Tokyo
is Japan's capital and the country's largest city.
Tokyo
is also one of Japan's 47 prefectures, but is called a metropolis.The
metropolis of Tokyo consists of 23 city wards, 26 cities, 5 towns
and 8 villages, including the Izu and Ogasawara Islands.
The
23 city wards are the center of Tokyo and
make up about one third of the metropolis' area.
Prior
to 1868, Tokyo was known as Edo. A small castle town in the 16th
century, Edo became Japan's political center in 1603
when Tokugawa Ieyasu established his feudal government there.
Decades later, Edo had grown into one of the world's most populous
cities.