Geography of Tokyo, Japan

Geography of Tokyo, Japan

According to abbreviationfinder, Tokyo is the capital of Japan, located in the center-east of the island of Honshu, specifically in the Kanto region. Together it forms one of the 47 prefectures of Japan, although its official name is metropolis or capital. The city is the center of politics, economy, education, communication and popular culture of the country. It also has the highest concentration of corporate headquarters, financial institutions, universities and colleges, museums, theaters, and commercial and entertainment establishments in all of Japan.

Tokyo is subdivided into 23 neighborhoods (ku); 26 cities (shi); a district (gun) subdivided into three towns (chō or -machi) and a village (son or -mura); and four sub-prefectures (shichō) subdivided into two towns and seven villages, representing several small islands south of Honshu that extend beyond 1,800 km from Shinjuku, capital of the metropolis and seat of the governorate. The center of Tokyo, with its 23 neighborhoods, occupies a third of the metropolis, with a population close to 8,340,000 residents; This area is what is known internationally as the city of Tokyo. Its metropolitan area has 34.5 million residents (2007), thus becoming the largest urban agglomeration in the world.

Although Tokyo is the most common romanization of the name in Japanese, the name of the city is Tokyo in Spanish and other languages, including German and Dutch. In English and other languages Tokyo is written, although formerly Tokyo was also written. In the past, the city was referred to as Tokei, Edo or Yedo. The name of Tokyo is Tokyo.

Tokyo is divided into two main areas: the mainland and the island. The continental area is located on the northwest margin of Tokyo Bay and is located in the center-west of the island of Hondo or Honshu, forming part of the Kanto region. The Image: Tokyo 1.jpg | thumb | right coordinates of the center of Tokyo are 35 ° 41 ‘North, 139 ° 46’ East. It is bordered by Chiba prefecture to the east, Yamanashi to the west, Kanagawa to the south, and Saitama to the north.

The island area of Tokyo encompasses two chains of islands in the Pacific Ocean, heading south: the Izu Islands, which run parallel to the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuok Prefecture, and the Ogasawara Islands that lie more than one thousand kilometers from the mainland area of Tokyo. The most distant is Minami Torishima which is 1,850 kilometers away.

Tokyo includes lakes, rivers, dams, farms, and national parks, in addition to structures that have been built by man. Tokyo is also part of the Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba.

Metropolitan or continental region

Today Tokyo is one of the most important urban centers on the planet. It is one of the main financial centers and the political capital of Japan. The city has fewer skyscrapers compared to other cities of its size, mainly due to the risk of earthquakes. For this reason, most of its buildings do not have more than 10 floors. Tokyo is also home to the most complex train system in the world.

Japanese law designates Tokyo as a to (often translated as “metropolis”). Its administrative structure is similar to that of other Japanese prefectures. The Tokyo metropolitan region includes 23 Special Wards (ku) which, until 1943, comprised the City of Tokyo proper. Tokyo also has 26 satellite cities (shi), five towns (chō or -machi), and eight villages (son or -mura), each of which has its own government.

It can be summarized that Tokyo has three geographical distinctions in its meaning.

Tokyo Prefecture is the local government by the name of Tokyo. Its population is 12,527,115 residents and its surface area is 2,187.08 km². 2. Although there is no municipality called Tokyo, the city of Tokyo as it was known in 1943 Today it is the largest city in Japan, with a population of 8,336,611 residents and an area of 621.3 km². 3. The metropolitan area of ​​the southern region of Kanto, made up of Tokyo and three other neighboring prefectures, is often considered the largest metropolitan area in the world, the Greater Tokyo Area. The four prefectures together have a population of 37,818,369 residents and an area of 13,555.8 km² and make up the Kanto conurbation. It is an urban continuum that constitutes the largest conurbation in Japan and, as has been said, one of the largest in the world if not the largest, with 35% of its surface reclaimed from the sea based on accumulations of gomi. Gomi is a Japanese term derived from the acronym formed by the words Go, which means 5 and Mi, which means 3. This material is obtained from selected and pressed garbage and is used for urban foundations. An estimated 40% of Tokyo stands on gomi.

Climate

Tokyo has a temperate climate, with a relative humidity of 63%. Approximately 45% of the year is rainy days, 40% cloudy days, 10% clear days, and the rest are snowy days. The average temperature in Winter is 4 ° C with occasional snowfall, and in Summer it is 24 ° C. The average annual temperature is 14.7 ° C. Annual precipitation is usually in the form of rain and reaches 152 centimeters per year. The maximum rainfall recorded in one day was in 2003, with 171 mm. Hours of sunshine average 1,894 per year.

Demography

Tokyo has more jobs and places of cultural recreation than any other city in Japan, attracting many people from the rest of the country (especially young people). Its population density is extremely high: 14 thousand people per square kilometer, almost twice as many as New York, being the most populous city in the world.

97% of the population of the prefecture is of Japanese descent. The two main ethnic minority groups in Tokyo are the Chinese and Koreans. See population of Japan.

Religion in Tokyo presents similar patterns to the rest of the country, where Buddhism, Shintoism and other religions coexist. There is a constant syncretism, where it is common for the population to integrate two or more religions into their daily practices. Of the more than 9,000 religious organizations in the prefecture, 38% are Buddhist, 21% are Shinto, and Christianity occupies 13%.

Living place

Tokyo’s huge population has created a huge demand for residences. In the past, most of the city’s residents lived in one- or two-story houses made of wood, each with its own garden, patio and religious chapel (called Butsudan in Buddhist homes). As Tokyo’s population grew, those houses were demolished and apartment buildings were built in their place. Given the immense population density of the region, most of the apartments and houses in the city are small, and are designed for a family of two adults and two or three children.

Despite the intense activity in the construction of buildings, the demand for residences continued to be higher than the supply, which increased the prices of land and rent, especially within the 23 Special Neighborhoods. As a result, beginning in the 1970s, many people left the 23 Special Wards region, moving to Tama (part of Tokyo prefecture), or even more distant neighboring cities. In Tama, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government created a cheap housing project for low-income families. However, these residences are located very far from the main commercial and industrial centers, and many of these workers spend more than four hours a day only within some means of public transport.

Population

By area (data from October 1, 2003)

  • Tokyo: 12.36 million (fixed population)
  • Tokyo: 14.667 million (during the day, when people from other neighboring cities come to Tokyo to work or study)
  • Greater Tokyo (Tokyo and surrounding areas) 30 million residents
  • 23 districts: 8.34 million
  • Tama urban region: 4 million
  • Pacific Islands: 27 thousand

Transport

Tokyo is the largest Japanese connection for national and international travel, because it has train stations, land transport and airports. Transportation in Tokyo has been termed as an extensive network of control of trips, which are carried out quickly and efficiently.

Tokyo, Japan

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