Tokyo is a modern city, rebuilt out of the ashes of saturation bombing during second world war. During one night alone, over 700,000 incendiary bombs was dropped on the city and since a high percentage of the buildings were built of wood, fires spread across the city rapidly. From the beginning of the war, the population dropped from 6.7 million to around 2.8 million. After the war, the city was completely rebuilt using steel and concrete methods, so that the 1964 Olympics showcased a totally different city to the one that existed before 1941 with modern earthquake resistant skyscapers. By 1978, the population had risen to 11 million.

For centuries, Tokyo was known as Edo, when it was the capital of the Tokugawa Shogonate. In 1868, the reign of the Shogun was over. The Japanese Diet was established and the Imperial court under Emperor Meiji was relocated to Edo from Kyoto, which was then renamed Tokyo.

For a visitor, Tokyo is surely be one of the cleanest, safest, techncally advanced and fascinating cities in the world. Travelling by the train within Tokyo is convenient and cheap, but takes a little getting used as there are both a metro system and another that is part of the commuter Japan Railway system, so some journeys require a switch between the two lines and having to buy tickets for both parts of the journey - even for some short ones. The people are extremely gracious and helpful - sometimes going out their way, literally, to show you where to go.