Akatsuki no Kyūshū

Tokyo is Japan's capital city and prefecture. Defined by city proper area, it was the world's 12th largest city in 2018, with 13,515,271 residents. The history of Tokyo starts with archaeological remains in the area from around 5,000 years ago. Tokyo's oldest temple is possibly Sensō-ji in Asakusa, founded in 628. The city's original name, Edo, first appears in the 12th century. From 1457 to 1640, Edo Castle was constructed, and it became the city's center. Tokugawa Ieyasu, after conquering Edo's island of Honshu in 1600, chose Edo to replace Kyoto as Japan's capital. Japan's monarchy at Kyoto became a symbolic entity, as actual power was given to Edo's Tokugawa shogunate. By the 1650s, Edo became Japan's largest city, and by 1720, it was the world's largest. The Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 killed around 108,000 people. After Japan opened itself to most foreigners in 1854, there was conflict over Japan's governance which led to the Boshin War and Meiji Restoration. The shogunate was dissolved, and the monarchy's powers were restored at Edo, renamed Tokyo. The city was destroyed by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, and Allied bombings during World War II. Over 100,000 people died from the United States' 1945 bombings known as Operation Meetinghouse. After Japan surrendered to the Allies later that year, the U.S. occupied the country until 1952. The post-war Japanese economic miracle and the 1964 Summer Olympics allowed Tokyo to rebuild and grow. Its residents' transportation needs were met by the interlocking of the Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway, and Shinkansen. In the 1990s, Japan entered a period of economic stagnation called the Lost Decades, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic which scaled back the 2020 Summer Olympics.