History of Tokyo - Modern History

Modern History

• 1868 With the Meiji Restoration, the ruler of Japan shifts from the shogun to an oligarchy ruling under the banner of the emperor. On July 17, Emperor Meiji issues the Edict Renaming Edo to Tokyo (江戸ヲ稱シテ東京ト爲スノ詔書, Edo o shōshite Tōkyō to nasu no shōsho?), citing the city's importance in the economy of eastern Japan.
• 1869 Emperor Meiji relocates to Tokyo and makes Edo Castle the Imperial Palace. However, as the capital was never officially "transferred" from Kyoto to Tokyo, the status of Tokyo vis-à-vis Kyoto remains ambiguous See: Capital of Japan. Former samurai from the Satsuma and Chōshū (and other) regions, take crucial roles in the new ruling Meiji oligarchy. A foreigner settlement is established at Tsukiji.
• 1871 The feudal domain system is replaced by a prefectural system. Tokyo Prefecture is established out of parts of former Musashi province.
• 1872 Tokyo Prefecture expands to include what is now the 23 wards.
  • Tokyo's (and Japan's) first rail line opens between Shimbashi (now Shiodome) and Yokohama
  • Tokyo National Museum is opened.
• 1874 Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is established.
• 1877 A modern higher education school was opened, forerunner of the University of Tokyo.
• 1882 Ueno Zoo opens.
• 1885 The first section of what was to become the Yamanote Line opens between Akabane and Shinagawa Stations. Train stations such as Shibuya and Shinjuku Stations open as a result.
• 1889 Tokyo City is established with 15 wards.
• 1893 Three districts from the Tama area of Kanagawa Prefecture are annexed to Tokyo Prefecture
• 1893 M6.6 Meiji Tokyo earthquake kills 31, injures 157 people
• 1899 Tsukiji Foreign Settlement is abolished.
• 1903 The first tram lines was opened.
• 1905 In protest against the Treaty of Portsmouth after the Russo-Japanese War, the Hibiya Incendiary Incident occurs at Hibiya Park.
• 1914 Tokyo Station opens.
• 1920 Meiji Shrine is constructed.
• 1921 Prime Minister of Japan, Takashi Hara, is assassinated at Tokyo Station.
• 1923 The Great Kantō earthquake strikes Tokyo, killing approximately 70,000 people.
• 1924 Ueno Park opens.
• 1925 The Yamanote Line train line loop is completed when the section between Kanda and Ueno Stations is completed.
• 1927 Tokyo's first subway (Ginza Line) opens between Asakusa and Ueno.
• 1931 Tokyo Airport opens at Haneda, in southern Tokyo.
• 1932 Five districts and 82 towns and villages are annexed to Tokyo city which then expands to 35 wards.
• 1936 National Diet Building is completed.
  • In an attempted coup (the February 26 Incident), nearly 1500 junior officers of the IJA 1st Division occupy the National Diet Building, the Prime Minister's Residence) and other key locations in Tokyo. The coup was suppressed by the Army and Navy within three days.
• 1942 Tokyo is bombed in the Doolittle Raid, the first American air raid against Japan in World War II
• 1943 Tokyo Prefecture and Tokyo city merge to form Tokyo Metropolis or Tokyo-to.
• 1945 Tokyo was heavily bombed, and much of the city was burned to the ground by USAAF B-29 and other aircraft. Extensive tracts of land were leveled both by explosions and subsequent fires. The damage extends to Hachioji and other cities in western suburbs. From February to March, the Battle of Iwo Jima was fought on Iwo Jima. Due to the heavy death toll and populace fleeing to the countryside, the 1945 Tokyo population was only half that of 1940. From September, Tokyo is under military occupation and governed by the Allied forces, and the Ogasawara Islands (Bonin Islands) was separated to U.S. military occupation. General Douglas MacArthur established the occupation headquarters in what is now the Dai-Ichi Seimei building. The American presence in Tokyo made it an important command and logistics center during the Korean War. Tokyo still hosts Yokota Air Base and a large number of minor U.S. military installations.
• 1946 The first Central May Day Festival after 1935 was held on the Front Park of Tokyo Imperial Palace.
• 1947 Tokyo's number of wards is consolidated to 23
  • Typhoon Kathleen floods eastern Tokyo.
• 1948 The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE, Tokyo Trial) is concluded. Seven men were executed.
• 1950 The Capital Construction Law was passed.
• 1954 The Marunouchi Line, Tokyo's second subway line, opens between Ikebukuro and Ochanomizu.
• 1957 Tokyo Metropolitan Government completes Ogochi Dam on the Tama River, creating Lake Okutama in Okutama, in northwest Tokyo for drinking water.
• 1958 Tokyo Tower is completed.
• 1961 Hibiya subway line opens between Minami-Senju and Naka-Okachimachi.
• 1962 The population of Tokyo exceeds 10,000,000, making it the largest city in the world.
  • The first line of the Shuto Expressway opens for traffic.
• 1964 Tōkaidō Shinkansen opens on October 1 in time for the Tokyo Olympic Games starting on October 10.
• 1967 The first (and thus far, only) left-wing Governor, Ryokichi Minobe was elected, with backing by the Japan Socialist Party and Japanese Communist Party.
• 1968 The Ogasawara Islands (Bonin Islands) are returned to Japan and become Ogasawara Village, Tokyo.
  • The Tōmei Expressway is opened, and Tokyo Interchange in Setegaya Ward connects it to the center of Tokyo via the Shuto Expressway.
• 1971 In the south-western area of Tokyo, Tama New Town accepts its first residents.
• 1972 Almost all 181 km of Tokyo Toden tram lines are closed, except a short part, now the Toden Arakawa Line.
  • Takeshi Kitano starts his career in comedy at a strip theater in Asakusa.
• 1977 Tachikawa Air Force Base reverts to Japan and converted partially into a park.
• 1978 New Tokyo International Airport (Narita International Airport) in Chiba Prefecture opens. Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) then serves mainly domestic flights.
• 1979 The 5th G7 summit is held in Tokyo. The conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) recovers the post of governor, with the win of Shunichi Suzuki in elections.
• 1985 New Ryōgoku Kokugikan opens, used for Sumo.
• 1986 The bubble economy starts with land prices skyrocketing. Mount Mihara volcano erupts, forcing all residents of Izu Ōshima to temporarily evacuate the island
• 1988 Tokyo Dome indoor baseball stadium opens.
• 1989 Emperor Hirohito (Emperor Showa) dies in the Tokyo Palace.
• 1990 The bubble economy collapses, triggering a massive fall in Tokyo land prices.
• 1991 The new Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku is completed. The office is moved from Yūrakuchō.
• 1993 Rainbow Bridge is completed. It supports the development in the waterfront area on the Tokyo Bay, Odaiba.
• 1995 On March 20, the Aum Shinrikyo cult spread Sarin nerve gas on the Tokyo subway system; 12 people were killed and thousands affected (see 1995 Tokyo Subway Attacks). Newly-elected Tokyo governor Yukio Aoshima cancels the "World City Expo" that was to be held in 1996 in the Odaiba waterfront area.
• 1999 Conservative Shintaro Ishihara is elected Governor of Tokyo
• 2000 The Oedo subway line opens.
  • Due to volcanic eruption all residents of Miyakejima evacuate; cannot return until 2005.
• 2001 Studio Ghibli opens its Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, the eastern of Tama area.
• 2003 Shintaro Ishihara is reelected Governor of Tokyo. Roppongi Hills opens.
• 2005 Tsukuba Express railway line opens.
• 2007 Completion of Tokyo Midtown (currently the city's tallest high-rise building) and the Tokyo Metro Line 13.
• 2008 Tokyo 2016 Olympic bid is submitted to the IOC. Tokyo Metro begins the operation of its Fukutoshin Line. The length of subway network is nearly 400 km.