Introduction To Tokyo

As one of the authours I am researching says, "To be in Tokyo is to experience one of the most dynamic and changeable cities of all time." The city is also uncommonly rich in traditions, and it is this duality that makes the city an interesting place to study. At one instant, one thinks of Tokyo as a thoroughly modern, international place that belongs very clearly at the forefront among the greatest cities in the world. It is superbly style-concious, is perfectly attuned to the latest trends in fashion and technology from around the globe and is an unsurpassed mecca for culture. At another instant, from the most contemporary architecture, department stores and shopping centers, the city variates to small town Tokyo, where the place is tied to the past history forever.
A stretch of the moat that marks the perimeter of the Imperial Enclosure.

There are stark contrasts within the urban setting and land use patterns within Tokyo. Certain images include a Denny's resteraunt and a groups of tennis courts sside by side; Western style cafe's and bars where not a word of english is spoken; billiard bars named after American cities in traditional Tokyo prefectures. Furthermore due to the city's repeated history of tragic disasters of fires (17th-19th century), the earthquakes (especially 1923) and the wartime devastation (1945) - has destroyed most of the city's urban fabric that would have been the material record of the city's past. This has led to the rebuilding of the city several times, with Tokyo lacking an authentic "old town Tokyo" neighbourhood. The city is adorned with new and modern architecture, that was built in the past few generations; leaving little room for the mix of buildings from different time periods. But to underestimate the presence of the historical landscape would be wrong.

A food fair in Yoyogi Park, notice the modern architecture within the lush settings

Tokyo: Japan's Primate City:-
Tokyo has a great influence on Japan simply because of its great size, in terms of population and the city's stance on the global scale. Geographers have long referred to such cities that are overly large in comparison to others in their country, taking the country's resources and investments, and exert an exceptionally amount of domestic influence as a primate city. The Historian Henry D. Smith, has defined Tokyo's relationship with the rest of Japan as one of "urban tyranny." The reason being is that Tokyo is the political capital, headquarters for the large economic firms, largest manufacturer, dominant media center and the foci for several cultural exhibits, sports matches and others.

             
From street festivals to the interconnecting highways, Tokyo has them all
Furthermore there does not exist a city of Tokyo. This was abolished in 1943, and was replaced with a larger unit that combined the city with Tokyo prefecture to make a new unit of government called Tokyo-to or Tokyo Metropolis. This area is the original city plus many of its suburbs to the west and other less urbanized territory towards the west.
 
Map showing the extent and prefectures of Tokyo-to
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