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142-686: In the Japanese police organization, only the Metropolitan Police Department becomes "the bureau" where the security police branch becomes independent. In other prefectural police forces, the Public Security Section and Foreign Affairs Division are installed in a Security Department. Tokyo is seen as an exception since it had been working with the Japanese National Police Agency for the longest time since they share

284-461: A Korean university, as well as banks and other facilities in Japan. Chongryon schools teach a strong pro-North Korean ideology. In recent years, the organization has run into severe financial trouble, with debts of over US$ 750 million, and was ordered by court in 2012 to dispose of most of its assets, including its Tokyo headquarters. According to an interview with Mitsuhiro Suganuma, former head of

426-585: A Russian GRU operative, who was identified as Aleksei Shchelkonogov. Three activists of the Tachikawa Jieitai Kanshi Tentomura had been said to be prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International when they had arrested by police with the PSB investigating them for conducting anti-war activities after illegally entering an SDF housing complex in Tachikawa in 2004. PSB officers had been involved in

568-507: A bamboo grove inside Chongryon's school in Mito . The Zaitokukai received criticism from a District Court for harassing Chongryon-affiliated schoolchildren. The Japanese authorities have recently started to crack down on Chongryon activities, moves usually criticised by Chongryon as acts of political suppression. The first raid on Chongryon facilities was in 1994, when a rally held in Osaka by Rescue

710-534: A goal of increasing roadside trees in Tokyo to 1 million (from 480,000), and adding 1,000 ha (2,500 acres) of green space, 88 ha (220 acres) of which will be a new park named "Umi no Mori" (Sea Forest) which will be on a reclaimed island in Tokyo Bay which used to be a landfill. From 2007 to 2010, 436 ha (1,080 acres) of the planned 1,000 ha of green space was created and 220,000 trees were planted, bringing

852-432: A lesser extent Chiba and Ibaraki . Tokyo has been hit by powerful megathrust earthquakes in 1703, 1782, 1812, 1855, 1923, and much more indirectly (with some liquefaction in landfill zones) in 2011 ; the frequency of direct and large quakes is a relative rarity. The 1923 earthquake , with an estimated magnitude of 7.9, killed more than 100,000 people, the last time the urban area was directly hit. Mount Fuji

994-468: A local government. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government administers the whole metropolis including the 23 special wards and the cities and towns that constitute the prefecture. It is headed by a publicly elected governor and metropolitan assembly. Its headquarters is in Shinjuku Ward. The governor of Tokyo is elected every four years. The incumbent governor, Yuriko Koike , was elected in 2016, following

1136-508: A long time, Chongryon enjoyed unofficial immunity from searches and investigations, partly out of respect for its role as North Korea's de facto embassy, and partly due to its power as an ethnic political pressure group . However, escalating tensions between Japan and North Korea over a number of issues, namely its nuclear weapons programme , firing of missiles over Japan and abduction of Japanese nationals has led to protests and public animosity against Chongryon due to its active support of

1278-462: A major shopping and entertainment center. Various plans have been proposed for transferring national government functions from Tokyo to secondary capitals in other regions of Japan, to slow down rapid development in Tokyo and revitalize economically lagging areas of the country. These plans have been controversial within Japan and have yet to be realized. On September 7, 2013, the IOC selected Tokyo to host

1420-555: A member of Chongryon's central standing committee and a former head of its financial bureau, among other Chongryon officials, who admitted diverting $ 6.5 million on behalf of Chongryon from the Tokyo Chogin, a credit union set up to serve pro-North Korean residents which failed in 1999. About 400 Chongryon supporters scuffled with police after they gathered in protest at what they called an act of political suppression and racial discrimination. In 2002, Shotaro Tochigi, deputy head of

1562-521: A passenger and cargo ferry which linked Niigata in Japan to Wonsan in North Korea, which served as the only direct link between the two countries, and is a subject of much controversy. The ferry was barred from entering the Japanese port for six months in response to North Korea's July 2006 missile tests and was banned indefinitely following the 2006 North Korean nuclear test due to suspicions of smuggling electronics used in missiles. The Congress,

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1704-728: A representative body of overseas North Korean citizens living in Japan and rejects the notion that they are a mere ethnic minority. Out of the two main Korean organisations in Japan, Chongryon has been the more militant in advocating retention of Korean ethnic identity. It is generally opposed to Korean-Japanese integration into Japanese society; for example, it discourages its members from naturalising as Japanese citizens or marrying Japanese (which it calls an "international marriage"). It even rejects Zainichi Koreans' right to vote or participate in Japanese regional elections, which it sees as an unacceptable attempt at assimilation into Japanese society. This

1846-572: A suspected agent of the SVR since the 1960s when he left Japan in 1995 and reentered the country several times before being unaccounted for when the spy used a Japanese name to obtain a Japanese passport in Vienna. An ex- Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces warrant officer had been investigated by the PSB in 2002 for divulging military secrets under the Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement to

1988-422: A total of four separate units. On March 19, 2021, the PSB completed reorganizing its units and their work would start by April 1, 2021 with 30 more officers assigned to the new units. On December 25, 2022, the PSB produced a promotional video and starred Rena Nōnen aka Non on the dangers of foreign-backed corporate espionage. The PSB had failed in securing a Russian man wanted for spying in Japanese territory as

2130-490: 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 was October 2004, with 780 millimeters (30 in) of rain, including 270.5 mm (10.65 in) on the ninth of that month. The most recent of four months on record to observe no precipitation

2272-520: A world city is said to have depreciated greatly during these three decades. Nonetheless, Tokyo still saw new urban developments during this period. Recent projects include Ebisu Garden Place, Tennōzu Isle , Shiodome , Roppongi Hills , Shinagawa , and the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station . Land reclamation projects in Tokyo have also been going on for centuries. The most prominent is the Odaiba area, now

2414-677: Is Shofukuji in Higashi-Murayama . The current building was constructed in 1407, during the Muromachi period (1336–1573). Although greatly reduced in number by later fires, earthquakes, and air raids, a considerable number of Edo-era buildings survive to this day. The Tokyo Imperial Palace , which was occupied by the Tokugawa Shogunate as Edo Castle during the Edo Period (1603–1868), has many gates and towers dating from that era, although

2556-527: Is 40 m (131 ft). 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 ( 多摩地域 ) stretching westwards. Tokyo has a latitude of 35.65 (near the 36th parallel north ), which makes it more southern than Rome (41.90), Madrid (40.41), New York City (40.71) and Beijing (39.91). Within

2698-473: Is December 1995. Annual precipitation has ranged from 879.5 mm (34.63 in) in 1984 to 2,229.6 mm (87.78 in) in 1938. See or edit raw graph data . Tokyo's climate has warmed significantly since temperature records began in 1876. The western mountainous area of mainland Tokyo, Okutama also lies in the humid subtropical climate (Köppen classification: Cfa ). The climates of Tokyo's offshore territories vary significantly from those of

2840-512: Is about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Tokyo. There is a low risk of eruption. The last recorded was the Hōei eruption which started on December 16, 1707, and ended about January 1, 1708 (16 days). During the Hōei eruption, the ash amount was 4 cm in southern Tokyo (bay area) and 2 cm to 0.5 cm in central Tokyo. Kanagawa had 16 cm to 8 cm ash and Saitama 0.5 to 0 cm. If

2982-431: Is in contrast to Mindan, which is campaigning for wider Zainichi Korean participation in Japanese politics. Chongryon members primarily consist of those who have retained their registration as Joseon nationals (Japanese: Chōsen-seki ), instead of taking or being born with Japanese or South Korean nationality. Joseon nationality was a legal status that the Japanese government defined in the aftermath of World War II, when

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3124-515: Is in the tropical savanna climate zone (Köppen classification: Aw ). Tokyo's Izu and Ogasawara islands are affected by an average of 5.4 typhoons a year, compared to 3.1 in mainland Kantō. Tokyo is near the boundary of three plates , making it an extremely active region for smaller quakes and slippage which frequently affect the urban area with swaying as if in a boat, although epicenters within mainland Tokyo (excluding Tokyo's 2,000 km (1,243 mi)–long island jurisdiction) are quite rare. It

3266-465: Is located on the Kantō Plain with five river systems and dozens of rivers that expand during each season. Important rivers are Edogawa , Nakagawa , Arakawa , Kandagawa , Megurogawa and Tamagawa . In 1947, Typhoon Kathleen struck Tokyo, destroying 31,000 homes and killing 1,100 people. In 1958, Typhoon Ida dropped 400 mm (16 in) of rain in a single week, causing streets to flood. In

3408-458: Is not uncommon in the metro area to have hundreds of these minor quakes (magnitudes 4–6) that can be felt in a single year, something local residents merely brush off but can be a source of anxiety not only for foreign visitors but for Japanese from elsewhere as well. They rarely cause much damage (sometimes a few injuries) as they are either too small or far away as quakes tend to dance around the region. Particularly active are offshore regions and to

3550-597: Is the central hub for the Shinkansen , Japan's high-speed railway network, and Shinjuku Station in Tokyo is the world's busiest train station. The city is home to the world's tallest tower, Tokyo Skytree . The Tokyo Metro Ginza Line , which opened in 1927, is the oldest underground metro line in Asia–Pacific . Tokyo's nominal gross domestic output was 113.7 trillion yen or US$ 1.04 trillion in FY2021 and accounted for 20.7% of

3692-418: Is the high school equivalency examination, daiken , that qualifies those who have not graduated from a regular high school to apply for a place in a state university and take an entrance exam. Until recently, only those who had completed compulsory education (i.e., up to junior high school) were entitled to take the daiken ; this meant pupils of ethnic schools had to do extra courses before being allowed to take

3834-527: Is the third-smallest, above only Osaka and Kagawa . Its administrative structure is similar to that of Japan's other prefectures . The 23 special wards ( 特別区 , tokubetsu-ku ) , which until 1943 constituted the city of Tokyo , are self-governing municipalities , each having a mayor, a council, and the status of a city. In addition to these 23 special wards, Tokyo also includes 26 more cities ( 市 -shi ), five towns ( 町 -chō or machi ), and eight villages ( 村 -son or -mura ), each of which has

3976-523: The Dong-A Ilbo , the Chongryon cooperated with Nike to make an advertisement addressing problems of Zainichi Koreans in 2020. On 28 May 2022, Kim Jong Un sent a 10,000-character letter to the members. Chongryon operates 140 ethnic Korean schools ( Chōsen gakkō 朝鮮学校 or chosǒn hakkyo 조선학교 ) across Japan, including kindergartens and one university, Korea University , initially partly funded by

4118-489: The 1952 May Day riots . In 1952, the North Korean leader Kim Il Sung called on the socialist Zainichi Korean movement to be coordinated in close contact with the North Korean government, and to fight, not for a socialist revolution in Japan, but for the socialist reunification of the Korean peninsula . Chongryon was established on 25 May 1955 by Han Duk-su , who was an activist for leftist labor movements in Japan. In

4260-467: The 1973 oil crisis put an end to the rapid post-war recovery and development of Japan's economy, its position as the world's second-largest economy at the time had seemed secure by that point, remaining so until 2010 when it was surpassed by China . Tokyo's development was sustained by its status as the economic, political, and cultural hub of such a country. In 1978, after years of the intense Sanrizuka Struggle , Narita International Airport opened as

4402-601: The 2020 Summer Olympics . Thus, Tokyo became the first Asian city to host the Olympic Games twice. However, the 2020 Olympic Games were postponed and held from July 23 to August 8, 2021, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic . Under Japanese law , the prefecture of Tokyo is designated as a to ( 都 ) , translated as metropolis . Tokyo Prefecture is the most populous prefecture and the densest, with 6,100 inhabitants per square kilometer (16,000/sq mi); by geographic area it

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4544-567: The Arakawa River are most at risk of flooding. Tokyo's buildings are too diverse to be characterized by any specific archtectural style, but it can be generally said that a majority of extant structures were built in the past a hundred years; twice in recent history has the metropolis been left in ruins: first in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and later after extensive firebombing in World War II . The oldest known extant building in Tokyo

4686-572: The Comecon countries. Chongryon supporters are thought to control as much as one third of the pachinko industry in Japan. An important function of these enterprises is earning hard currency to be remitted to Pyongyang. These remittances have been estimated at between $ 600 million and $ 1.9 billion each year but are probably much lower. Chongryon announced plans on 17 March 2010 to open three restaurants in Pyongyang; each restaurant will be managed by

4828-564: The Emperor of Japan . The Tokyo Metropolitan Government administers Tokyo's central 23 special wards (which formerly made up Tokyo City ), various commuter towns and suburbs in its western area , and two outlying island chains known as the Tokyo Islands . Despite most of the world recognizing Tokyo as a city, since 1943 its governing structure has been more akin to a prefecture, with an accompanying Governor and Assembly taking precedence over

4970-467: The Japanese Constitution , according to which use of public funds for education by "schemes not under public control" is prohibited. Chongryon calls this an act of racial discrimination. Funding from local authorities usually takes place in the form of special benefits paid to the families of pupils, as opposed to paying the schools directly, to avoid a blatant breach of Article 89. Another issue

5112-482: The Japanese Supreme Court recognized Chongryon's role as North Korea's de facto embassy and authorized the seizure of Chongryon properties to pay off debts incurred. In 2013 a bid was approved on the property by Ekan Ikeguchi who was subsequently unable to secure funding. In November 2014, Marunaka Holdings Co. purchased the property for ¥2.21 billion with plans to evict the Chongryon. According to

5254-708: The Kasumigaseki district in Chiyoda, and the name Kasumigaseki is often used as a metonym for the Japanese national civil service . Tokyo has 25 constituencies for the House of Representatives , 18 of which were won by the ruling Liberal Democrats and 7 by the main opposition Constitutional Democrats in the 2021 general election . Apart from these seats, through the Tokyo proportional representation block , Tokyo sends 17 more politicians to

5396-682: The Mangyongbong-92 . He would deliver these drugs to a member of Chongryon, who would then deliver the drugs to the Japanese yakuza . This confession supported the U.S. State Department testimonies made in May of that year, that North Korea’s methamphetamine market in Japan provided the government with a profit of up to US $ 7 billion. In November 2001, police raided the Tokyo headquarters of Chongryon and its Tokyo regional office as part of an investigation into alleged embezzlement by one of its senior officials. This followed an arrest of Kang Young-kwan, 66,

5538-525: The Meiji Period . Some gardens were immune from such fates and are today open to the public; Hamarikyu ( Kofu Tokugawa family ), Shibarikyu ( Kishu Tokugawa family ), Koishikawa Korakuen ( Mito Tokugawa family ), Rikugien ( Yanagisawa family ), and Higo Hosokawa Garden ( Hosokawa family ). The Akamon , which is now widely seen as a symbol of the University of Tokyo , was originally built to commemorate

5680-510: The Meiji Restoration . The high survival rate of concrete buildings promoted the transition from timber and brick architecture to modern, earthquake-proof construction. The Tokyo Metro Ginza Line portion between Ueno and Asakusa , the first underground railway line built outside Europe and the American continents, was completed on December 30, 1927. Although Tokyo recovered robustly from

5822-508: The Ministry of Finance were also relocated to Tokyo by 1871, and the first railway line in the country was opened on 14 October 1872, connecting Shimbashi ( Shiodome ) and Yokohama ( Sakuragicho ), which is now part of the Tokaido line . The 1870s saw the establishment of other institutions and facilities that now symbolize Tokyo, such as Ueno Park (1873), the University of Tokyo (1877) and

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5964-498: The Ministry of Justice building (1895), the International Library of Children's Literature (1906) and Mistubishi building one (1894, rebuilt in 2010) are some of the few brick survivors from this period. It was regarded as fashionable by some members of the Japanese aristocracy to build their Tokyo residences in grand and modern styles, and some of these buildings still exist, although most are in private hands and open to

6106-552: The Ogasawara Islands , which had been under control of the US since the war ended, were returned in 1968. Ryokichi Minobe , a Marxian economist who served as the governor for 12 years starting in 1967, is remembered for his welfare state policy, including free healthcare for the elderly and financial support for households with children, and his ‘war against pollution’ policy, as well as the large government deficit they caused. Although

6248-657: The Public Security Intelligence Agency told a session of the House of Representatives Financial Affairs Committee that the agency is investigating Chongryon for suspected illicit transfers of funds to the North . In 2003, a North Korean defector made a statement to the US Senate committee stating that more than 90% of the parts used by North Korea to construct its missiles were brought from Japan aboard Mangyongbong-92 ,

6390-517: The Public Security Intelligence Agency 's Second Intelligence Department, Chongryon is under the control of the United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea 's Liaison Department. Long-term ethnic Korean residents in Japan primarily consist of those, and descendants of, ethnic Koreans who settled in Japan as: A 1953 government survey revealed that 93% were from the southern half of

6532-705: The Shuto Expressway to meet the increased demand brought about by the 1964 Tokyo Olympics , the first Olympic Games held in Asia. Around this time, the 31-metre height restriction, imposed on all buildings since 1920, was relaxed due to the increased demand for office buildings and advancements in earthquake-proof construction. Starting with the Kasumigaseki Building (147 metres) in 1968, skyscrapers began to dominate Tokyo's skyline. During this period of rapid rebuilding, Tokyo celebrated its 500th anniversary in 1956 and

6674-511: The South Korean government and incorporate the South Korean educational curriculum and regular Japanese curriculum . Their militant stance is increasingly coming under criticism from pupils, parents and the public alike. The number of pupils receiving ethnic education from Chongryon-affiliated schools has declined sharply in recent years, down to about 10,000 in 2009 from a high of 46,000 in

6816-526: The Supreme People's Assembly (North Korea's parliament). The PSIA reported that Chongryon had 70,000 members in 2016. Chongryon runs support and advisory services for members, such as legal and marriage advice and employment help. It is responsible for issuing North Korean passports . Chongryon-affiliated organisations operate businesses and banks to provide jobs, services and social networks for Zainichi Koreans outside of mainstream society. In 1990,

6958-497: The Tokyo Metropolis (東京都, Tōkyō-to ). This reorganization aimed to create a more centralized and efficient administrative structure to better manage resources, urban planning, and civil defence during wartime. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government thus became responsible for both prefectural and city functions while administering cities, towns, and villages in the suburban and rural areas. Although Japan enjoyed significant success in

7100-792: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (1991). Kisho Kurokawa was also active in the city, and his works there include the National Art Center (2005) and the Nakagin Capsule Tower (1972). Other notable contemporary buildings in Tokyo include the Tokyo Dome , Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower , Roppongi Hills , Tokyo International Forum , and Asahi Beer Hall . As of October 2012, the official intercensal estimate showed 13.506 million people in Tokyo, with 9.214 million living within Tokyo's 23 wards. During

7242-486: The Tokyo Stock Exchange (1878). The rapid modernization of the country was driven from Tokyo, with its business districts such as Marunouchi filled with modern brick buildings and the railway network serving as a means to help the large influx of labour force needed to keep the development of the economy. The City of Tokyo was officially established on May 1, 1889. The Imperial Diet , the national legislature of

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7384-554: The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) was the world's largest, with a market capitalization about 1.5 times that of the NYSE —the city is still a large financial hub, and the TSE remains among the world's top five major stock exchanges . Tokyo is categorized as an Alpha+ city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network . The city is also recognized as one of the world's most livable ones; it

7526-551: The 1930s but canceled due to the war. However, due to the monetary contraction policy known as the Dodge Line , named after Joseph Dodge , the neoliberal economic advisor to MacArthur, the plan had to be reduced to a minimal one focusing on transport and other infrastructure. In 1947, the 35 pre-war special wards were reorganized into the current 23 wards . Tokyo did not experience fast economic growth until around 1950, when heavy industry output returned to pre-war levels. Since around

7668-527: The 1950s and 1960s, the government invested 6–7% of the national budget on disaster and risk reduction. A huge system of dams, levees and tunnels was constructed. The purpose is to manage heavy rain, typhonic rain, and river floods. Tokyo has currently the world's largest underground floodwater diversion facility called the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel (MAOUDC). It took 13 years to build and

7810-472: The 20th and 21st centuries, Tokyo became the first city in Asia to host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in 1964, and again in 2021, and it also hosted three G7 summits in 1979, 1986, and 1993. Tokyo is an international research and development hub and an academic center with several major universities , including the University of Tokyo , the top-ranking university in the country. Tokyo Station

7952-654: The 26th Centenary of the Enthronement of Emperor Jimmu celebrations took place on a grand scale to boost morale and increase the sense of national identity in the same year. On 8 December 1941, Japan attacked the American bases at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii , entering the Second World War against the Allied Powers . The wartime regime greatly affected life in the city. In 1943, Tokyo City merged with Tokyo Prefecture to form

8094-478: The Chongryon banking system was capitalized to around $ 25 billion. In the 1970s and 1980s, these organizations constituted an important economic link between North Korea and Japan. The Chongryon-affiliated companies monitored the Tokyo Stock Exchange to enable the DPRK to sell its non-ferrous metals and other mineral products at the most advantageous prices, and purchased inexpensive Japanese consumer goods for re-export to

8236-837: The Chongryon high schools are not being covered by the tuition support, there have been conflicts within the Chongryon whether to make amendments to school policies or keep them as is. Due to the issues described above, enrollment in schools run by Chongryon have declined sharply, and many of the children of Zainichi Koreans now choose to go to orthodox Japanese schools. The vast majority of Koreans in Japan attend regular Japanese schools or South Korean international schools. For example, in 2012 87% of Koreans in Osaka attend wholly Japanese schools which make no provisions for bilingual education. In January 2019, Korea University —Chongryon's only higher educational institution—hosted its first exchange program with US students from DePauw University . The program

8378-498: The Chongryon, and 65 percent are affiliated with Mindan. As of 2016, PSIA reported that Chongryon had 70,000 members. Chongryon's strong links to North Korea, its allegiance to the North Korean ideology and its opposition to integration of Koreans into Japanese society have made it controversial in Japan. Acts which Chongryon officials are suspected of include notably the 1977-1983 abduction of Japanese nationals , illicit transfer of funds to North Korea, espionage, drug smuggling and

8520-531: The February 2019 summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un , the trip was widely reported in North Korean aligned media. Choson Sinbo ran several articles, one of which predicted warming and normalizing relations between the US and DPRK that was framed around the exchange. Jung Da Min of the South Korean Korea Times wrote that the visit "highlighted improving relations between the two countries on

8662-537: The Greater Tokyo Area. The PSB is structured according to the following: Prospective PSB officers are trained at the National Police Academy in intelligence gathering techniques. Tokyo Tokyo , officially the Tokyo Metropolis , is the capital city of Japan . With a population of over 14 million residents within the city proper as of 2023, it is one of the most populous cities in

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8804-400: The House of Representatives, 6 of whom were members of the ruling LDP in the 2021 election. The Tokyo at-large district , which covers the entire metropolis, sends 12 members to the House of Councillors . The mainland portion of Tokyo lies northwest of Tokyo Bay and measures about 90 km (56 mi) east to west and 25 km (16 mi) north to south. The average elevation in Tokyo

8946-476: The Korea News Service. After a discovery of sophisticated radios by police during a raid on a JRCL Revolutionary Marxist Faction safehouse on April 10, 1998, PSB officials had reorganized their communications network to better safeguard it against unwanted intrusions. In 2014, a report was made thanks to a leak that PSB officers were conducting covert surveillance activities on Muslims residents living in

9088-647: The Korean peninsula. From 1910 to 1945, ethnic Koreans were Japanese nationals. The end of the Second World War left the nationality status of Koreans in an ambiguous position, as no recognized functional government existed on the Korean Peninsula (the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea , a government-in-exile , was only somewhat recognized internationally and was not a formal Korean government until South Korea's formation in 1948). Their nationality

9230-426: The Meiji government, Edo was renamed Tokyo (Eastern Capital) on 3 September 1868. Emperor Meiji visited the city once at the end of that year and eventually moved there in 1869. Tokyo had already been the nation's political center for nearly three centuries, and the emperor's residence made it a de facto imperial capital as well, with the former Edo Castle becoming the Imperial Palace . Government ministries such as

9372-468: The Mitsui Headquarters (1929), Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi flagship store (1914, refurbished in 1925), Takashimaya Nihonbashi flagship store (1932), Wako in Ginza (1932) and Isetan Shinjuku flagship store (1933). This spread of earthquake and fire-resistant architecture reached council housing too, most notably the Dōjunkai apartments . The 1930s saw the rise of styles that combined characteristics of both traditional Japanese and modern designs. Chuta Ito

9514-400: The North Korean People (RENK), a Japanese citizens group set up to help refugees and demand democracy and human rights in North Korea , was attacked and broken up by a 100-strong mob. Police investigations revealed that the disruption was orchestrated by Chongryon. In 2000, a member of a Japanese criminal group was arrested after purchasing 250kg (550lbs) of amphetamines from Cho Gyu-son in

9656-426: The North Korean government. Kim Kil-uk, a former head of a Chongryon school in Osaka, is suspected of being involved in the 1980s kidnapping of Japanese citizens. Kim, who fled to North Korea, remains on Interpol ’s wanted list. In March 2006, Osaka police raided six facilities, including the North Korean Chamber of Commerce, in an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the June 1980 disappearance of one of

9798-522: The North Korean government. All lessons and all conversation in the school are conducted in Korean. They teach a strong pro-North Korean ideology and glorify the regimes of Kim Il Sung , Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un . They are not classified as regular schools under Japanese law as they do not follow the national curriculum. They are distinct from Kankoku gakkō  [ ja ] ( 한국학교 , 韓國學校, 韓国学校) which are overseas South Korean schools (재외한국학교, 在外韓國學校, 在外韓国学校) in Japan, which receive approval from

9940-455: The North Korean port of Wonsan . Cho was the former head of a Chongryon school in Shimonoseki before becoming the founder of what was ostensibly a trading company. He remains on the Japanese police's wanted list. Japan was a major target market for North Korean-sponsored methamphetamine drug trafficking. In August 2003, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that a North Korean defector confessed to smuggling drugs for North Korea into Japan through

10082-463: The PSB had investigated the matter. The PSB had been the leading agency to investigate reports that Aum Shinrikyo had acquired names of 3,000 Honda executives and sensitive data from government ministries and other important facilities via Aum-created software. The TMPD announced on November 2, 2020 that the foreign affairs division will be revamped to have two separate units to deal with intelligence matters concerning China and North Korea, giving it

10224-471: The Pyongyang regime. Acts which Chongryon officials are suspected of include illicit transfer of funds to North Korea, drug smuggling, espionage, and the smuggling of electronics and missile parts. The Chongryon has been described by the Washington Post as a "very effective sanctions-busting enterprise". Its wide variety of businesses, including banks and pachinko parlors, are used to generate funds for

10366-806: The Security Department, the Public Security Department and the Riot Police. After the September 11 attacks in the US, the PSB revamped its structure to include three intelligence sections in 2002. The PSB had been mobilized to investigate all Aum Shinrikyo facilities after the deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway . Following the discovery of an Aum cultist who had been employed by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force after sensitive military information had been leaked out,

10508-809: The Security Division was established in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. In February 1946, the SD was changed to the Public Security Division. In April 1952, the PSD's first and second security departments were established with the former taking charge of the TMPD's riot police units while the latter carried out security information operations. In April 1957, the TMPD's Security Department 1, Security Department 2, and Metropolitan Police Department Reserve were renamed as

10650-483: The US dollar, had a devastating effect on Japan's manufacturing sector, particularly affecting small to mid-size companies based in Tokyo. This led the government to adopt a domestic-demand-focused economic policy, ultimately causing an asset price bubble . Land redevelopment projects were planned across the city, and real estate prices skyrocketed. By 1990, the estimated value of the Imperial Palace surpassed that of

10792-513: The US seized control of the Mariana Islands . From these islands, newly developed long-range B-29 bombers could conduct return journeys. The bombing of Tokyo in 1944 and 1945 is estimated to have killed between 75,000 and 200,000 civilians and left more than half of the city destroyed. The deadliest night of the war came on March 9–10, 1945, the night of the American " Operation Meetinghouse " raid. Nearly 700,000 incendiary bombs were dropped on

10934-584: The abductees, Tadaaki Hara. All six facilities were linked to Chongryon. Since allegations of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme first surfaced in the early 1990s, Chongryon has frequently reported being targeted by hate mail, malicious phone calls, and numerous incidents. Chongryon facilities have also frequently been sites of protests by Japanese right-wing groups. There have been numerous incidents of students of Chongryon schools, identifiable by their uniforms based on traditional Korean clothing, suffering verbal abuse. Furthermore, around May and June 1994 there

11076-564: 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 1,000 km (620 mi) 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

11218-474: The area that had been Tokyo City until 1943, 30 other municipalities are located in the Tama area , and the remaining 9 are on Tokyo's outlying islands. Tokyo has enacted a measure to cut greenhouse gases. Governor Shintaro Ishihara created Japan's first emissions cap system , aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emission by a total of 25% by 2020 from the 2000 level. Tokyo is an example of an urban heat island , and

11360-545: The arrest of former Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (CIRO) official Toshihiko Shimizu, accused of providing classified data to a Russian embassy official, supposedly posing as a diplomat in 2008. under the National Public Service Law  [ ja ] . On December 15, 2020, PSB officers investigated the activities of a South Korean man living in Tokyo accused of hacking into the Chongryon website and

11502-549: The city. The climate of Chichijima in Ogasawara village is on the boundary between the tropical savanna climate (Köppen classification: Aw ) and the tropical rainforest climate (Köppen classification: Af ). It is approximately 1,000 km (621 mi) south of the Greater Tokyo Area , resulting in much different climatic conditions. Tokyo's easternmost territory, the island of Minamitorishima in Ogasawara village ,

11644-481: The concept of Juche , the official state ideology of North Korea. Chongryon opposes the use of the Japanese word Kita-Chosen ("North Korea") as an abbreviation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It refers to the country as Kyōwakoku ("The Republic") or Sokoku ("The Fatherland"). In 1972 Chongryon campaigned to get the Japanese media to stop referring to North Korea as Kita-Chosen . This effort

11786-456: The country's total economic output, which converts to 8.07 million yen or US$ 73,820 per capita. Including the Greater Tokyo Area, Tokyo is the second-largest metropolitan economy in the world after New York , with a 2022 gross metropolitan product estimated at US$ 2.08 trillion. Although Tokyo's status as a leading global financial hub has diminished with the Lost Decades since the 1990s—when

11928-616: The country, leading to Japan joining the Second World War as an Axis power . Due to the country's political isolation on the international stage caused by its military aggression in China and the increasingly unstable geopolitical situations in Europe, Тоkуо had to give up hosting the 1940 Summer Olympics in 1938. Rationing started in June 1940 as the nation braced itself for another world war, while

12070-514: The country, was established in Tokyo in 1889, and it has ever since been operating in the city. On 1 September 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake struck the city, and the earthquake and subsequent fire killed an estimated 105,000 citizens. The loss amounted to 37 percent of the country's economic output. On the other hand, the destruction provided an opportunity to reconsider the planning of the city, which had changed its shape hastily after

12212-442: The daytime, the population swells by over 2.5 million as workers and students commute from adjacent areas. This effect is even more pronounced in the three central wards of Chiyoda , Chūō , and Minato , whose collective population as of the 2005 National Census was 326,000 at night, but 2.4 million during the day. According to April 2024 official estimates, Setagaya (942,003), Nerima (752,608), and Ota (748,081) were

12354-457: The early Meiji period , the city was sometimes called "Tōkei", an alternative pronunciation for the same characters representing "Tokyo", making it a kanji homograph . Some surviving official English documents use the spelling "Tokei"; however, this pronunciation is now obsolete. Tokyo was originally a village called Edo , part of the old Musashi Province . Edo was first fortified by the Edo clan in

12496-513: The early 1970s, with many, if not most, Zainichi now opting to send their children to mainstream Japanese schools. As of March 2010 , there were 12 Chosen high schools with an enrollment of about 2,000 students. The schools were initially funded by North Korea, but this money has dried up. Today funding comes partly from local Japanese authorities, and many schools are facing financial difficulties. The Japanese government has refused Chongryon's requests that it fund Korean schools, citing Article 89 of

12638-565: The earthquake and new cultural and liberal political movements, such as Taishō Democracy , spread, the 1930s saw an economic downturn caused by the Great Depression and major political turmoil. Two attempted military coups d'état happened in Tokyo, the May 15 incident in 1932 and the February 26 incident in 1936. This turmoil eventually allowed the military wings of the government to take control of

12780-482: The east end of the city ( shitamachi , 下町), an area with a high concentration of factories and working-class houses. Two-fifths of the city were completely burned, more than 276,000 buildings were destroyed, 100,000 civilians were killed, and 110,000 more were injured. Numerous Edo and Meiji-era buildings of historical significance were destroyed, including the main building of the Imperial Palace , Sensō-ji , Zōjō-ji , Sengaku-ji and Kabuki-za . Between 1940 and 1945,

12922-587: The end of March. However, the Chongryon criticized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan for not officially recognizing North Korea as one of the countries that sent humanitarian aid to the survivors of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . Following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in December 2011, Chongryon ordered members to keep a low profile. Pupils at its schools were barred from speaking to reporters, Japanese and Westerners alike, who in turn were turned away from facilities. In June 2012,

13064-514: The entire state of California . The Tokyo Stock Exchange became the largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization, with the Tokyo-based NTT becoming the most highly valued company globally. After the bubble burst in the early 1990s, Japan experienced a prolonged economic downturn called the " Lost Decades ", which was charactized by extremely low or negative economic growth, deflation, stagnant asset prices. Tokyo's status as

13206-654: The exam. In 1999 the requirement was amended so that anyone over a certain age is qualified. Campaigners were not satisfied because this still meant graduates of non-Japanese high schools had to take the daiken . In 2003, the Education Ministry removed the requirement to take the equivalency test from graduates of Chinese schools, Mindan-run Korean schools and international schools affiliated with Western nations and accredited by American and British organisations. However, this did not apply to graduates of Chongryon schools, saying it could not approve their curricula. The decision

13348-512: The five-storey pagoda and the Shimizudo. The Nezu Shrine and Gokokuji were built by the fifth shogun Tsunayoshi Tokugawa in the late 1600s. All feudal lords ( daimyo ) had large Edo houses where they stayed when in Edo; at one point, these houses amounted to half the total area of Edo. None of the grand Edo-era daimyo houses still exist in Tokyo, as their vast land footprint made them easy targets for redevelopment programs for modernization during

13490-514: The government and non-government level". DePauw students visited Chongryon schools again in January 2020, but plans to repeat the trip in January 2021 were postponed because of COVID-19 . After travel restrictions in Japan were lifted, another delegation visited Chongryon between 20–26 November 2022. In January 2024, the official DePauw University-Korea University resumed, led by Ford and Howley, Professor of Communication and Theater at DePauw. For

13632-551: The government of the Korean peninsula was in an undetermined state. Prior to the end of World War II, Korea was administered by the Japanese government as being part of Japan, thus the legal nationality of Koreans, both in Japan and in Korea, was Japanese. As of 2022 there were around 25,000 people with the Joseon status, compared to over 409,000 registered South Korean nationals in Japan. Five other senior Chongryon officials are also members of

13774-399: The highest legislative organ of Chongryon, has met every three years since 1961 to discuss its agenda, the election of key leaders and its budget. On 25 November 2020, Pak Ku-ho replaced Ho Jong-man as the head of Chongryon due to the latter's health complications from diabetes. The North Korean Chongryon-affiliated Fukushima Korean School sheltered 18 Japanese citizens from 18 March until

13916-483: The initial stages of the war and rapidly expanded its sphere of influence, the Doolittle Raid on 18 April 1942, marked the first direct foreign attack on Tokyo. Although the physical damage was minimal, the raid demonstrated the vulnerability of the Japanese mainland to air attacks and boosted American morale. Large-scale Allied air bombing of cities in the Japanese home islands, including Tokyo, began in late 1944 when

14058-480: The late 1940s, Tokyo underwent rapid reconstruction and expansion that contributed to the era's so-called Japanese economic miracle in which Japan's economy propelled to the second-largest in the world at the time behind that of the United States . As of 2023 , the city is home to 29 of the world's 500 largest companies, as listed in the annual Fortune Global 500 ; the second-highest number of any city. In

14200-455: The late 1950s, Chongryon conducted a campaign to persuade Zainichi Koreans to migrate to North Korea. The campaign was vehemently opposed by Mindan which organised hunger strikes and train obstructions. Some 87,000 Zainichi Koreans and about 6,000 Japanese spouses moved to the North. According to a defector, himself a former returnee, many petitioned to be returned to Japan and in response were sent to political prison camps . Japanese research puts

14342-492: The late twelfth century. In 1457, Ōta Dōkan built Edo Castle to defend the region from the Chiba clan . After Dōkan was assassinated in 1486, the castle and the area came to be possessed by several feudal lords. In 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu was granted the Kantō region by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and moved there from his ancestral land of Mikawa Province . He greatly expanded the castle, which

14484-543: The latter is the tallest tower in both Japan and the world, and the second tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai . With a scheduled completion date in 2027, Torch Tower (385m) will overtake Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower (325.2m) as the tallest building in Tokyo. Kenzo Tange designed notable contemporary buildings in Tokyo, including Yoyogi National Gymnasium (1964), St. Mary's Cathedral (1967), and

14626-472: The legitimate government of Korea, so supporters of the North retained their Joseon nationality. Ethnic Koreans in Japan established the League of Koreans in Japan (재일본조선인연맹) in 1945, which followed a socialist ideology, and was banned in 1949 by the order of Allied occupation army . The United Democratic Front of Korea in Japan (재일조선민주전선) was established in 1951, which was banned due to suspected involvement in

14768-733: The main headquarter in Tokyo, the Kantō regional chapter, and the Kinki - Tōkai regional chapter. Chongryon publishes the Choson Sinbo newspaper as well as magazines and other publications. Websites run by Chongryon-affiliated organisations include the English-language People's Korea . Chongryon also runs cultural activities and sports teams representing its members. Chongryon organises trips by members to North Korea, usually to visit relatives, as well as educational visits for students of Korean schools. They operated Man Gyong Bong 92 ,

14910-629: The main palace buildings and the tenshu tower have been lost. Numerous temple and shrine buildings in Tokyo date from this era: the Ueno Toshogu still maintains the original 1651 building built by the third shogun Iemitsu Tokugawa . Although partially destroyed during the Second World War, Zojo-ji , which houses the Tokugawa family mausoleum, still has grand Edo-era buildings such as the Sangedatsu gate. Kaneiji has grand 17th-century buildings such as

15052-437: The majority of Tokyo prefecture lie in the humid subtropical climate zone ( Köppen climate classification : Cfa ), with hot, humid summers and mild to 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 26.9 °C (80.4 °F). The coolest month is January, averaging 5.4 °C (41.7 °F). The record low temperature

15194-422: The majority of its resources to rebuilding in the wake of the consistent fires, earthquakes , and other devastating natural disasters that plagued the city. Edo grew into one of the largest cities in the world with a population reaching one million by the 18th century. This prolonged period of seclusion however came to an end with the arrival of American Commodore Matthew C. Perry in 1853. Commodore Perry forced

15336-455: The marriage of a shogun's daughter into the Maeda clan , one of the most affluent of the feudal lords, while the campus itself occupies their former edo estate. The Meiji era saw a rapid modernization in architectural styles as well; until the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 exposed their weakness to seimic shocks, grand brick buildings were constantly built across the city. Tokyo Station (1914),

15478-578: The meeting of the Sumida River and Tokyo Bay . During the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the name of the city was changed to Tokyo ( 東京 , from 東 tō "east", and 京 kyō "capital") , when it became the new imperial capital, in line with the East Asian tradition of including the word capital ( 京 ) in the name of the capital city (for example, Kyoto ( 京都 ), Keijō ( 京城 ), Beijing ( 北京 ), Nanjing ( 南京 ), and Xijing ( 西京 )). During

15620-413: The most populous wards and municipalities in Tokyo. The least inhabited of all Tokyo municipalities are remote island villages such as Aogashima (150), Mikurajima (289), and Toshima (306). In 2021, Tokyo's average and median ages were both 45.5 years old. This is below the national median age of 49.0, placing Tokyo among the youngest regions in Japan. 16.8% of the population was below 15, while 34.6%

15762-408: The new gateway to the city, while the relatively small Haneda Airport switched to primarily domestic flights. West Shinjuku , which had been occupied by the vast Yodobashi Water Purification Centre until 1965, became the site of an entirely new business district characterized by skyscrapers surpassing 200 metres during this period. The American-led Plaza Accord in 1985, which aimed to depreciate

15904-527: The number of Zainichi Korean returnees condemned to prison camps at around 10,000. In 1990 Ha Su-to, former vice chief of organization for Chongryon who was expelled in 1972 for demanding democratic reforms, led a rally in Tokyo of 500 to protest against North Korea's human rights violations , in which protesters accused North Korea of holding the ex-Zainichi returnees captive to siphon money off remittances from their relatives in Japan. On their website, Chongryon claims that all their activities are based around

16046-548: The opening of the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate , leading to an increase in the demand for new foreign goods and subsequently a severe rise in inflation. Social unrest mounted in the wake of these higher prices and culminated in widespread rebellions and demonstrations, especially in the form of the "smashing" of rice establishments. Meanwhile, supporters of the Emperor leveraged the disruption caused by widespread rebellious demonstrations to further consolidate power, which resulted in

16188-716: The other being Mindan . It has close ties to North Korea and functions as North Korea's de facto embassy in Japan, as there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries . The organisation is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo , and there are prefectural and regional head offices and branches throughout Japan. Mindan, officially the Korean Residents Union in Japan, contrastingly consists of Zainichi Koreans who have adopted South Korean nationality. As of 2018, among 610,000 Korean residents in Japan who have not adopted Japanese nationality , 25 percent are affiliated with

16330-543: The overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate , for the first time in a few centuries, the Emperor ceased to be a mere figurehead and became both the de facto and de jure ruler of the country. Hisoka Maejima advocated for the relocation of the capital functions to Tokyo, recognizing the advantages of the existing infrastructure and the vastness of the Kanto Plain compared to the relatively small Kyoto basin . After being handed over to

16472-616: The overthrow of the last Tokugawa shōgun, Yoshinobu , in 1867. After 265 years, the Pax Tokugawa came to an end. In May 1868, Edo castle was handed to the Emperor-supporting forces after negotiation (the Fall of Edo ). Some forces loyal to the shogunate kept fighting, but with their loss in the Battle of Ueno on 4 July 1868, the entire city came under the control of the new government . After

16614-477: The phenomenon is especially serious in its special wards. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the annual mean temperature has increased by about 3 °C (5.4 °F) over the past 100 years. Tokyo has been cited as a "convincing example of the relationship between urban growth and climate". In 2006, Tokyo enacted the "10 Year Project for Green Tokyo" to be realized by 2016. It set

16756-556: The population of Tokyo dwindled from 6,700,000 to less than 2,800,000, as soldiers were sent to the front and children were evacuated. After the war, Tokyo became the base from which the Allied Occupation Forces , under Douglas MacArthur , an American general, administered Japan for six years. The original rebuilding plan of Tokyo was based on a plan modelled after the Metropolitan Green Belt of London , devised in

16898-818: The public on limited occasions. Aristocratic residences today open to the public include the Marquess Maeda residence in Komaba , the Baron Iwasaki residence in Ikenohata and the Baron Furukawa residence in Nishigahara. The Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 ushered in an era of concrete architecture. Surviving reinforced concrete buildings from this era include the Meiji Insurance Headquarters (completed in 1934),

17040-538: The resignation of her predecessor, Yoichi Masuzoe . She was re-elected in 2020 and in 2024. The legislature of the Metropolis is called the Metropolitan Assembly , and it has one house with 127 seats. The assembly is responsible for enacting and amending prefectural ordinances, approving the budget (8.5 trillion yen in fiscal 2024), and voting on important administrative appointments made by the governor, including

17182-438: The same location. The PSB is not the Japanese equivalent of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation , despite some claims that it is. It does not concern with ordinary criminal activities. The main focus of the PSB are activities which threaten national security and therefore, their work is similar to Special Branches of British and Commonwealth police forces. The establishment of the PSB started on December 19, 1945 when

17324-577: The seat of the Tokugawa shogunate . By the mid-18th century, Edo was among the world's largest cities, with over a million residents. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the imperial capital in Kyoto was moved to Edo, and the city was renamed Tokyo ( lit.   ' Eastern Capital ' ). In 1923, Tokyo was damaged substantially by the Great Kantō earthquake , and the city was later badly damaged by allied bombing raids during World War II . Beginning in

17466-568: The smaller municipal governments which make up the metropolis. Notable special wards in Tokyo include Chiyoda , the site of the National Diet Building and the Tokyo Imperial Palace ; Shinjuku , the city's administrative center; and Shibuya , a commercial, cultural, and business hub in the city. Before the 17th century, Tokyo, then known as Edo , was mainly a fishing village. It gained political prominence in 1603 when it became

17608-544: The smuggling of electronics and missile parts. The Chongryon has been described by the Washington Post as a "very effective sanctions-busting enterprise". Its wide variety of businesses, including banks and pachinko parlors , are used to generate funds for the North Korean government. Numerous organisations are affiliated with the Chongryon, including 18 mass propaganda bodies and 23 business enterprises, with one of its most important business sectors being pachinko. The organisation also operates about 60 Korean schools and

17750-482: The time the Allied occupation of Japan ended in 1952, Tokyo's focus shifted from rebuilding to developing beyond its pre-war stature. From the 1950s onwards, Tokyo's Metro and railway network saw significant expansion, culminating in the launch of the world's first dedicated high-speed railway line, the Shinkansen , between Tokyo and Osaka in 1964. The same year saw the development of other transport infrastructure such as

17892-507: The total to 700,000. As of 2014 , roadside trees in Tokyo have increased to 950,000, and a further 300 ha (740 acres) of green space has been added. Tokyo is the seat of all three branches of government : the legislature ( National Diet ), the executive ( Cabinet led by the Prime Minister ), and the judiciary ( Supreme Court of Japan ), as well as the Emperor of Japan , the head of state. Most government ministries are concentrated in

18034-455: The vice governors. Its members are also elected on a four-year cycle. Since the completion of the Great Mergers of Heisei in 2001, Tokyo consists of 62 municipalities : 23 special wards , 26 cities , 5 towns and 8 villages . All municipalities in Japan have a directly elected mayor and a directly elected assembly, each elected on independent four-year cycles. The 23 Special Wards cover

18176-441: The wind blows north-east it could send volcanic ash to Tokyo metropolis. According to the government, less than a millimeter of the volcanic ash from a Mount Fuji eruption could cause power grid problems such as blackouts and stop trains in the Tokyo metropolitan area. A mixture of ash with rain could stick to cellphone antennas, power lines and cause temporary power outages. The affected areas would need to be evacuated. Tokyo

18318-417: The world . The Greater Tokyo Area , which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring prefectures , is the most-populous metropolitan area in the world, with 41 million residents as of 2024 . Located at the head of Tokyo Bay , Tokyo is part of the Kantō region on the central coast of Honshu , Japan's largest island. Tokyo serves as Japan's economic center and the seat of both the Japanese government and

18460-464: Was English (209 residents), followed by American (182) and Chinese nationals (137). Chongryon The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan , abbreviated as Chongryon ( Korean :  총련 ; Hanja :  總聯 ; RR :  Chongryeon ; MR :  Ch'ongryŏn ) or Chōsen Sōren ( Japanese : 朝鮮総連 ) , is one of two main organisations for Zainichi Koreans (Korean citizens or residents of Japan),

18602-846: Was a leading figure in this movement, and his extant works in Tokyo include Tsukiji Hongan-ji (1934). The Imperial Crown Style , which often features Japanese-style roofs on top of elevated concrete structures, was adopted for the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno and the Kudan Hall in Kudanminami . Since the 30-metre height restriction was lifted in the 1960s, Tokyo's most dense areas have been dominated by skyscrapers. As of May 2024, there are at least 184 buildings exceeding 150 metres (492 feet) in Tokyo. Apart from these, Tokyo Tower (333m) and Tokyo Sky Tree (634m) feature high-elevation observation decks;

18744-468: Was a series of physical assaults on Chongryon students in which their uniforms were cut. In 1998, a petrol bomb was thrown at Chongryon's headquarters in Tokyo, causing minor damage. In June 2003, a shot was fired into a Chongryon warehouse in Niigata, hitting cargo waiting to be loaded onto Mangyongbong-92 . In October 2006 in the aftermath of North Korea's first nuclear test, a suspected arson attack damaged

18886-604: Was above 65. In the same year, the youngest municipalities in Tokyo were Mikura-jima (average age 40.72), Chuo (41.92), and Chiyoda (42.07), while the oldest included Okutama (59.11) and Miyake (53.82). In 1889, the Home Ministry recorded 1,375,937 people in Tokyo City and a total of 1,694,292 people in Tokyo-fu . In the same year, a total of 779 foreign nationals were recorded as residing in Tokyo. The most common nationality

19028-460: Was based in Kyoto from 794 to 1868, so Edo was still not the capital of Japan. During the Edo period , the city enjoyed a prolonged period of peace known as the Pax Tokugawa , and in the presence of such peace, the shogunate adopted a stringent policy of seclusion, which helped to perpetuate the lack of any serious military threat to the city. The absence of war-inflicted devastation allowed Edo to devote

19170-530: Was completed in 2006. The MAOUDC is a 6.3 km (3.9 mi) long system of tunnels, 22 meters (72 ft) underground, with 70-meter (230 ft) tall cylindrical tanks, each tank being large enough to fit a space shuttle or the Statue of Liberty. During floods, excess water is collected from rivers and drained to the Edo River . Low-lying areas of Kōtō , Edogawa , Sumida , Katsushika , Taitō and Arakawa near

19312-419: Was left up to individual universities, 70% of which allowed Chongryon school graduates to apply directly. The North Korean government sponsored Chongryon schools for 50 years with "funds for educational support" and "scholarships" totaling around 46 billion yen. The Japanese government has proposed covering the tuition for all private high schools in Japan, with the exception of the Chongryon schools. As

19454-400: Was not successful, but as a compromise, most media companies agreed to refer to the DPRK with its full official title at least once in every article. By January 2003, this policy started to be abandoned by most newspapers, starting with Tokyo Shimbun , which announced that it would no longer write out the full name, followed by Asahi , Mainichi and Nikkei . Chongryon claims to be

19596-552: Was organized by DePauw University Professor Derek Ford, West Chester University Professor Curry Malott and Kiyul Chung. Ford is Chair and Associate Professor of Education Studies. Chung is a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University and Korea University. He was born in South Korea but is also a Visiting Professor at Kim Il Sung University in North Korea. Malott is Associate Professor of Educational and Foundational Policy Studies at West Chester Univiersity . Held shortly before

19738-429: Was provisionally registered under the name of Joseon (Chōsen in Japanese, 朝鮮 , 조선 ), the old name of undivided Korea. The 1948 declaration of independence by both South and North Korea made Joseon a defunct nation. Those with Joseon nationality were allowed to re-register their nationality to a South Korean one; however the same did not apply to North Korea due to the fact that Japan only recognises South Korea as

19880-498: Was ranked fourth in the world in the 2021 edition of the Global Livability Ranking . Tokyo has also been ranked as the safest city in the world in multiple international surveys. Tokyo was originally known as Edo ( 江戸 ) , a kanji compound of 江 ( e , "cove, inlet") and 戸 ( to , "entrance, gate, door"). The name, which can be translated as " estuary ", is a reference to the original settlement's location at

20022-479: Was said to have been abandoned and in tatters when he moved there, and ruled the region from there. When he became shōgun , the de facto ruler of the country, in 1603, the whole country came to be ruled from Edo. While the Tokugawa shogunate ruled the country in practice, the Imperial House of Japan was still the de jure ruler, and the title of shōgun was granted by the Emperor as a formality. The Imperial House

20164-407: Was −9.2 °C (15.4 °F) on January 13, 1876. The record high was 39.5 °C (103.1 °F) on July 20, 2004. The record highest low temperature is 30.3 °C (86.5 °F), on August 12, 2013, making Tokyo one of only seven observation sites in Japan that have recorded a low temperature over 30 °C (86.0 °F). Annual rainfall averages nearly 1,600 millimeters (63.0 in), with

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