Tokyo / Tokio / Tôkyô

東京

Edo, the former name of Tôkyô, the seat of the Japanese government (shogunate) from 1603 to 1868, was renamed Tôkyô, “Eastern Capital”, when Emperor Meiji moved from Kyôto and the country was opened in 1868. Today, the capital with over nine million inhabitants, spread over 23 urban districts (ku). Tôkyô is the largest city in the country and as a metropolitan region – with more then 38 million people – probably the largest gathering of people on earth.