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Tokyo is situated in the southern part of the Kanto plain in central Japan. The largest city in the country, it currently has a population of over 12,000,000 people. Most of the countries key judicial, legislative and administrative offices are located here, as are the main government buildings, the central bank and hundreds of embassies. Tokyo plays a crucial role as the principal centre for economic and cultural activity in Japan. The origins of the city can be traced back to the 12th century, when it was a small fishing village called Edo (pronounced "eh-doh"). Over the next 400 years it was ruled by a series of warlords and various other rulers. One of them, Dokan Ota, built the first castle here in 1457, and this is officially regarded as the date of the founding of the city. Today, Tokyo is an extremely modern financial marketplace, where billions of dollars are exchanged every day. It can be either incredible beautiful or, at times somewhat unattractive; Tokyo produces more than 20,000 tons of garbage a day. It is enormous - a grouping of cities within a city, with no tangible centre - but still manageable. Almost everything of interest lies in or around the Japan Railway's (JR) Yamanote line, a rail line that encircles central Tokyo; this can be of great help to the newcomer. In the middle of this circle you'll find the Imperial Palace, the Ginza and the commercial Marunouchi area to the east. Despite the seemingly ongoing construction taking place in Tokyo, you can still come across quaint little streets lined with old, tiny specialty shops wooden houses dotted here and there. In Tokyo, as with most of the rest of Japan, finding an address can prove to be a very difficult task. Even the local people seem to have a problem with trying to find their way around. Only a few streets have their names sign posted, so expect to ask for directions. And as Tokyo is one of the safest cities in the world, this will not be a problem as local people are only too pleased to spare their time and effort to help out a stranger. |