Krista McCleery, age 14, of Monroe, La., for her question:
IS TOKYO AN ANCIENT CITY?
Tokyo is now the capital of Japan and it has more people than any other city in the world except Shanghai. Although there is a record of a settlement in the area about 1180, the city didn't become the nation's capital nor receive its present name until 1868.
The first city was named Edo. It overlooked both Tokyo Bay and the Kanto Plain and was the home of a powerful family named Edo. In 1457 a warrior named Ota Dokan built a castle at Edo where the Imperial Palace now stands. Historians mark this date as the city's official beginning. The town called Edo grew up around the castle.
The development that made the town Japan's chief city started in 1590. In that year, a warrior named Tokugawa Ieyasu made Edo his headquarters. Then in 1603, Ieyasu became shogun or military leader of Japan and Edo became the nation's political center. But Kyoto, a city southwest of Edo and the home of the emperor, remained the official capital.
By the early 1800s, Edo had become a city with a population over 1 million. This was more than 15 times larger than New York City.at the time. Ieyasu and his descendants ruled as shoguns in Edo until 1867.
In 1853, the United States government sent Commander Matthew Perry to open relations with Japan. Ferry sailed into Tokyo Bay with four warships and started talks with the Japanese rulers. Japan signed trade treaties with the United States and other Western countries in 1858.
Emperor Mutsuhito, known as the Meiji Emperor, did much to further the Westernization process of Japan. He took control of the country in 1867 and the following year moved the capital from Kyoto to Edo. He also renamed the city Tokyo, which means "eastern capital."
Tokyo rapidly adopted Western styles and inventions. By the late 1800s, the city started to look like a Western city.
A violent earthquake destroyed Tokyo in 1923, killing 59,000 people. It took 20 years to rebuild the city.
At the time of the 1923 earthquake, Tokyo consisted of 15 wards in the vicinity of the Imperial Palace. After the tragedy, areas outside the 15 wards began to develop. In 1932, the city took over many of the areas and made them wards, establishing the present ward area.
World War II brought destruction to Tokyo again. American bombers first attacked the city in April, 1942. The heaviest raids took place from March, 1945, until Japan agreed to surrender in August of that year.
The bombers destroyed about 97 square miles of Tokyo. More than 250,000 persons were killed or listed as missing. Thousands fled the city and Tokyo's population dropped from about 7,350,000 in 1940 to about 3,500,000 in 1945.
As soon as the war ended, the people started to rebuild Tokyo.
Between 1945 and 1960, Tokyo's population more than doubled. The economy boomed and there was a tremendous building program.
By the time Tokyo was host to the 1964 summer Olympic Games, the city had constructed a new freeway system, many hotels and a monorail.