Tokyo City

Tokyo Prefectural Office and Tokyo City Hall

Tokyo City (東京市, Tōkyō-shi^?) was a municipality in Japan which existed from May 1, 1889 until its merger with Tokyo Prefecture in July 1, 1943.^[1] The historical boundaries of Tokyo City are now occupied by independent special wards.

History

See also: History of Tokyo

In 1868, the medieval city Edo, seat of the Tokugawa government, was renamed Tokyo, and the offices of Tokyo Prefecture (-fu) were opened.^[1] The extent of Tokyo Prefecture was initially limited to the former Edo city (15 wards listed below), but rapidly augmented to be comparable with the present Tokyo Metropolis.

Tokyo City initially did not maintain a separate mayor or city council; instead, the governor of Tokyo Prefecture served as mayor of Tokyo, and each ward had its own assembly. Tokyo began electing its own mayor in 1898 but retained ward-level legislation, which continues to this day in the special ward system. The city hall of Tokyo was located in the Yurakucho district, on a site now occupied by the Tokyo International Forum.^[2]

Tokyo became the second-largest city in the world (population 4.9 million) upon absorbing several outlying districts in July 1932, giving the city a total of 35 wards.^[1]

In 1943, the city was abolished and merged with Tokyo Prefecture to form the Tokyo Metropolitan Government,^[1] which was functionally a part of the central government of Japan: the governor of Tokyo became a Cabinet minister reporting directly to the Prime Minister. This system remained in place until 1947 when the current structure of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government was formed.^[1]

Wards

Tokyo portal

References