Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital and most populous city of Japan. The population of the city proper was over 14 million as of 2023. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring prefectures, is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the world, with 33 million residents as of 2025.
Typical weather
1981–presentCity Rhythm
measuredOpening hours, by kind of place
median across mapped venuesVital absurdities
measured · the Anti-AwardsSame time system
by rhythmWhat to do each season
4winter
cool and relatively dry; openmeteo mean 4.7-7.3 °C (Jan 4.7; Wikipedia January average 5.4 °C); drier months (Dec-Feb 2.0-2.5 mm/day); snowfall is sporadic and 'occurs almost annually'; record low −9.2 °C
- the cool dry winter — illumination events and the year-end/new-year shrine-visit (hatsumōde) season; the lowest tourist density outside the holidays
- the seasonal food and the onsen/hot-spring trips to the western mountains (Okutama) and beyond
spring
rapid warming; openmeteo mean 8.8-18.1 °C; relatively dry; the cherry-blossom window (late Mar-Apr); the most famous season
- the cherry blossoms (sakura) — Ueno Park, Shinjuku Gyoen, the riverside are the defining spring affordance; the peak both of tourism and of local hanami (blossom-viewing) street life
- the start of the school and fiscal year (April); the mild weather opens the parks and gardens
summer
hot and very humid; openmeteo mean 21.6-26.8 °C (Aug hottest 26.8; Wikipedia record high 39.5 °C); the rainy tsuyu season (Jun-Jul) then oppressive August heat; summer is the wetter half
- the tsuyu rainy season (Jun-Jul) gives way to hot, humid August — the summer festivals (matsuri), fireworks (hanabi), and the climbing of Mount Fuji season
- life shifts after dark and into the air-conditioned underground arcades; the daytime outdoors is oppressive
autumn
cooling; openmeteo mean 12.6-23.6 °C; the typhoon peak (Sep-Oct are the wettest months at 6.9 and 6.6 mm/day); clear mild days into November; the autumn foliage
- typhoon season (Sep-Oct) — Tokyo 'often sees typhoons every year, though few are strong'; the wettest months
- the autumn foliage in the gardens (Rikugien, Koishikawa Korakuen) and the clear mild late-autumn — a second peak for parks and walking
What it is known for
Important moments in a year
Cherry Blossoms
- the sakura season — Ueno Park, Shinjuku Gyoen and the riverside activate for hanami blossom-viewing
- the annual peak of both tourism and local public-space use
Sumo Tournaments
- three of the six annual grand sumo tournaments at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan
1964 Summer Olympics
- Tokyo became the first Asian city to host the Summer Games
2020 Summer Olympics
- the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, rescheduled to 2021 due to COVID-19
2019 Rugby World Cup
- Tokyo hosted several games of the 2019 Rugby World Cup
On the record
source-trackedThe former city of Tokyo and the majority of Tokyo prefecture lie in the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen climate classification: Cfa), with hot, humid summers and cool winters with occasional cold spells.
The warmest month is August, which averages 26.9 °C. The coolest month is January, averaging 5.4 °C. Snowfall is sporadic and occurs almost annually. Tokyo often sees typhoons every year, though few are strong.
Tokyo, originally known as Edo, rose to political prominence in 1603 when it became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate, and by the mid-18th century, Edo had evolved into one of the largest cities in the world, with a population surpassing one million.
There are up to 62 electric train lines and more than 900 train stations in Tokyo. Rail is the primary mode of transportation in Tokyo, which has the most extensive urban railway network in the world.
Shibuya Crossing is the 'world's busiest pedestrian crossing', with around 3,000 people crossing at a time.
In November 2007, Michelin released their first guide for fine dining in Tokyo, awarding 191 stars in total, or about twice as many as Tokyo's nearest competitor, Paris.
The Toyosu Market in Tokyo is the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world since it opened on October 11, 2018.
During the daytime, the population swells by over 2.5 million as workers and students commute from adjacent areas. In the three central wards of Chiyoda, Chūō, and Minato, the population was 326,000 at night, but 2.4 million during the day.
As the Greater Tokyo Area, it has the second-largest metropolitan economy in the world, after Greater New York, with a gross metropolitan product estimated at US$2 trillion.
In 2025, 26 of the Fortune Global 500 companies were headquartered in Tokyo.
As of March 31, 2008, 36% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks.
Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, thus becoming the first Asian city to host the Summer Games.
The method behind this atlas — 196 pp. Not published yet.