Major Cities of the World

Tokyo-Japan

Tokyo is a unique subnational administrative region of Japan with characteristics of both a prefecture and a city. It is the de facto capital of Japan,the most populous subnational entity and city in the country, and the center of the most populous metropolitan area in the world with a population of over 35 million people in the Greater Tokyo Area. Tokyo is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, although each administratively a city in its own right, comprise the area informally considered as the "city of Tokyo" and are collectively one of the largest cities in the world with a total population of over 8 million people. Tokyo has the largest metropolitan gross domestic product in the world for a city, and it held the title of the world's most expensive city for over a decade from 1992 through 2005.
Prior to 1943, Tokyo was the name of both one of the 47 prefectures of Japan, Tokyo-fu, and the populous city of Tokyo in the eastern half of the prefecture. In 1943 the city and prefecture were merged into a unique prefecture-level government entity, known as "Tokyo Metropolis". This administrative region includes the twenty-three "special wards" of the former city, many suburban cities in the western half of the prefecture, and two chains of islands extending south into the Pacific Ocean. About 12 million people, 10 percent of Japan's population, live within Tokyo Metropolis's prefecture boundaries.
Tokyo is considered one of the world's major global cities and a megacity. The word "Tokyo" may refer to Tokyo Metropolis as a whole, or only to the main urban mass under its jurisdiction (thus excluding west Tama and Izu / Ogasawara Islands), or even the whole of Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, and Yamanashi prefectures, depending on context. This article refers to Tokyo Metropolis unless otherwise stated.

Culture
Tokyo is known for its many museums. Located in Ueno Park are the Tokyo National Museum, the country's largest museum and specializing in traditional Japanese art; the National Museum of Western Art; and the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, which contains collections of Japanese modern art as well as over 10,000 Japanese and foreign films. Ueno Park also contains the National Museum of Science and the municipal zoo. Other museums include the Nezu Art Museum in Aoyama; the Edo-Tokyo Museum in the Sumida Ward across the Sumida River from the center of Tokyo; and the National Diet Library, National Archives, and the National Museum of Modern Art which are located near the Imperial Palace.
Tokyo is the national center of performing arts as well. There are many theatres in the city in which traditional forms of Japanese drama (like noh and kabuki) as well as modern dramas. Symphony orchestras and other musical organizations perform Western and traditional music. Tokyo also plays host to music like Japanese rock, J-pop, and visual kei.
Tokyo is home to many different festivals that occur throughout the city. Major festivals draw people from all over the city including the Sanno Festival at Hie Shrine, and the Sanja Festival at Asakusa Shrine. Many Japanese cities hold festivals called matsuri. The Kanda Matsuri in Tokyo is held every two years in May. The festival features a parade with elaborately decorated floats and thousands of people. Annually on the last Saturday of July, an enormous fireworks display is held over the Sumida River and it attracts over 1 million viewers. Once cherry blossoms,or sakura, bloom in spring, many residents gather in parks such as Ueno Park, Inokashira Park, and the Shinjuku Gyöen National Gardens for picnics under the beautiful cherry trees.