was a municipality in Japan and capital of Tokyo Prefecture (or Tokyo-fu) which existed from 1 May 1889 until the establishment of Tokyo Metropolis on 1 July 1943. The historical boundaries of Tokyo City are now occupied by the special wards of Tokyo. The defunct city and its prefecture became what is now Tokyo, also known as the Tokyo Metropolis or, ambiguously, Tokyo Prefecture.
History
In 1868, the city of Edo, seat of the Tokugawa government, was renamed Tokyo, and the offices of Tokyo Prefecture (-fu) were opened. The extent of Tokyo Prefecture was initially limited to the former Edo city, but rapidly augmented to be comparable with the present Tokyo Metropolis. In 1878, the Meiji government's reorganization of local governments subdivided prefectures into counties or districts (gun, further subdivided into towns and villages, later reorganized similar to Prussian districts) and districts or wards (ku) which were in ordinary prefectures cities as a whole, e.g. today's Hiroshima City (-shi) was then Hiroshima-ku; the three major cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto were each subdivided into several such wards. In Tokyo Prefecture, this created 15 wards (listed below) and six counties/districts.
In 1888, the central government created the legal framework for the current system of cities (shi) that granted some basic local autonomy rights – with some similarities to Prussia's system of local self-government as Meiji government advisor Albert Mosse heavily influenced the organization of local government.Akio Kamiko, Implementation of the City Law and the Town and Village Law (1881–1908) . Historical Development of Japanese Local Governance Vol. 2 (Note on translations: This work and others consistently use the translation "assembly" for the elected prefectural and municipal assemblies (today generally [shi/to/etc.]-gikai, but in the Empire sometimes only [shi/fu/etc.]-kai), and "council" for the partially or completely unelected prefectural, county and municipal sanjikai (参事会). But other works follow modern usage and translate the elected body of shikai (as it is still named in some major cities) as city "council", and use other translations such as "advisory council" for the sanjikai.) But under a special imperial regulation, Tokyo City, like Kyoto City and Osaka City, initially did not maintain a separate mayor; instead, the (appointed) governor of Tokyo Prefecture served as mayor of Tokyo City. The Tokyo city council/assembly (Tōkyō-shikai) was first elected in May 1889. Each ward also retained its own assembly. City and prefectural government were separated in 1898., and the government began to appoint a separate mayor of Tokyo City in 1898, but retained ward-level legislation, which continues to this day in the special ward system. From 1926, the mayor was elected by the elected city council/assembly from its own ranks. The city hall of Tokyo was located in the Yūrakuchō district, on a site now occupied by the Tokyo International Forum.
Tokyo became the second-largest city in the world (population 4.9 million) upon absorbing several outlying districts in July 1932, giving the city a total of 35 wards.
In 1943, the city was abolished along with Tokyo Prefecture to form Tokyo Metropolis and Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which was functionally a part of the central government of Japan: the governor of Tokyo became a Cabinet minister reporting directly to the Prime Minister. This system remained in place until 1947 when the current structure of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government was formed.
+Tokyo's administrative structure before 1943 (not different from Ōsaka, Kyōto) Tōkyō-fu ("Tokyo Prefecture") Tōkyō-shi ("Tokyo City") Other cities (shi) towns (machi) and villages (mura) Wards (ku)
Wards
1889–1920(15 wards) 1920–1932(15 wards) 1932–1936(35 wards) 1936–1947(35 wards) 23 special wardsof Tokyo Metropolis Chiyoda Chūō Minato Shinjuku Naito-Shinjuku-machi, Toyotama-gun Yodobashi-machi, Toyotama-gun Yodobashi Ōkubo-machi, Toyotama-gun Totsuka-machi, Toyotama-gun Ochiai-machi, Toyotama-gun Koishikawa Bunkyō Hongō Shitaya Taitō Asakusa Honjo Sumida Terashima-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun Mukojima Azuma-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun Sumida-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun Kōtō Kameido-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun Jōtō Ōjima-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun Suna-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun Shinagawa-machi, Ebara-gun Shinagawa Shinagawa Ōi-machi, Ebara-gun Ōsaki-machi, Ebara-gun Ebara-machi, Ebara-gun Ebara Meguro-machi, Ebara-gun Meguro Meguro Hibusuma-machi, Ebara-gun Ōmori-machi, Ebara-gun Ōmori Ōta Iriarai-machi, Ebara-gun Magome-machi, Ebara-gun Ikegami-machi, Ebara-gun Higashi-Chōfu-machi, Ebara-gun Kamata-machi, Ebara-gun Kamata Yaguchi-machi, Ebara-gun Rokugō-machi, Ebara-gun Haneda-machi, Ebara-gun Setagaya-machi, Ebara-gun Setagaya Setagaya Setagaya Komazawa-machi, Ebara-gun Matsuzawa-mura, Ebara-gun Tamagawa-mura, Ebara-gun Kinuta-mura, Kita-Tama-gun Chitose-mura, Kita-Tama-gun Shibuya-machi, Toyotama-gun Shibuya Shibuya Sendagaya-machi, Toyotama-gun Yoyohata-machi, Toyotama-gun Nakano-machi, Toyotama-gun Nakano Nakano Nogata-machi, Toyotama-gun Suginami-machi, Toyotama-gun Suginami Suginami Wadabori-machi, Toyotama-gun Iogi-machi, Toyotama-gun Takaido-machi, Toyotama-gun Sugamo-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Toshima Toshima Nishi-Sugamo-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Nagasaki-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Takada-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Takinogawa-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Takinogawa Kita Ōji-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Ōji Iwabuchi-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Minami-Senju-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Arakawa Arakawa Mikawashima-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Nippori-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Ogu-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Itabashi-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Itabashi Itabashi Kami-Itabashi-mura, Kita-Toshima-gun Shimura-mura, Kita-Toshima-gun Akatsuka-mura, Kita-Toshima-gun Nerima-machi, Kita-Toshima-gun Nerima Kami-Nerima-mura, Kita-Toshima-gun Nakaarai-mura, Kita-Toshima-gun Shakujii-mura, Kita-Toshima-gun Ōizumi-mura, Kita-Toshima-gun Senju-machi, Minami-Adachi-gun Adachi Adachi Umejima-machi, Minami-Adachi-gun Nishiarai-machi, Minami-Adachi-gun Kōhoku-mura, Minami-Adachi-gun Toneri-mura, Minami-Adachi-gun Ikō-mura, Minami-Adachi-gun Fuchie-mura, Minami-Adachi-gun Higashi-Fuchie-mura, Minami-Adachi-gun Hanahata-mura, Minami-Adachi-gun Ayase-mura, Minami-Adachi-gun Honden-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun Katsushika Katsushika Okudo-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun Minami-Ayase-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun Kameao-mura, Minami-Katsushika-gun Niijuku-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun Kanamachi-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun Mizumoto-mura, Minami-Katsushika-gun Komatsugawa-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun Edogawa Edogawa Matsue-mura, Minami-Katsushika-gun Mizue-mura, Minami-Katsushika-gun Kasai-mura, Minami-Katsushika-gun Shikamoto-mura, Minami-Katsushika-gun Shinozaki-mura, Minami-Katsushika-gun Koiwa-machi, Minami-Katsushika-gun
See also
Capital of Japan Politics of Tokyo City
Notes
References
Further reading Steiner, Kurt. (1965). Local Government in Japan
External links Historical Development of Japanese Local Governance