamanote and Shitamachi. Tokyo was already the nation's political and cultural center,[31] and the emperor's residence made it a de facto imperial capital as well, with the former Edo Castle becoming the Imperial Palace. The city of Tokyo was officially established on May 1, 1889.

Central Tokyo, like Osaka, has been designed since about 1900 to be centered on major railway stations in a high-density fashion, so suburban railways were built relatively cheaply at street level and with their own right-of-way.Though expressways have been built in Tokyo, the basic design has not changed.[citation needed]

Tokyo went on to suffer two major catastrophes in the 20th century: the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, which left 140,000 dead or missing; and World War II.[32]

In 1943, the city of Tokyo merged with the prefecture of Tokyo to form the "Metropolitan Prefecture" of Tokyo. Since then, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government served as both the prefecture government for Tokyo, as well as administering the special wards of Tokyo, for what had previously been Tokyo City. World War II wrought widespread destruction of most of the city due to the persistent Allied air raids on Japan and the use of incendiary bombs. The bombing of Tokyo in 1944 and 1945 is estimated to have killed between 75,000 and 200,000 civilians and left more than half of the city destroyed.[33] The deadliest night of the war came on March 9â€“10, 1945, the night of the American "Operation Meetinghouse" raid;[34] as nearly 700,000 incendiary bombs rained on the eastern half of the city, mainly in heavily residential wards. Two-fifths of the city were completely burned, more than 276,000 buildings were demolished, 100,000 civilians were killed, and 110,000 more were injured.[35][36] Between 1940 and 1945, the population of Japan's capital city dwindled from 6,700,000 to less than 2,800,000, with the majority of those who lost their homes living in "ramshackle, makeshift huts".[37]

After the war, Tokyo was completely rebuilt, and was showcased to the world during the 1964 Summer Olympics. The 1970s brought new high-rise developments such as Sunshine 60, a new and controversial[38] airport at Narita in 1978 (some distance outside city limits), and a population increase to about 11 million (in the metropolitan area).

Tokyo's subway and commuter rail network became one of the busiest in the world[39] as more and more people moved to the area. In the 1980s, real estate prices skyrocketed during a real estate and debt bubble. The bubble burst in the early 1990s, and many companies, banks, and individuals were caught with mortgage backed debts while real estate was shrinking in value. A major recession followed, making the 1990s Japan's "Lost Decade",[40] from which it is now slowly recovering.

Tokyo still sees new urban developments on large lots of less profitable land. Recent projects include Ebisu Garden Place, Tennozu Isle, Shiodome, Roppongi Hills, Shinagawa (now also a Shinkansen station), and the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station. Buildings of significance are demolished for more up-to-date shopping facilities such as Omotesando Hills.[citation needed]

Land reclamation projects in Tokyo have also been going on for centuries. The most prominent is the Odaiba area, now a major shopping and entertainment center. Various plans have been proposed[41] for transferring national government functions from Tokyo to secondary capitals in other regions of Japan, in order to slow down rapid development in Tokyo and revitalize economically lagging areas of the country. These plans have been controversial[42] within Japan and have yet to be realized.

The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that devastated much of the northeastern coast of Honshu was felt in Tokyo. However, due to Tokyo's earthquake-resistant infrastructure, damage in Tokyo was very minor compared to areas directly hit by the tsunami,[43] although activity in the city was largely halted.[44] The subsequent nuclear crisis caused by the tsunami has also largely left Tokyo unaffected, despite occasional spikes in radiation levels.[45][46]

On September 7, 2013, the IOC selected Tokyo to host the 2020 Summer Olympics. Tokyo will be the first Asian city to host the Olympic Games twice.[47]

The mainland portion of Tokyo lies northwest of Tokyo Bay and measures about 90 km (56 mi) east to west and 25 km (16 mi) north to south. The average elevation in Tokyo is 40 m (131 ft).[48] Chiba Prefecture borders it to the east, Yamanashi to the west, Kanagawa to the south, and Saitama to the north. Mainland Tokyo is further subdivided into the special wards (occupying the eastern half) and the Tama area (多摩地域) stretching westwards.

Also within the administrative boundaries of Tokyo Metropolis are two island chains in the Pacific Ocean directly south: the Izu Islands, and the Ogasawara Islands, which stretch more than 1,000 km (620 mi) away from the mainland. Because of these islands and the mountainous regions to the west, Tokyo's overall population density figures far under-represent the real figures for the urban and suburban regions of Tokyo.[citation needed]

Under Japanese law, Tokyo is designated as a to (都), translated as metropolis.[49] Its administrative structure is similar to that of Japan's other prefectures. The 23 special wards (特別区 -ku), which until 1943 constituted the city of Tokyo, are now separate, self-governing municipalities, each having a mayor, a council, and the status of a city.

In addition to these 23 special wards, Tokyo also includes 26 more cities (市 -shi), five towns (町 -chō or machi), and eight villages (村 -son or -mura), each of which has a local government. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which administers the whole metropolis, is headed by a publicly elected governor and metropolitan assembly. Its headquarters are located in Shinjuku Ward.

The special wards (特別区, tokubetsu-ku) of Tokyo comprise the area formerly incorporated as Tokyo City. On July 1, 1943, Tokyo City was merged with Tokyo Prefecture (東京府, Tōkyō-fu) forming the current "metropolitan prefecture". As a result, unlike other city wards in Japan, these wards are not conterminous with a larger incorporated city.[citation needed]

While falling under the jurisdiction of Tokyo Metropolitan Government, each ward is also a borough with its own elected leader and council, like other cities of Japan. The special wards use the word "city" in their official English name (e.g. Chiyoda City).

The wards differ from other cities in having a unique administrative relationship with the prefectural government. Certain municipal functions, such as waterworks, sewerage, and fire-fighting, are handled by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. To pay for the added administrative costs, the prefecture collects municipal taxes, which would usually be levied by the city.[50]

The special wards of Tokyo are:

The "three central wards" of Tokyo – Chiyoda, Chūō and Minato – are the business core of the city, with a daytime population more than seven times higher than their nighttime population.[51] Chiyoda Ward is unique in that it is in the very heart of the former Tokyo City, yet is one of the least populated wards. It is occupied by many major Japanese companies, and is also the seat of the national government, and the Japanese emperor. It is often called the "political center" of the country.[52] Akihabara, known for being an otaku cultural center and a shopping district for computer goods, is also located in Chiyoda.

To the west of the special wards, Tokyo Metropolis consists of cities, towns and villages that enjoy the same legal status as those elsewhere in Japan.

While serving as "bed towns" for those working in central Tokyo, some of them also have a local commercial and industrial base. Collectively, these are often known as the Tama area or Western Tokyo.

Twenty-six cities lie within the western part of Tokyo:

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has designated Hachiōji, Tachikawa, Machida, Ōme and Tama New Town as regional centers of the Tama area,[53] as part of its plans to disperse urban functions away from central Tokyo.

The far west of the Tama area is occupied by the district (gun) of Nishi-Tama. Much of this area is mountainous and unsuitable for urbanization. The highest mountain in Tokyo, Mount Kumotori, is 2,017 m (6,617 ft) high; other mountains in Tokyo include Takasu (1,737 m (5,699 ft)), Odake (1,266 m (4,154 ft)), and Mitake (929 m (3,048 ft)). Lake Okutama, on the Tama River near Yamanashi Prefecture, is Tokyo's largest lake. The district is composed of three towns (Hinode, Mizuho and Okutama) and one village (Hinohara).

Tokyo has numerous outlying islands, which extend as far as 1,850 km (1,150 mi) from central Tokyo. Because of the islands' distance from the administrative headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in Shinjuku, local subprefectural branch offices administer them.

The Izu Islands are a group of volcanic islands and form part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. The islands in order from closest to Tokyo are Izu Ōshima, Toshima, Nii-jima, Shikine-jima, Kōzu-shima, Miyake-jima, Mikurajima, Hachijō-jima, and Aogashima. The Izu Islands are grouped into three subprefectures. Izu Ōshima and Hachijojima are towns. The remaining islands are six villages, with Niijima and Shikinejima forming one village.

The Ogasawara Islands include, from north to south, Chichi-jima, Nishinoshima, Haha-jima, Kita Iwo Jima, Iwo Jima, and Minami Iwo Jima. Ogasawara also administers two tiny outlying islands: Minami Torishima, the easternmost point in Japan and at 1,850 km (1,150 mi) the most distant island from central Tokyo, and Okinotorishima, the southernmost point in Japan. Japan's claim on an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) surrounding Okinotorishima is contested by China and South Korea as they regard Okinotorishima as uninhabitable rocks which have no EEZ. The Iwo chain and the outlying islands have no permanent population, but host Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel. Local populations are only found on Chichi-jima and Haha-jima. The islands form both Ogasawara Subprefecture and the village of Ogasawara, Tokyo.

As of March 31, 2008, 36% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks (second only to Shiga Prefecture), namely the Chichibu Tama Kai, Fuji-Hakone-Izu, and Ogasawara National Parks (the last a UNESCO World Heritage Site); Meiji no Mori Takao Quasi-National Park; and Akikawa Kyūryō, Hamura Kusabana Kyūryō, Sayama, Takao Jinba, Takiyama, and Tama Kyūryō Prefectural Natural Parks.[54]

A number of museums are located in Ueno Park: Tokyo National Museum, National Museum of Nature and Science, Shitamachi Museum and National Museum for Western Art, among others. There are also art works and statues at several places in the park. There is also a zoo in the park, and the park is a popular destination to view cherry blossoms.

Tokyo is near the boundary of three plates, making it an extremely active region for smaller quakes and slippage which frequently affect the urban area with swaying as if in a boat, although epicenters within mainland Tokyo (excluding Tokyo's 2000 km long island jurisdiction) are quite rare. It's not uncommon in the metro area to have hundreds of these such minor quakes (magnitudes 4–6) that can be felt in single year, something local residents merely brush off but can be a source of anxiety to not only to foreign visitors but Japanese from elsewhere as well. They rarely cause much damage (sometimes a few injuries) as they are either too small or far away as quakes tend to dance around the region. Particularly active are offshore regions and to a lesser extent Chiba and Ibaraki.[55]

Tokyo has been hit by powerful megathrust earthquakes in 1703, 1782, 1812, 1855, 1923, and much more indirectly (some liquefaction in landfill zones) in 2011;[56][57] the frequency of direct and large quakes is a relative rarity. The 1923 earthquake, with an estimated magnitude of 8.3, killed 142,000 people, the last time the urban area was directly hit. The 2011 quake focus was hundreds of km away and resulted in no direct deaths in the metropolitan area.

The former city of Tokyo and the majority of mainland Tokyo lie in the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen climate classification Cfa),[58] with warm humid summers and generally cool winters with cold spells. The region, like much of Japan, experiences a one-month seasonal lag, with the warmest month being August, which averages 26.4 °C (79.5 °F), and the coolest month being January, averaging 5.2 °C (41.4 °F). The record low temperature is −9.2 °C (15.4 °F) on January 13, 1876 while the record high is 39.5 °C (103.1 °F) on July 20, 2004.[59] Annual rainfall averages nearly 1,530 millimetres (60.2 in), with a wetter summer and a drier winter. Snowfall is sporadic, but does occur almost annually.[60] Tokyo also often sees typhoons every year, though few are strong. The wettest month since records began in 1876 was October 2004 with 780 millimetres (30 in) of rain,[61] including 270.5 millimetres (10.6 in) on the ninth of that month.[62]

The western mountainous area of mainland Tokyo, Okutama also lies in the humid subtropical climate (KÃ¶ppen classification Cfa).

Tokyo's offshore territories' climates vary significantly from the city. The climate of Chichi-jima in Ogasawara village is on the boundary between the tropical savanna climate (Köppen classification Aw) and the humid subtropical climate (Köppen classification Cfa). It is approximately 1,000 km south of the Greater Tokyo Area resulting in different climatic conditions.

Tokyo's easternmost territory, the island of Minamitorishima in Ogasawara village, is in the tropical savanna climate zone (Köppen classification Aw). Tokyo's Izu and Ogasawara islands are affected by an average of 5.4 typhoons a year, compared to 3.1 in mainland Kantō.[67]

Architecture in Tokyo has largely been shaped by Tokyo's history. Twice in recent history has the metropolis been left in ruins: first in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and later after extensive firebombing in World War II.[68] Because of this, Tokyo's urban landscape consists mainly of modern and contemporary architecture, and older buildings are scarce.[68] Tokyo features many internationally famous forms of modern architecture including Tokyo International Forum, Asahi Beer Hall, Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building and Rainbow Bridge. Tokyo also features two distinctive towers: Tokyo Tower, and the new Tokyo Skytree, which is the tallest tower in both Japan and the world, and the second tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.[69]

Tokyo also contains numerous parks and gardens. There are four national parks in Tokyo Prefecture, including the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, which includes all of the Izu Islands.

Tokyo has enacted a measure to cut greenhouse gases. Governor Shintaro Ishihara created Japan's first emissions cap system, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emission by a total of 25% by 2020 from the 2000 level.[70] Tokyo is an example of an urban heat island, and the phenomenon is especially serious in its special wards.[71][72] According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government,[73] the annual mean temperature has increased by about 3 °C (5.4 °F) over the past 100 years. Tokyo has been cited as a "convincing example of the relationship between urban growth and climate."[74]

In 2006, Tokyo enacted the "10 Year Project for Green Tokyo" to be realised by 2016. It set a goal of increasing roadside trees in Tokyo to 1 million (from 480,000), and adding 1,000 ha of green space 88 of which will be a new park named "Umi no Mori" (sea forest) which will be on a reclaimed island in Tokyo Bay which used to be a landfill.[75] From 2007 to 2010, 436 ha of the planned 1,000 ha of green space was created and 220,000 trees were planted bringing the total to 700,000. In 2014, road side trees in Tokyo have increased to 950,000, and a further 300 ha of green space has been added.[76]

As of October 2012, the official intercensal estimate showed 13.506 million people in Tokyo with 9.214 million living within Tokyo's 23 wards.[77] During the daytime, the population swells by over 2.5 million as workers and students commute from adjacent areas. This effect is even more pronounced in the three central wards of Chiyoda, Chūō, and Minato, whose collective population as of the 2005 National Census was 326,000 at night, but 2.4 million during the day.[78]

In 1889, the Ministry of Home Affairs recorded 1,375,937 people in Tokyo City and a total of 1,694,292 people in Tokyo-fu.[79] In the same year, a total of 779 foreign nationals were recorded as residing in Tokyo. The most common nationality was British (209 residents), followed by United States nationals (182) and nationals of the Qing dynasty (137).[80]

Tokyo
Special wards
Tama Area
Islands

12.79 million
8.653 million
4.109 million
28,000

Juveniles (age 0–14)
Working (age 15–64)
Retired (age 65+)

1.461 million (11.8%)
8.546 million (69.3%)
2.332 million (18.9%)

14.978 million
12.416 million

364,6534 (2.9% of total)

2 as of January 1, 2007.

4 as of January 1, 2006.

Tokyo has the largest metropolitan economy in the world. According to a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Tokyo urban area of 38 million people had a total GDP of $2 trillion in 2012 (at purchasing power parity), which topped that list. 51 of the companies listed on the Fortune Global 500 are based in Tokyo, almost twice that of the second-placed city (Paris).[82]

Tokyo is a major international finance center;[83] it houses the headquarters of several of the world's largest investment banks and insurance companies, and serves as a hub for Japan's transportation, publishing, electronics and broadcasting industries. During the centralised growth of Japan's economy following World War II, many large firms moved their headquarters from cities such as Osaka (the historical commercial capital) to Tokyo, in an attempt to take advantage of better access to the government. This trend has begun to slow due to ongoing population growth in Tokyo and the high cost of living there.

Tokyo was rated by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the most expensive (highest cost-of-living) city in the world for 14 years in a row ending in 2006.[84]

Tokyo emerged as a leading international financial center (IFC) in the 1960s and has been described as one of the three "command centers" for the world economy, along with New York City and London.[85] In the 2017 Global Financial Centres Index, Tokyo was ranked as having the fifth most competitive financial center in the world (alongside cities such as London, New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Sydney, Boston, and Toronto in the top 10), and third most competitive in Asia (after Singapore and Hong Kong).[86] The Japanese financial market opened up slowly in 1984 and accelerated its internationalisation with the "Japanese Big Bang" in 1998.[87] Despite the emergence of Singapore and Hong Kong as competing financial centers, the Tokyo IFC manages to keep a prominent position in Asia. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is Japan's largest stock exchange, and third largest in the world by market capitalization and fourth largest by share turnover. In 1990 at the end of the Japanese asset price bubble, it accounted for more than 60% of the world stock market value.[88] Tokyo had 8,460 ha (20,900 acres) of agricultural land as of 2003,[89] according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, placing it last among the nation's prefectures. The farmland is concentrated in Western Tokyo. Perishables such as vegetables, fruits, and flowers can be conveniently shipped to the markets in the eastern part of the prefecture. Komatsuna and spinach are the most important vegetables; as of 2000, Tokyo supplied 32.5% of the komatsuna sold at its central produce market.[citation needed]

With 36% of its area covered by forest, Tokyo has extensive growths of cryptomeria and Japanese cypress, especially in the mountainous western communities of Akiruno, Ōme, Okutama, Hachiōji, Hinode, and Hinohara. Decreases in the price of timber, increases in the cost of production, and advancing old age among the forestry population have resulted in a decline in Tokyo's output. In addition, pollen, especially from cryptomeria, is a major allergen for the nearby population centers. Tokyo Bay was once a major source of fish. Most of Tokyo's fish production comes from the outer islands, such as Izu Ōshima and Hachijō-jima. Skipjack tuna, nori, and aji are among the ocean products.[citation needed]

Tourism in Tokyo is also a contributor to the economy. In 2006, 4.81 million foreigners and 420 million Japanese visits to Tokyo were made; the economic value of these visits totaled 9.4 trillion yen according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Many tourists visit the various downtowns, stores, and entertainment districts throughout the neighbourhoods of the special wards of Tokyo; particularly for school children on class trips, a visit to Tokyo Tower is de rigueur. Cultural offerings include both omnipresent Japanese pop culture and associated districts such as Shibuya and Harajuku, subcultural attractions such as Studio Ghibli anime center, as well as museums like the Tokyo National Museum, which houses 37% of the country's artwork national treasures (87/233).

The Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world, and also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind. The Tsukiji market holds strong to the traditions of its predecessor, the Nihombashi fish market, and serves some 50,000 buyers and sellers every day. Retailers, whole-sellers, auctioneers, and public citizens alike frequent the market, creating a unique microcosm of organized chaos that still continues to fuel the city and its food supply after over four centuries.[90]

Tokyo, as the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, is Japan's largest domestic and international hub for rail, ground, and air transportation. Public transportation within Tokyo is dominated by an extensive network of clean and efficient[91] trains and subways run by a variety of operators, with buses, monorails and trams playing a secondary feeder role. There are up to 62 electric train lines and more than 900 train stations in Tokyo.[92]

Within Ōta, one of the 23 special wards, Haneda Airport offers domestic and international flights. Outside Tokyo, Narita International Airport, in Chiba Prefecture, is the major gateway for international travelers to Japan. Japan's flag carrier Japan Airlines, as well as All Nippon Airways, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines all have a hub at this airport.

Various islands governed by Tokyo have their own airports. Hachijō-jima (Hachijojima Airport), Miyakejima (Miyakejima Airport), and Izu Ōshima (Oshima Airport) have services to Tokyo International and other airports.

Rail is the primary mode of transportation in Tokyo,[citation needed] which has the most extensive urban railway network in the world and an equally extensive network of surface lines. JR East operates Tokyo's largest railway network, including the Yamanote Line loop that circles the center of downtown Tokyo. Two different organisations operate the subway network: the private Tokyo Metro and the governmental Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation. The Metropolitan Government and private carriers operate bus routes and one tram route. Local, regional, and national services are available, with major terminals at the giant railroad stations, including Tokyo, Shinagawa, and Shinjuku.

Tokyo has many universities, junior colleges, and vocational schools. Many of Japan's most prestigious universities are in Tokyo, including University of Tokyo, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Waseda University, Tokyo University of Science, and Keio University.[94] Some of the biggest national universities in Tokyo are:

There is only one non-national public university: Tokyo Metropolitan University.

There are also a few universities well known for classes conducted in English and for the teaching of the Japanese language. They include:

Tokyo is also the headquarters of the United Nations University.

For an extensive list, see List of universities in Tokyo.

Publicly run kindergartens, elementary schools (years 1 through 6), and Primary schools (7 through 9) are operated by local wards or municipal offices. Public Secondary schools in Tokyo are run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education and are called "Metropolitan High Schools". Tokyo also has many private schools from kindergarten through high school:

Tokyo has many museums. In Ueno Park, there is the Tokyo National Museum, the country's largest museum and specializing in traditional Japanese art; the National Museum of Western Art and Ueno Zoo. Other museums include the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Odaiba; the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Sumida, across the Sumida River from the center of Tokyo; the Nezu Museum in Aoyama; and the National Diet Library, National Archives, and the National Museum of Modern Art, which are near the Imperial Palace.

Tokyo has many theatres for performing arts. These include national and private theatres for traditional forms of Japanese drama. Noteworthy are the National Noh Theatre for noh and the Kabuki-za for kabuki.[95] Symphony orchestras and other musical organisations perform modern and traditional music. Tokyo also hosts modern Japanese and international pop, and rock music at venues ranging in size from intimate clubs to internationally known arenas such as the Nippon Budokan.

Many different festivals occur throughout Tokyo

Harajuku, a neighbourhood in Shibuya, is known internationally for its youth style, fashion[96] and cosplay.

Cuisine in Tokyo is internationally acclaimed. In November 2007, Michelin released their first guide for fine dining in Tokyo, awarding 191 stars in total, or about twice as many as Tokyo's nearest competitor, Paris. As of 2017, 227 restaurants in Tokyo have been awarded (92 in Paris). Twelve establishments were awarded the maximum of three stars (Paris has 10), 54 received two stars, and 161 earned one star.[97]

Tokyo, with a diverse array of sports, is home to two professional baseball clubs, the Yomiuri Giants who play at the Tokyo Dome and Tokyo Yakult Swallows at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. The Japan Sumo Association is also headquartered in Tokyo at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan sumo arena where three official sumo tournaments are held annually (in January, May, and September). Football clubs in Tokyo include F.C. Tokyo and Tokyo Verdy 1969, both of which play at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chōfu, and FC Machida Zelvia at Nozuta Stadium in Machida. Basketball clubs include the Hitachi SunRockers, Toyota Alvark Tokyo and Tokyo Excellence.

Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, thus becoming the first Asian city to host the Summer Games. The National Stadium, also known as the Olympic Stadium, was host to a number of international sporting events. In 2016, it was to be replaced by the New National Stadium. With a number of world-class sports venues, Tokyo often hosts national and international sporting events such as basketball tournaments, women's volleyball tournaments, tennis tournaments, swim meets, marathons, rugby union and sevens rugby games, football, American football exhibition games, judo, and karate. Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, in Sendagaya, Shibuya, is a large sports complex that includes swimming pools, training rooms, and a large indoor arena. According to Around the Rings, the gymnasium has played host to the October 2011 artistic gymnastics world championships, despite the International Gymnastics Federation's initial doubt in Tokyo's ability to host the championships following the March 11 tsunami.[98] Tokyo was selected to host the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Paralympics on September 7, 2013.

As the largest population center in Japan and the site of the country's largest broadcasters and studios, Tokyo is frequently the setting for many Japanese movies, television shows, animated series (anime), web comics, light novels, and comic books (manga). In the kaiju (monster movie) genre, landmarks of Tokyo are routinely destroyed by giant monsters such as Godzilla and Gamera.

Some Hollywood directors have turned to Tokyo as a backdrop for movies set in Japan. Postwar examples include Tokyo Joe, My Geisha, Tokyo Story and the James Bond film You Only Live Twice; recent examples include Kill Bill, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Lost in Translation, Babel, and Inception.

Japanese author Haruki Murakami has based some of his novels in Tokyo (including Norwegian Wood), and David Mitchell's first two novels number9dream and Ghostwritten featured the city. Contemporary British painter Carl Randall spent 10 years living in Tokyo as an artist, creating a body of work depicting the cities crowded streets and public spaces.[99][100][101][102][103]

Tokyo is the founder member of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 and is a member of the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations. Tokyo was also a founding member of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.

As of 2016[update], Tokyo has twinning or friendship agreements with the following twelve cities and states:[104]


when can you call in a missing person

A common misconception is that a person must be absent for at least 24 hours before being legally classed as missing, but this is rarely the case; in instances where there is evidence of violence or of an unusual absence, law enforcement agencies often stress the importance of beginning an investigation promptly.[1][2]

Missing person

A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as his or her location and fate are not known. Laws related to missing persons are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.

A person may go missing due to accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons, including voluntary disappearance. In some countries, missing persons' photographs are posted on bulletin boards, milk cartons, postcards, and websites, to publicize their description.

A child may go missing for several different reasons. When trying to understand how to find and protect missing children, it is important to analyse the causes and effects of a child's disappearance. While criminal abductions are often the most commonly publicised cases of missing children, it only represents between 2â€“5% of missing children in Europe. Many categories of missing children end up in the hands of traffickers forced into sexual or commercial exploitation and abuse.[citation needed]

A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national centers, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.

People disappear for many reasons. Some individuals choose to disappear alone. Reasons for non-identification may include:

In most common law jurisdictions a missing person can be declared dead in absentia (or "legally dead") after seven years. This time frame may be reduced in certain cases, such as deaths in major battles or mass disasters such as the September 11, 2001 attacks.[citation needed]

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2012 that: "It is estimated that some 8 million children go missing around the world each year."[3][4][5] The BBC News reported that of the children who go missing worldwide, "while usually the child is found quickly the ordeal can sometimes last months, even years."[6]

Royal Canadian Mounted Police missing child statistics for a ten-year period[7] show a total of 60,582 missing children in 2007.

The founder of Jamaica's Hear the Children's Cry, child-rights advocate Betty Ann Blaine, asked the government to introduce missing-children legislation in Jamaica.[8] She said in May 2015: "Jamaica is facing a crisis of missing children. Every single month, we have approximately 150 reports of children who go missing. That is a crisis because we are only 2.7 million people." She said her organization would work with the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) to recommend a model law to the Parliament of Jamaica.[8]

In the United Kingdom, The Huffington Post reported in 2012, over 140,000 children go missing each year, as calculated by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) of the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency.[9][10]

In the United States, 800,000 children were going missing annually according to a 2002 government study.[3] These figures have been widely circulated in the popular press.[3][4][5][6][11][12]

As the findings from the 2002 Second National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART–2) study summary by the US Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) indicate, a child can be missing for many reasons, including "Nonfamily abductions", "Family abductions," "Runaway/thrownaway episodes," "Missing involuntary, lost, or injured events," and "Missing benign explanation situations."[12] NISMART–2 defined a missing child both with regard to children who were missing from their caretakers, and children who were missing from their caretakers and reported to an agency for assistance locating the missing children.[12] NISMART–2 considered a child as missing "when the child experienced a qualifying episode during which the child's whereabouts were unknown to the primary caretaker, with the result that the caretaker was alarmed for at least 1 hour and tried to locate the child. For an episode to qualify, the child had to be younger than 18 and the situation had to meet the specific criteria for one of the [above] NISMART–2 episode types."[12] The study was based on data derived from four NISMART–2 studies – a Law Enforcement Study, National Household Surveys of both Adult Caretakers and Youth (using computer-aided telephone interviewing methodology), and a Juvenile Facilities Study.[12][13] The study summary noted that "it is important to recognize that nearly all of the caretaker missing children (1,312,800 or 99.8 percent) were returned home alive or located by the time the study data were collected. Only a fraction of a percent (0.2 percent or 2,500) of all caretaker missing children had not returned home or been located, and the vast majority of these were runaways from institutions...."[12]

The United States' National Crime Information Center (NCIC) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, mandated by the National Child Search Assistance Act, maintains its own "Missing Person File" to which local police report people for whom they are searching.[14][15][16] The NCIC "Missing Person File" does have a category that is entitled "Juvenile" or "EMJ", but that category does not reflect the total number of all juveniles reported missing to the NCIC, for whom local police are searching.[16] The NCIC also uses its own classification criteria; it does not use the above NISMART definitions of what constitutes a missing child.[17] The NCIC data is limited to individuals who have been reported to the NCIC as missing, and are being searched for, by local police.[14][16][17] In addition, the EMJ category does not contain all reports of juveniles who have been reported missing to the NCIC.[16] While the EMJ category holds records of some of the juveniles reported missing, the totals for the EMJ category excludes those juveniles recorded missing but who "have a proven physical or mental disability... are missing under circumstances indicating that they may be in physical danger... are missing after a catastrophe... [or] are missing under circumstances indicating their disappearance may not have been voluntary".[16] In 2013, the NCIC entered 445,214 "EMJ" reports (440,625 in the EMJ category under the age of 18; but 462,567 under the age of 18 in all categories, and 494,372 under the age of 21 in all categories), and NCIC's total reports numbered 627,911.[16] Of the children under age 18, a total of 4,883 reports were classified as "missing under circumstances indicating that the disappearance may not have been voluntary, i.e., abduction or kidnapping" (9,572 under age 21), and an additional 9,617 as "missing under circumstances indicating that his/her physical safety may be in danger" (15,163 under age 21).[18] The total missing person records entered into NCIC were 661,593 in 2012, 678,860 in 2011 (550,424 of whom were under 21), 692,944 in 2010 (531,928 of whom were under 18, and 565,692 of whom were under 21), and 719,558 in 2009.[16][19][20] A total of 630,990 records were cleared or canceled during 2013.[16] At end-of-year 2013, NCIC had 84,136 still-active missing person records, with 33,849 (40.2%) being of juveniles under 18, and 9,706 (11.5%) being of juveniles between 18 and 20.[16]

In Salt Lake City, Utah, a filed missing persons report led to additional criminal leads which included an outstanding warrant for drug-related crimes pertaining to "Marilee Joann Borden" in conjunction with the discovery of a deceased person.[21] Third parties are also available in the United States, but can be expensive yielding limited results. These resources are in the form of bounty hunters and private investigators.[22]

250,000 children are reported missing every year in Europe. The 3 largest group of missing children are runaways (50–60%) followed by parental abductions (25–30%) and missing unaccompanied migrant minors (2–10%). Criminal third party abductions make up 2–5% of cases.

116 000 is the European hotline for missing children active in 26 countries in the EU as well as Albania and Serbia. The hotline was an initiative pushed for by Missing Children Europe, the European federation for missing and sexually exploited children and realised through the European insititutions.

The Council of Europe estimates that about 1 in 5 children in Europe are victims of some form of sexual violence. In 70% to 85% of cases, the abuser is somebody the child knows and trusts. Child sexual violence can take many forms: sexual abuse within the family circle, child pornography and prostitution, corruption, solicitation via Internet and sexual assault by peers. In some of the cases, with no other available option, children flee their homes and care institutions, in search of a better and safer life.

Of the 50â€“60% of child runaways reported by the 116 000 European missing children hotline network, 1 in 6 are assumed to rough sleep on the run, 1 in 8 resort to stealing to survive and 1 in 4 children are at serious risk of some form of abuse. The number of rough sleeping children across Europe is on the rise. These runaways fall into vulnerable situations of sexual abuse, alcohol abuse and drug abuse leading to depression. Runaways are 9 times likelier to have suicidal tendencies than other children. The Children's Society published a report in 2011 on recommendations to the government to keep child runaways safe.

The issue of child disappearances is increasingly recognized as a concern for national and international policy makers especially in cross border abduction cases, organized child trafficking and child pornography as well as the transient nature of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum.

According to the UNHCR, over 15,000 unaccompanied and separated children claimed asylum in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland in 2009. The precarious situation of these children makes them particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses, rendering their protection critical, given the high risks to which they are exposed. Most of these children are boys aged 14 years and over, with diverse ethnic, cultural, religious and social backgrounds mainly originating from Afghanistan, Somalia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea and Iraq.

Among exploiters taking advantage of the children, are sometimes their own relatives who gain benefit in the form of social and/or family allowances. According to research done by Frontex, some types of threats faced by unaccompanied migrant minors include sexual exploitation in terms of pornography, prostitution and the internet; economic exploitation including forced donation of organs; criminal exploitation including drug smuggling and child trafficking including forced marriage and begging.

Criminal networks are heavily involved with human trafficking to the EU and this includes also exploitation of minors as manpower in the sex trade and other criminal activities. According to a 2007 UNICEF report on Child Trafficking in Europe, 2 million children are being trafficked in Europe every year. Child trafficking occurs in virtually all countries in Europe. There is no clear-cut distinction between countries of origin and destination in Europe. Trafficking in children has been perceived mainly in connection with sexual exploitation, but the reality is much more complex. Children in Europe are also trafficked for exploitation through labour, domestic servitude, begging, criminal activities and other exploitative purposes.

In the report, UNICEF also warns that there is a dramatic absence of harmonized and systematic data collection, analysis and dissemination at all levels without which countries lack important evidence that informs national policies and responses. Missing Children Europe, the European federation for missing children, aims to meet this need. MCE will launch a harmonized case management and data collection software for the 116 000 European hotline network for missing children in 2014. The hotline is currently operational is 25 EU MS. The CRM system is expected to have a clear impact on the way hotlines are able to work together and collect data on the problem of missing children.

The British Asylum Screening Unit estimated that 60% of the unaccompanied minors accommodated in social care centres in the UK go missing and are not found again. In the UK these open centres, from where minors are able to call their traffickers, act as 'human markets' for the facilitators and traffickers who generally collect their prey within 24 hours of arrival in the UK. According to the CIA out of the 800,000 people trafficked annually across national borders in the world, up to 50% are minors.

The United Nations is operating a Commission on Missing Persons that serves as an international coordination center and provides also statistical material regarding missing persons worldwide. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement strives to clarify the fate and whereabouts of missing persons when loss of contact is due to armed conflict or other situations of violence; natural or man-made disaster; migration and in other situations of humanitarian need. It is also supporting the families of missing persons to rebuild their social lives and find emotional well-being.[23]

On May 26, 2002, a monument to missing persons was unveiled in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland by President Mary McAleese. It was the first monument of its kind in the world.[24]