Greater Tokyo Area


The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan as well as the prefecture of Yamanashi of the neighboring Chūbu region. In Japanese, it is referred to by various terms, one of the most common being Capital Region.
A 2016 United Nations estimate puts the total population at 38,140,000. It covers an area of approximately 13,500 km2, giving it a population density of 2,642 person/km2. It is the second largest single metropolitan area in the world in terms of built-up or urban function landmass at 8,547 km2, behind only New York City at 11,642 km2.
The area has the largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a total GDP of approximately $1.8 trillion in 2017.

Definition

There are various definitions of the Greater Tokyo Area, each of which tries to incorporate different aspects. Some definitions are clearly defined by law or government regulation, some are based coarsely on administrative areas, while others are for research purposes such as commuting patterns or distance from Central Tokyo. Each definition has a different population figure, granularity, methodology, and spatial association.

Various definitions of Tokyo, Greater Tokyo & Kantō

Inner Tokyo and TokyoDetailsPopulation 000'sArea Population Density Map
Area of former Tokyo City limits23 special wards, does not correspond to any single authority8,841,
8,135,
8,490,
8,949,
9,256 		621.913,080
14,390
14,883
Tokyo MetropolisPrefectural-level jurisdiction, figures here subtract out Izu/Ogasawara Islands12,038,
12,541,
13,129,
13,479 		18086,658
6,936
7,216.5
7,455

Metropolitan Area NameDetailsPopulation 000'sArea Population Density Map
Tokyo
One Metropolis, Three PrefecturesCoarse administrative definition that contains Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba prefectures. Misses many of the more-distant suburbs that lie outside the prefectural borders, especially in Ibaraki and Gunma. Incorporates sparsely settled rural districts like Nishitama.33,534,
35,623,
36,092 		13,555.652,627.9, 2,662
Kantō List of metropolitan areas in Japan by populationOne of the two definitions the Japan Statistics Bureau uses. Consists of all municipalities that have at least 1.5% of their population aged 15 and above commuting to a designated city or the 23 special wards. Before Saitama became a designated city in 2001, the area was called Keihin'yō Major Metropolitan Area. Excludes adjacent metropolitan areas of Gunma, Ibaraki, and Utsunomiya which are urbanized but have some small towns in between them and Tokyo. Most locally detailed definition, but hard to update without major re-study.36,923 --
Tokyo Major Metropolitan AreaSet of municipalities that are completely or mostly within 50 and 70 kilometres of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings in Shinjuku. Suburbs tend to extend finger-like along major commuter train routes and density builds along express stops, not in a uniform fashion, and so this definition is of value.32,714,
36,303 		--

Purely AdministrativeDetailsPopulation 000'sArea Population Density Map
Kantō regionEntire national region, includes many rural areas40,550
42,607
42,945 		32,423.91,314.1
National Capital Region'According to the National Capital Region Planning Act, very coarse administrative zone, essentially Kantō plus Yamanashi, includes large rural areas.41,438
43,470
43,785 		36,889.281,178.4

Notes & Sources: All figures issued by Japan Statistics Bureau, except for Metro Employment Area, a study by Center for Spatial Information Service'', the University of Tokyo. Abbreviations: CF for National Census Final Data, CR for Civil Registry, CP for Census Preliminary.

National Capital Region

The National Capital Region of Japan refers to the Greater Tokyo Area as defined by the National Capital Region Planning Act of 1956, which defines it as "Tokyo and its surrounding area declared by government ordinance." The government ordinance defined it as Tokyo and all six prefectures in the Kantō region plus Yamanashi Prefecture. While this includes all of Greater Tokyo, it also includes sparsely populated mountain areas as well as far-flung Bonin Islands which are administered under Tokyo.

International comparison

Using the "One Metropolis Three Prefectures" definition, Tokyo is, a similar size to that of Los Angeles County, and almost two-thirds smaller than the Combined Statistical Area of New York City, at and 21.9 million people. Other metropolitan areas such as Greater Jakarta are considerably more compact as well as more densely populated than Greater Tokyo.

Metropolitan Area definition ambiguities and issues

Cities within Tokyo

Tokyo is legally classified as a to, which translates as "metropolis", and is treated as one of the forty-seven prefectures of Japan. The metropolis is administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as a whole.

Eastern Tokyo Metropolis

Central Tokyo, situated in the eastern portion of Tokyo Metropolis, was once incorporated as Tokyo City, which was dismantled during World War II. Its subdivisions have been reclassified as Special wards of Tokyo. The twenty three special wards currently have the legal status of cities, with individual mayors and city councils, and they call themselves "cities" in English. However, when listing Japan's largest cities, Tokyo's twenty three wards are often counted as a single city.

Western Tokyo Metropolis

, known as the Tama Area comprises a number of municipalities, including these suburban cities:

Cities outside Tokyo

The core cities of the Greater Tokyo Area outside Tokyo Metropolis are:
The other cities in Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama Prefectures are:
source: stat.go.jp census 2005

Additional cities

In the major metropolitan area definition used by the Japanese Statistics Bureau, the following cities in Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Yamanashi, and Shizuoka Prefectures are included:

Gunma Prefecture

Shizuoka Prefecture

Tighter definitions for Greater Tokyo do not include adjacent metropolitan areas of Numazu-Mishima to the southwest, Maebashi-Takasaki-Ōta-Ashikaga on the northwest, and Greater Utsunomiya to the north. If they are included, Greater Tokyo's population would be around 39 million.

Geography

At the centre of the main urban area are the 23 special wards, formerly treated as a single city but now governed as separate municipalities, and containing many major commercial centres such as Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro and Ginza. Around the 23 special wards are a multitude of suburban cities which merge seamlessly into each other to form a continuous built up area, circumnavigated by the heavily travelled Route 16 which forms a loop about from central Tokyo. Situated along the loop are the major cities of Yokohama, Hachiōji, Ōmiya, and Chiba. Within the Route 16 loop, the coastline of Tokyo Bay is heavily industrialised, with the Keihin Industrial Area stretching from Tokyo down to Yokohama, and the Keiyō Industrial Zone from Tokyo eastwards to Chiba. Along the periphery of the main urban area are numerous new suburban housing developments such as the Tama New Town. The landscape is relatively flat compared to most of Japan, most of it comprising low hills.
Outside the Route 16 loop the landscape becomes more rural. To the southwest is an area known as Shōnan, which contains various cities and towns along the coast of Sagami Bay, and to the west the area is mountainous.
Many rivers run through the area, the major ones being Arakawa and Tama River.

Demographics

Economy

Tokyo metropolitan area has the largest city economy in the world and is one of the major global center of trade and commerce along with New York City, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Paris, Seoul and London.

Greater Tokyo Area 2005

PrefectureGross Prefecture Product
Gross Prefecture Product
Tokyo
92,269
837
Kanagawa
31,184
282
Saitama
20,650
187
Chiba
19,917
180
Ibaraki
10,955
99
Tochigi
8,195
74
Gunma
7,550
68
Yamanashi
3,206
29
The One Metropolis
and Three Prefectures
164,020
1,488
National Capital Region
193,926
1,759

Source

GDP (purchasing power parity)

The agglomeration of Tokyo is the world's largest economy, with the largest gross metropolitan product at purchasing power parity in the world according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Metropolitan Employment Area

Sources:,

Transportation

Air

The Greater Tokyo Area has two major airports, Tokyo International Airport, commonly known as Haneda Airport and Narita International Airport. Minor facilities include the Chōfu, Ibaraki Airport, and Honda Airport. Tokyo Heliport serves helicopter traffic, including police, fire, and news. Various military facilities handle air traffic: Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Yokota Air Base, and Camp Zama.

Rail

Greater Tokyo has an extensive railway network comprising high-speed rail, commuter rails, subways, monorails, private lines, trams and others. There are around 136 individual rail lines in the Greater Tokyo Area, and between 1,000 and 1,200 railway stations depending on one's definition of the area, most designed for heavy use, usually long enough to accommodate 10-car trains. Stations are designed to accommodate hundreds of thousands of passengers at any given time, with miles of connecting tunnels linking vast department stores and corporate offices. Tokyo Station has underground connections that stretch well over, and Shinjuku Station has well over 200 exits. Greater Tokyo's Railway Network is easily considered the world's largest in terms of both daily passenger throughput with a daily trips of over 40 million as well as physical extent with approximately of track. Shinjuku station is used by an average of 3.34 million people per day, making it the world's busiest train station. Some 57 percent of all Greater Tokyo residents used rail as their primary means of transport in 2001.
JR East and many other carriers crisscross the region with a network of rail lines. The most important carriers include Keihin Kyūkō Electric Railway, Keisei Electric Railway, Keiō Electric Railway, Odakyū Electric Railway, Seibu Railway, Tōbu Railway, and Tōkyū Corporation. In addition to Tokyo's two subway systems — Tokyo Metro and Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, Yokohama also has two subway lines.
The Tokyo Monorail provides an important shuttle service between Haneda Airport and Hammatsucho station on the Yamanote line.

Other

The Shuto Expressway system connects to other national expressways in the capital region.
Tokyo and Yokohama are major commercial seaports, and both the Maritime Self-Defense Force and United States Navy maintain naval bases at Yokosuka.