Tokyo

"Tokyo - The Modern Babylon"

- Pacific Rim

Tokyo, apart of Tokyo Prefecture and officially Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital city of Japan. It has served as the Japanese capital since 1869, its urban area housing the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government.

Tokyo forms part of the Kanto region on the southeastern side of Japan's main island, Honshu, and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. It has remained the cultural center of the country and has had an influx of foreigners raising it's population to 57 million people. It is also home to the various zaibatsus, such as: Arasaka, Kendachi, FACS, Fujiwara, SegAtari, and many more large corporations.

Overview
The capital of (Nippon) Japan is located in the middle of the main island of Honshu on the Pacific Coast, apart of the Kanto region. The climate is generally cold and wet, during winter is freezing and can see snow usually for only 10 days, and during summer it's hot and humid.

Tokyo City's population is around 14 million, however greater metropolitan area of the Tokyo Prefecture is around 57 million, with around 34 million being in the city on a daily for work. The trains at its peak periods of the day run at 300% to 400% capacity.

In the modern day, Tokyo is one of the safest and yet one of the dangerous cities in the world. It's kept safe by the hordes of corporate police. On top of that the "Zaibatsus" hate trouble in their city. That being said if it doesn't threaten their profits, they won't lift a finger to stop it.

Tokyo has only been the capital since the mid 1800s, during the time of the Meiji restoration of the Emperor. For 1000 of years before that however, the capital of Japan was Kyoto. Since becoming the capital, Tokyo has been expanding non-stop, decaying, and rebuilding in a strange circle of progression. Order, disorder, development, and corruption, and life and death often co-exist together. During it's history there has only be three interruptions to this pattern. The first one being the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1922, which had leveled the city. The second was when the Allied firebombing of Tokyo during WW2 took place, which again leveled the city. The finale one was the Jiage (arson and intimidation by fixers to clear tenants from salabe land) during the 1980s bubble economy. Despite these setbacks Tokyo has not only come back, but has gotten stronger each time.

In reality there are very few Tokyo natives. For the last 100 years, most of the population has traveled here to work. Up to even 50 years ago, it was a lot of rural Japanese who came to work in Tokyo. During the New Year and Bon festivals, Tokyo would empty out as people would go back home for the holidays. Sine the early 70s gaijin have been pouring into the city. With the growth of the Japanese and foreign populations, Tokyo is under stresses that never existed before.

This has led many Japanese to criticize the people from Tokyo for being overly concerned with style, appearance, and composure. Often times people have said they give a cold and uncaring feeling. People of the Kanto region are already much different from the rest of Japan. Those born in Tokyo often don't leave the city, because of it's size, it's considered to have everything a person could need.

Tokyo Wards
Special wards are a special form of municipalities in Japan under the 1947 Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy largely comparable to other forms of municipalities. Wards of Tokyo consist of: Shinjiku, Shibuya, Meguro, Toshima, Bunkyo, Chiyoda, Taito, Arakawa, Sumida, Old Edogawa, Koto, Chuo, Minato, and Shinagawa.

History
The history of the city of Tokyo stretches back some 400 years. Originally named Edo, the city started to flourish after Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa Shogunate here in 1603. As the center of politics and culture in Japan, Edo grew into a huge city with a population of over a million by the mid-eighteenth century. Throughout this time, the Emperor resided in Kyoto, which was the formal capital of the nation. The Edo Period lasted for nearly 260 years until the Meiji Restoration in 1868, when the Tokugawa Shogunate ended and imperial rule was restored. The Emperor moved to Edo, which was renamed Tokyo. Thus, Tokyo became the capital of Japan.

Central Tokyo, like Osaka, has been designed since about 1900 to be centered on major railway stations in a high-density fashion, so suburban railways were built relatively cheaply at street level and with their own right-of-way. Though expressways have been built in Tokyo, the basic design had not changed. The city became the main base for industry and commerce, with zaibatsus popping up every, more notably was Mitsubishi and Arasaka. Tokyo went on to suffer two major catastrophes in the 20th century: the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, which left 140,000 dead or missing; and World War II.

After the war, Tokyo was completely rebuilt and was showcased to the world during the 1964 Summer Olympics. The 1970s brought new high-rise developments such as Sunshine 60, a new and controversial airport at Narita in 1978, and a population increase to about 11 million. Tokyo's subway and commuter rail network became one of the busiest in the world as more and more people moved to the area. The Jiage (arson and intimidation by fixers to clear tenants from salabe land) during the 1980s bubble economy became another catastrophe for Tokyo to overcome. Despite the setback Tokyo had not only come back, but has gotten stronger as it's economy flourished.

Arasaka during the 1990s quickly was becoming the largest and most influential corporation in the world. Saburo Arasaka used his influence to try and take control of the government in Tokyo, which led to a group of many other Japanese corporations big and small to form a group known as FACS to counter them. The population of the city getting larger by the day, expansion was needed in order to house the 57 million people. Tokyo is also the leading city of cyberware tech in the world.

Weather
In Tokyo, the summers are short, warm, muggy, wet, and mostly cloudy and the winters are very cold and mostly clear. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 36°F to 87°F and is rarely below 31°F or above 93°F.

Islands
Tokyo has numerous outlying islands, which extend as far as 1,850 km (1,150 mi) from central Tokyo. Because of the islands' distance from the administrative headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in Shinjuku, local subprefectural branch offices administer them.

The Izu Islands are a group of volcanic islands and form part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. The islands in order from closest to Tokyo are Izu Ōshima, Toshima, Nii-jima, Shikine-jima, Kōzu-shima, Miyake-jima, Mikurajima, Hachijō-jima, and Aogashima. The Izu Islands are grouped into three subprefectures. Izu Ōshima and Hachijojima are towns. The remaining islands are six villages, with Niijima and Shikinejima forming one village.

Hachijo - Island Paradise
Hachijo is a city located on one of Tokyos islands, it's a paradise vacation spot where many Japanese corporate, and many others from around the world, come to visit and stay in one of the many hotels in the island. The island has top security and rarely sees non-wealthy individuals visiting.

Economy
Tokyo has the largest metropolitan economy in the world. According to a study conducted, the Greater Tokyo Area (Tokyo-Yokohama) of 57 million people had a total GDP of $8 trillion in 2045 (at purchasing power parity), which topped that list. The Tokyo region is Japan's leading industrial center, with a highly diversified manufacturing base. Heavy industries are concentrated in Chiba, Kawasaki, and Yokohama, while Tokyo proper is strongly inclined toward light industry, including book printing and the production of electronic equipment.

More significantly, perhaps, Tokyo is Japan's management and finance center. Corporations with headquarters or branches or production sites in other parts of the country often have large offices in Tokyo, Marunouchi being the location of many of these. The close relationship between government and business in Japan makes a Tokyo location advantageous if not necessary.

To the north of Marunouchi is Otemachi, where Japan's leading financial institutions and insurance companies are located. Otemachi is also home to NTT, the communications giant. Of course, Tokyo is also the site of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, located in Kabutocho.

Tokyo holds the most corporate headquarters and regional offices compared to any other major city. So many of which either were founded and came here in the hopes of finding big business and plenty of opportunity. Here's a list of a few of the corporations;

Arasaka
Arasaka is a world-wide megacorporation dealing in corporate security, banking, and manufacturing. They wield more financial power than any other single corporation and use subversive tactics such as blackmail, extortion, and bribery to influence the world around them. The corporation is one of the largest in the world with the most influence over many countries, often placing puppet Arasaka backed politicians in government.

Fujiwara
Fujiwara is one of the largest banks in the entire world, and can be found in almost every city. The main headquarters is located in Tokyo, the building is tall and white to reflect the sun light. At the very top is the logo and the roof as a garden view plaza as well as a helicopter pad.

SegAtari
SegAtari is a Japanese corporation that is leading in the gaming, robotic humanoids and weapons manufacturing markets around the world. However like's to hide it's connection to its weapons division. While SegAtari may be one of the largest corporations, it tries to keep a friendly face for the public. Creating many games and braindances used for media entertainment, as well as robotic personal assistants.

Transportation
Tokyo, like pretty much the rest of Japan, has an excellent metro network and bullet train system throught the city to the suburbs to the rest of the country. That being said the metros remain busy and crowded, this is due to the numbers of armed guards that the companies employ, the trains are very safe, and unruly passengers are often quickly dealt with.

Buses
Most of the train companies operate bus routs as well. The buses are decently kept up, but hampered by the fact that they must use the roads, so most of the general public use the trains. Very often the buses are often seen as the vehicles for the poor.

Cars
As for Cars, they can be very popular, to sleep in that is; possibly find some people living in them and even have sex in, but rarely to go anywhere in. The roads are narrow and rarely see traffic, especially outside Tokyo, where biker gangs will attack. Most of the cars, usually from Toyota, Honda, or Takaya, are equiped with TVs and massage seats to be more relaxed and pass the time after work.

Motorcycles
Motorcycles are much faster than cars, and much more popular with the public. Riders on Hondas, Suzukis, and Kawasakis zipping along between rows of cars are a common sight in Tokyo.

AVs
AVs are aggressively utilized, but there are so many restrictions in highly populated areas like low-altitude limits, and high altitude limit when approaching near the Imperial Palace, people not accustomed to Tokyo are usually recommended to not fly.

Imperial Palace
Beyond the Marunouchi district, is the Imperial Palace, and it is where the Imperial family once resided. It covers 100 hectares and its impressive watchtowers and massive stone walls still survive in 2225. The Palace Plaza, East Garden and Kitanomaru Park are all major attractions. The wide and open Plaza, with its Double Bridge or the Nijubashi, is an haven for sararimen and young couples. A memorial fountain exists there, and was built to commemorate the marriage of the Crown Prince and Princess. Next to the Palace Plaza is Hibaya Park, a beautiful park, in style partly Japanese and partly Western. The Hibaya Public Hall and Library are in its enclosure. The nearby Hibaya district is the ‘Broadway of Tokyo’, jammed with of cinemas and theaters.

Kasumigaseki: The Government Quarter
This is Japan’s administrative center. Government ministry and agency buildings cluster here, south of the Imperial Palace. The Japanese parliament meets at the towering National Diet Building which overlooks the district. Tokyo police are very visible here.

Marunouchi: The Business District
This district is between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace, and is the city’s Corporate center, or business center housing such corporations as Arasaka, Kiroshi, Fujiwara, and son on. Tall skyscrapers standing row upon row contain the headquarters of the leading banks and zaibatsus. The police and Arasaka security police also keep this district under close scrutiny for the protection of the corporate giants.

Ochanomizu: College Town
Ochanomizu, on the elevated Japanese Rail (JR) Chuo Line, is the college district of Tokyo. A few minutes walk downhill from the station is the atmospheric Jimbocho section filled with hundreds of bookstores. Shelves of Japanese and foreign books including second-hand ones are for sale. This quarter also boasts the Tokyo Komingu Kottokan building, containing more than 50 antique shops, and the Nicolaido, an out of place Russian Orthodox cathedral. On the other side of the station stands the Yushima Seido Temple and the Kanda Myojin Shrine. There are plenty of universities in Tokyo, the largest, Tokyo University, is west of Ueno Park. Others include the Meiji, Nihon, Medical & Dental, Hosei, Keio, Waseda, Rikkyo and Gakushuin Universities. There is an informal, decadent and underground feel to life here, due to the student and ex-student population. Music, cults, gangs, clubs and flats cater to this young population.

Roppongi: Music Capital
This is an entertainment district with a sophisticated and exciting atmosphere. Roppongi’s nightlife picks up at around 11 pm. There are literally hundreds of coffee shops, bars, pubs and restaurants - from cheap to moderately priced. Tokyo’s most fashionable nightclubs are here. The famous Black Rain club in Roppongi was the scene in 2220 of the infamous Yakuza rocket attack that killed 11 and wounded 14.There are clubs and discos with the best music and DJs, and plenty of live music.Bands from across Japan play here to be heard and appreciated. Foreigners (gaijin)prefer the clubs in Roppongi and are well catered for. It is a very cosmopolitan place. Roppongi Hills, a vast complex of apartments, shops, offices,restaurants, hotels and even a museum. In nearby Shiba Park stands the famous red and white Tokyo Tower, a vast Eiffel tower-like broadcast mast 333m high, standing high on a knoll.

Shibuya: The Height of All Fashion
This is an action-packed amusement and shopping district, and is always crowded with young people day and night. Koen-dori Street is filled with colorful shopping complexes and department stores all boasting the latest fashions. The old Olympic Stadium and the Meji Shrine lie beyond Koen-dori. Close by is the NHK Broadcast Center, owned bythe state-run Japanese radio and TV corporation. Also in Shibuya is the KDDI building,KDDI is a leading communications zaibatsu. Shibuya is high profile home of the media industry. Celebrities are seen here (and also many tourists) and the district has many connections with the industry. A lot of money moves around Shibuya, wealth is conspicuous. There are cool fashion stores, restaurants, bars and hang-outs.

Shinjuku: Shopping, Sex, Bars, Clubs, Brandance, & VRcades
This is another one of Tokyo’s major shopping and amusement districts. It is also an important transportation center, served by the suburban railways of Keio, Seibu and Odakyu, and two subway lines as well as Japan Rail. A huge highway bus terminal, Busta Shinjuku, sits on top of the Shinjuku railway station. To the west of busy Shinjuku Station is the impressive skyscraper district, Tokyo’s second skyline. Some of these buildings are hotels, others are corporate buildings with underground shopping arcades, and restaurants on the upper floors with marvelous views. Most of the skyscrapers are covered with vast video advertising screens.

East of the station, however, is Kabukicho, an ancient entertainment section where rich and poor, tourist and criminals mix. The area is packed with an array of drinking places, pachinko parlors, love hotels and entertainment venues. However, Kabukicho includes bars and clubs that are seriously seedy: Tokyo’s worst places are here in Kabukicho. The Yakuza control the area with (quite literally) a vice-like grip. Kabukicho is full of drug-houses, ‘soapland’ massage parlors, gambling joints, ganghaunts, strip clubs, simstim porn clubs; whatever pays well and is border or extralegal. Tokyo’s Soho. Much of the Yakuza is located in this district.

Under the Bridge
The Tokyo Bay Crossway or The Birdge was built at the turn of the century. It largely consists of 10 km of underwater tunnels, and 5 km of bridge crossing the bay. By the year 2010, law and order had declined fast and an Auto Defense System was installed to prevent a terrorist attack that could appear in the Bridge. Guard robots moving in and out of the small maintenance ducks were considered powerful enough to take on any head on attack by a terrorist group.

However in 2018, the Ministry of Science and Technology lost communication with the Bridge, which then took matters into it's own hands. Many different theories have surfaced over the years, one of the more popular ones is a virus took over the central AI and caused it to go rogue, but there still is no definitive answer.

First, the traffic lights all went down. Afterwards a small Security Office was attacked by their own drones, and then people were forced out. The Tokyo Police from Keishi-cho, Chiba Prefecture Police, and Arasaka Riot team upon request from the S&T Ministry attempted to take back the central computer, but they couldn't seem to reach it. Control from the Net to this day hasn't been established. The Bridge went rogue.

Not too long after, homeless started to migrate to the Bridge. These "Bridge People" aren't seen as enemies from the defense system, that is if they stay 200 meters away from the Control Room. Most of them live in the underwater sections of the bridge. Also, there are many who live on the artificial islands that support the aboveground portion of the bridge, and the girders of the bridge. The Tokyo Police have put it on record that around 8,000 people live in the Bridge.

As stated the people who live here are usually unemployed Nomad-types who aren't able to afford living in the big cities of Tokyo or Chiba. There's also a small portion of gaijin and Nambei-jin who are the first to go in a job crunch. There's also quite a few criminals who have also taken refuge. Since Arasaka is the law in Kanagawa, and Chiba Prefectural Police rule in Chiba, the bridge was always a jurisdiction gray zone; now a days it's just a sovereign territory.

As long as there's no skirmishes above a certain level, the bridge doesn't really interfere with the rest of the public. On rare occasions, a small riot team will go in to arrest a criminal who escaped to this location. However not all crimes will be cashed down here, big ones like Nov. 6, 2018, will be squashed with extreme force.

In the present day, the defenses appear to be invincible. There is plenty of ammo, as the auto-factories around the bridge legs keep making more from construction material stockpiles intended for the bridge itself. The government an local policing forces do not see the situation changing anytime soon.

Shopping
You're in Tokyo, and you really want/need something that's (relatively) inexpensive, unusual, or not exactly legal; where do you go? Well, there is no "one-stop shopping" strip in Tokyo (although Chiba comes close). Rather. they are spread out around the various areas.

Akihabara:
Electronic equipment and parts; Computers, VR and Braindance sets, Black-market Programs, Cyberware, new & used. You cand find legitimate, non-cutting edge electronics for 20% to 70% off. If you look around at some of the indie dealers, you can find custom work, or newtech undiscovered by the corps. Famous the world over its jungle of neon signs and laser ads.

Akasaka:
A traditional geisha district, even in 2020 it is still possible to see rickshaws carrying their gorgeously dressed high-priced hostesses through the streets in the early evening. Akasaka is also home to Tokyo’s most exclusive (and also expensive) nightclubs. Many affluent Chinese have moved here during and after the recent troubles in Hong Kong. Chinese businesses thrive in Akasaka. There are many upmarket clubs, shows and restaurants. It is known as a real ‘foodie’ area, with hundreds of international food bars and restaurants. A temple, the Hie Shrine, sits on a small hill reached by a steep flight of steps.

Kanda, Jinbocho, Ochanomizu:
Books (new and used), Manga, Foreign books, Sports equipment, Musical instruments. Any book published in Japan can be found here. Even rare, old books are around, some with old Zaibatsu addresses, or written in coded script (listen up, Info Bros!). Reading can still be a worthwhile skill.

Ueno, Okachimachi:
Surplus military goods, food and drinks at 10%-50% off (at night, you can find synthifish sushi at 90% off!), forged cred chips and IDs.

Harajuku:
Harajuku is the fashion center of Tokyo. Omote Sando and Meiji Dori streets are lined with boutiques ranging from the conservative but fashionable to the extremely exotic. All fashions are sold at prices four to five times of normal wear. Such is the sacrifice one must make to keep in style.

It's relationship with pop culture has also drawn the younger crowd to Harajuku. Most afternoons, the walkways are filled with young men and women looking for fashion accessories. And on every Sunday, Omote Sando becomes a vehicle free promenade for street performers and impromptu concerts.

Shinjuku:
Black-market goods such as Drygs, Handguns, Cyberware, and Programs, Prostitutes. This is a famous Yakuza stronghold in Tokyo. Pretty much anything illegal can be found here. Many Yakuza families share territory here; the boundaries aren't in blocks, but in building to building, room by room. Sometimes you'll see buildings with the Nawabari (sign) of several different clans. This area is pretty safe, as the clans don't fight here, for fear of hurting business. People of any nationality can be found here, dealing or working at Yakuza-owned bars and nightclubs. Even pampees are safe here, as long as they don't get too deep.

Ikebukuro:
This district once became a new sub center of Tokyo after the expensive Sunshine City development appeared to the east of Ikebukuro Station. There is an aquarium, a theater and the Orient Museum within the Sunshine City compound. It is a gateway to Tokyo’s northwestern suburbs, Ikebukuro is served by suburban railway lines as well as metropolitan subway lines to central Tokyo, and these are often crowded with commuters. Ikebukuro has its own ‘feel’, its own restaurants and shopping and its own bars and eating places. It has a large corporate population, and so is a little staid.

Shibuya:
Black-market goods and information. This Teamer gang area, and like Shinjuku, most anything can be found here, but with less of a Yakuza influence. Lone-wolf marketeers who don't want to be Yakuza dominated come here, but inter-gang war is common.

Ginza:
Ginza was once the largest downtown area in Tokyo. This area once flourished from the trade between the high-class northern part of Tokyo and the merchants and fishing trade generated by Tokyo Bay. Ginza itself means "silver gathering." Today there are four large department stores located here, Matsuya, Mitsukoshi, Matsuzakaya, and Hankyu, along with numerous other shops, restaurants, and nightclubs. A traditional Kabuki Theater is located in Ginza as well.

Chiba:
Legal (and illegal) Medtech, Cyberware, Bodybanks. The world's finest Medtechs are here, working on the Cybertech edge. This is also a living-body test ground for Mega-corps; watch out they don't change your name to Subject X.

Komike:
Manga, Anime, VR & films, Braindance, Programs, Info. The world's largest "undergound" market, held every summer and winter at Harumi Int'I Trade Ceneter, Tokyo. Medias are here selling everything from manga and fanzines to the latest anti-Arasaka information. You can sell your own work here by entering as a Circle. Since there are so many Circles here, to find any really good info, you need Streetwise and Expert (Dojin Circle) skills, to know who to talk to. Of course, there are no illegal goods sold here.

Tokyo Aerospace Port-Chiba:
Duty-free &smuggled goods. This is one of the largest AeroSpace ports in the world. The security is incredibly tight... for passengers. Because there are so many people and packages passing through, they only use scanners to inspect baggage. So if you pack big bags with just a little illegal stuff (guns, drugs, etc.), chances are good it'll slip through. Just don't get stupid and greedy.

Tokyo Disney City:
Disney stuff. Nice place to bring your input. Yanks will feel at home in this all-American, incredibly safe wonderland. Everyone is scanned for weapons on entrance by Disney's own Lazarus-trained security team. Rumor has it all the Mice and Ducks are pro guardsmen. The Park itself is in Chiba, but the New VR BBS is at the corporate mainframe in central Tokyo.

Yokohama
Yokohama is not actually part of Tokyo, the southern bay area of Yokohama can be considered apart of Tokyo. Yokohama City is the port into which Commodore Perry and his fleet sailed into long ago. Their powerful naval vessels forced open Japan's ports for trade and allowed the West access to the treasures of the East. Yokohama was, at the time, the largest of the port cities that the Westerners dealt with. Yokohama prospered from the new trade and continues to this day.

Besides the marine business, Yokohama supports Yokohama Station, a large complex of department stores, office buildings and rail line terminals. Yokohama prides itself on its self-sufficiency and has become the primary location of many corporations. The Arasaka weapons factories are located in a heavily secured 500 acre area is located here, as well as the Maritime Security and Combat school.

Chiba
Chiba is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It sits about 40 kilometers southeast of the center of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. Chiba City became a government-designated city in 1992. Chiba was a castle town controlled by the Chiba family in the 12th–15th century, and during the Edo (Tokugawa) period it served as a post-station town for several major roads. The town grew after the construction of a railway connecting it with Tokyo in the second half of the 19th century.

Chiba is an new business center. It has a thriving port and behind it a vast area of factory domes and attendant corporate archaeologist. But the most exciting aspect of Chiba is the cutting edge clinics, hospitals and medical research facilities. The best surgeons, geneticists, cybernetics and plastic surgeons are all here with the finest equipment and facilities. But the wealth has created a black market centered in Ninsei (close to Shiga and Baiitsu), caught between the port and the corporate zones. Here deals and double-deals keep an entire black market of smuggling, theft and drug abuse alive. Pharmaceuticals from the clinics and labs finds its way onto the Street and up for sale - to be shipped out across the globe.Experimental products fetch the highest prices.

Tokyo Disney City
Tokyo Disneyland is a 115-acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside the United States, and it opened on 15 April 1983. In the present day it's the prefect place for Yanks to enjoy All-American traditions and good inexpensive shopping. Disney City is also well known for their groundbreaking technology and out of this world security.

The Docks
Tokyo Docks are vast and made up of piers, wharfs, warehousing complexes,factories and industrial estates. Much of it is fenced off and in a perpetual arc-light daytime. People live there too, but the housing complexes are fairly run-down and undesirable. Generally, people have moved out and light industry, warehousing and the container port machinery have moved in.

Popular Culture
As the largest population center in Japan and the site of the country's largest broadcasters and studios, Tokyo is frequently the setting for many Japanese movies, television shows, animated series (anime), web comics, light novels, video games, and comic books (manga). In the kaiju (monster movie) genre, landmarks of Tokyo are usually destroyed by giant monsters such as Gojira and Gamera.

Culture
Tokyo has many museums. In Ueno Park, there is the Tokyo National Museum, the country's largest museum and specializing in traditional Japanese art; the National Museum of Western Art and Ueno Zoo. Other museums include the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Odaiba; the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Sumida, across the Sumida River from the center of Tokyo; the Nezu Museum in Aoyama; and the National Diet Library, National Archives, and the National Museum of Modern Art, which are near the Imperial Palace.

Tokyo has many theaters for performing arts. These include national and private theaters for traditional forms of Japanese drama. Noteworthy are the National Noh Theatre for noh and the Kabuki-za for Kabuki. Symphony orchestras and other musical organizations perform modern and traditional music. Tokyo also hosts modern Japanese and international pop, and rock music at venues ranging in size from intimate clubs to internationally known areas such as the Nippon Budokan.

Many different festivals occur throughout Tokyo. Major events include the Sannō at Hie Shrine, the Sanja at Asakusa Shrine, and the biennial Kanda Festivals. The last features a parade with elaborately decorated floats and thousands of people. Annually on the last Saturday of July, an enormous fireworks display over the Sumida River attracts over a million viewers. Once cherry blossoms bloom in spring, many residents gather in Ueno Park, Inokashira Park, and the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden for picnics under the blossoms. Harajuku, a neighborhood in Shibuya, is known internationally for its youth style, fashion, cyberware, and cosplay.

Trivia

 * The City of Tokyo has around 13.9 million, with the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan area having over 40 million people.
 * Tokyo Skytree was announced as the tallest tower in the world in 2010. The Skytree features the world’s highest skywalk as well as presents a very beautiful view to its less daring visitors. The name of this tower was decided by popular vote winning by a landslide with 30% of total votes.
 * The cherry blossom is the national symbol of Japan. These trees flower for one or two weeks a year starting in April. This period is known as Hanami, the long standing tradition of welcoming spring. This festival is about appreciating the temporary beauty of nature.
 * Tokyo is a city that loves its seafood. There is a wholesale fish market called Tsukiji. This is the busiest and largest fish market in the world. Live tuna auctions are the main attraction, which take place every morning at 5 am sharp. This is a major tourist attraction and free visitor tickets are given to the public every morning at 4 am.