Tokyo

37.8 million people live in the metropolitan area of Tokyo. 13.6 million in the metropolis, which is the capital of Japan (one of 47 prefectures). A Global/Alpha/World City is one which is considered an important node in the global economic system. Japan was faced with having to choose to avoid modern technology and be dominated, or embrace it. The Emperor Meiji moved the capital from Kyoto in 1868, to Edo, and renamed it Tokyo. Tokyo was the centre of the embrace. Edo was a small fishing village in 1457. By 1721, its population had reached 1 million. The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) researches the relationship between world cities and globalisation. London and New York are regarded a Alpha ++ cities, with Tokyo joining Shanghai, Beijing, Dubai, Paris, Hong Kong, and Singapore in the next category.

Tokyo