Tokyo

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History

The site of Tokyo has been inhabited since ancient times, and there have been multiple Paleolithic period (around 40,000–16,000 BC) sites found in present-day Tokyo. During the subsequent Jomon period, the Holocene glacial retreat caused sea levels in Tokyo Bay to rise by 120 cm, with the coastline running along the edge of what is now the Imperial Palace. Middens such as the Omori Shell Mounds still mark where the coastline ran in those days. The Yayoi period, during which agriculture spread across the country, is named after the Yayoi 2-chōme Site in Bunkyo, where the first example of Yayoi pottery was excavated in 1884 by Shozo Arisaka. In 534, a large-scale conflict was recorded in the region, as a result of which Kasahara no Omi, the victor, was appointed Kuni no Miyatsuko (provincial governor) by Emperor Ankan. Senso-ji in Asakusa was founded in 645. Under the Ritsuryō system established during the Asuka period, most of present-day Tokyo was part of Musashi Province. Following the fall of the Kingdom of Baekje after the Battle of Baekgang in the 660s, thousands of refugees were resettled in Musashi. During the Heian period, Edo was first fortified by the Edo clan in the late twelfth century, and in 1457, Ōta Dōkan built Edo Castle to defend the region from the Chiba clan. After Dōkan was assassinated in 1486, the Ohgigayatsu branch of the Uesugi clan took control of the castle and the surrounding area. However, the Later Hōjō clan replaced them after the Battle of Takanawahara in 1524, only to be defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the Siege of Odawara in 1590. Following the siege of Odawara, Tokugawa Ieyasu was granted the Kantō region and moved there from his ancestral land of Mikawa Province. When he became shōgun, the de facto ruler of the country, in…

Geography

The mainland portion of Tokyo lies northwest of Tokyo Bay and measures about east to west and north to south. The average elevation in Tokyo is . 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 () stretching westwards. Tokyo has a latitude of 35.65 (near the 36th parallel north), which makes it more southern than Rome (41.90), New York City (40.71) and Beijing (39.91). 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 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. The former city of Tokyo and the majority of Tokyo prefecture lie in the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen climate classification: Cfa), with hot, humid summers and cool winters with occasional cold spells. The region, like much of Japan, experiences a one-month seasonal lag. The warmest month is August, which averages . The coolest month is January, averaging . The record low temperature was on January 13, 1876. The record high was on July 20, 2004. The record highest low temperature is , on August 11, 2013. Annual rainfall averages nearly , with a wetter summer and a drier winter. The growing season in Tokyo lasts for about 322 days from around mid-February to early January. Snowfall is sporadic and occurs almost annually. Tokyo often sees typhoons every year, though few are strong. The wettest month since records began in 1876…

Most-observed species

• Brown-eared Bulbul

  Hypsipetes amaurotis (Temminck, 1830) · Aves
  25,929
• Eurasian Tree Sparrow

  Passer montanus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,632
• Eastern Spot-billed Duck

  Anas zonorhyncha Swinhoe, 1866 · Aves
  22,212
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  21,743
• Large-billed Crow

  Corvus macrorhynchos Wagler, 1827 · Aves
  19,560
• White Wagtail

  Motacilla alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  17,814
• White-cheeked Starling

  Spodiopsar cineraceus (Temminck, 1835) · Aves
  17,808
• Great Cormorant/European Shag

  Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  17,010

Most recent

• M 5.7 — 2026-06-26
  7 km N of Oshino, Japan
• M 5.8 — 2026-06-26
  3 km SE of Yokoshiba, Japan
• M 4.5 — 2026-06-26
  5 km NE of Noda, Japan
• M 4.2 — 2026-06-18
  16 km SE of Ōhara, Japan
• M 5.5 — 2026-06-16
  4 km NW of Noda, Japan
• M 3.7 — 2026-05-29
  4 km ESE of Mobara, Japan