Japanische Städte
日本の都市
Japanese cities
Between 1603 and 1868 – in the Edo era – urban development in Japan was characterised by the three metropolises (santo): Edo/ later Tôkyô, the largest Japanese city, Ôsaka, which was the economic centre, and the capital Kyôto, as a cultural and craft industrial centre. In addition to these three metropolises, there were around 200 castle towns (jōkamachi), as well as smaller post towns (shukubamachi), harbour towns (minato), market towns (ichibamachi) and religious centres (monzenmachi). Today Japanese society has become predominantly urbanised; about 95% of the population lives in cities. There are 25 Japanese cities of about 500,000 inhabitants (as of 2023).