17 July: Tokyo

On this date in 1868, Tokyo City became Japan's capital. That said, I didn’t actually see any other sources stating this exact date so I can’t be sure it’s right, but Tokyo is a fascinating place so here are ten facts about it, anyway.

1. It wasn’t always called Tokyo. It was once a fishing village called Edo, which means “Estuary”. It was home to Japan’s rulers from the 17^th century when Tokugawa Ieyasu became shōgun in 1603, but didn’t become the capital until 1868 when it was re-named Tokyo, which means “Eastern Capital”.
2. Tokyo is the largest metropolitan area in the world. The city itself is home to 13 million people (10% of Japan’s population) with over 2 million more commuting in daily, while the Greater Tokyo area is home to over 38 million.
3. Not surprising then, that the city is home to the world’s busiest metro system and the world’s busiest railway station (Shinjuku Station). The metro system opened in 1927 and was expanded for the 1963 Olympic Games. 8.7 million commuters use it every day, and if you thought the Central Line in the rush hour was crowded, it has nothing on this system, where they actually employ people called “Pushers” to cram people onto the trains. Another interesting fact about the subway is that the platforms are lit by Blue LED lights. The colour is intended to have a calming effect and prevent people from committing suicide. Apparently it works – research has found that the stations with these lights showed an 84% reduction in suicides after the lights were installed.
4. Tokyo has a number of official symbols. Its official flower is the Yoshino cherry blossom, its tree is the gingko and its bird the black headed gull. It also has two symbols – one of them is three green arcs forming the shape of a gingko leaf, representing Tokyo's growth, prosperity and tranquillity. The other is a six-rayed circle (representing the sun, as the Red circle on the Japanese flag does) with a dot in the middle, signifying that Tokyo is the centre of Japan.
5. The tallest tower in the city is the Tokyo Skytree. It’s also the tallest free-standing tower in the world. It is 634 m (2,080 ft) tall. Its height was specifically chosen to be easy to remember, at least for the locals. The figures 6 (mu), 3 (sa), 4 (shi) stand for "Musashi", an old name of the region where the Tokyo Skytree stands. Before this tower was built in 2011 the tallest tower was the Tokyo Tower, which was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
6. Two major rivers flow through Tokyo: the Sumida River, running north-to-south into Tokyo Bay, and the Tama River, running west-to-east.
7. Japan’s deadliest natural disaster happened in 1923 when an Earthquake, measuring between 7.9 and 8.4 on the Richter scale, erupted 30 miles south of Tokyo. It happened around midday, when people were cooking lunch, so much of the damage was caused by fires which raged out of control afterwards. The Great Kanto Earthquake destroyed more than 45 percent of Tokyo and killed more than 140,000 people.
8. People can cause an awful lot of damage, too – allied bombings of Tokyo during the second world war being one example. People weren’t the only casualties – Tokyo’s cherry trees were decimated, too. After WW2, the US sent cuttings from the cherry trees in Washington DC, which were originally a gift from Japan, to help restore them.
9. There’s building in Tokyo which is cursed, according to urban legend. For one thing, three sixes appear in the address of Roppongi Hills. For another, it was built on the spot where some of the 47 rōnin (the leaderless samurai) committed ritual suicide. People who’ve lived there have suffered reversals of fortune and its revolving doors have injured several people. A six year old boy was killed by them in 2004.
10. Tokyo is twinned with a number of other large cities world wide, including Beijing, New York City, Paris, Rome, London, Moscow and Berlin. 

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