Tokyo: History, Former Names & Timeline
Castle town of the Tokugawa shoguns and one of the world's largest cities by the eighteenth century; Japan's capital since the Meiji Restoration.
TokyoExplore Tokyo in the interactive map
Former names of Tokyo
| From | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1457 | Edo | |
| 1868 | Tōkyō |
Timeline of Tokyo
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1457 | Ōta Dōkan builds Edo Castle |
| 1603 | Tokugawa Ieyasu founds the Edo shogunate |
| 1868 | The Meiji Restoration; Edo is renamed Tokyo |
| 1923 | The Great Kantō earthquake |
| 1945 | Firebombing of Tokyo; Japan surrenders |
| 1964 | Tokyo hosts the Summer Olympics |
Who ruled Tokyo
Derived from the border maps; each row runs until the next recorded border change.
| Period | State |
|---|---|
| 500 BC–324 BC | Late Jomon culture |
| 323 BC–99 | Unclaimed / no data |
| 100–199 | Yayoi |
| 200–599 | Unclaimed / no data |
| 600–799 | Yamato |
| 800–899 | Japan |
| 900–999 | Yamato |
| 1000–1299 | Imperial Japan (Fujiwara) |
| 1300–1491 | Shogun Japan (Kamakura) |
| 1492–1599 | Japan |
| 1600–1649 | Japan (Warring States) |
| 1650–1782 | Tokugawa shogunate |
| 1783–1879 | Japan |
| 1880–1913 | Imperial Japan |
| 1914–1944 | Empire of Japan |
| 1945–1959 | Japan (USA) |
| 1960–today | Japan |