Greater Tokyo Area

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The Greater Tokyo Area is a large metropolitan area in Japan consisting of most of the prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tokyo (at the center). In Japanese, it is referred to by various terms, including the Template:Nihongo, Template:Nihongo, Template:Nihongo, and others.

A 2007 UN estimate puts the population at 35,676,000,<ref>World Urbanization Prospects, 2007 revision (online data)</ref> making it the world's most populous metropolitan area. It covers an area of approximately 13,500 km² (5,200 mi²),<ref name=MMA>Japan Statistics Bureau - Keihin'yō Major Metropolitan Area</ref> giving it a population density of 2,642 person/km². It is the second largest in the world in terms of built-up or urban function landmass at 7,800 km² (3,000 mi²).<ref>demographia.com - World urban areas</ref> Only the urban area surrounding New York City, at 8,700 km², is larger.

This area has the largest metropolitan economy in the world. One Metropolis, Three Prefectures, one of the definition of the Greater Tokyo Area, had a total GDP (nominal) of approximately US$1.5 trillion (164 trillion Yen<ref>都道府県 平成 92,269,424'</ref>) in 2005. Research published by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the agglomeration of Tokyo had a total GDP of US$1.191 trillion in 2005 (at purchasing power parity), ranking again as the largest urban agglomeration GDP in the world.

Contents 1 Definition 1.1 Figures by definition 1.2 Various definitions of Tokyo/Kantō 1.3 Metropolitan Area definitions for Tokyo 2 Cities 2.1 Cities within Tokyo 2.1.1 Eastern Tokyo Metropolis 2.1.2 Western Tokyo Metropolis 2.2 Cities outside Tokyo 2.3 Additional cities 2.3.1 Gunma Prefecture 2.3.2 Ibaraki Prefecture 2.3.3 Shizuoka Prefecture 2.3.4 Tochigi Prefecture 2.3.5 Yamanashi Prefecture 2.3.6 Border areas 3 Geography 4 Economy 4.1 Greater Tokyo Area 2005 4.2 GDP(nominal) 2005 4.3 GDP (purchasing power parity) 2005 5 Transportation 5.1 Air 5.2 Rail 5.3 Other 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Definition

There are various different definitions of the Greater Tokyo Area. Each area has a different population.

Figures by definition

• The Template:Nihongo, a southern part of the Kantō region, including the aforementioned one metropolis (Tokyo) and three prefectures (Chiba, Kanagawa, and Saitama) with the populations (as of Dec 2008) of 35.168 million. This is the most commonly used definition but misses many suburbs that lay outside the borders.

• The Template:Nihongo is one of the two definitions the Japan Statistics Bureau uses. It consists of all municipalities that have at least 1.5% of their population aged 15 and above commuting to a designated city (Yokohama, Kawasaki, Chiba, and Saitama) or the 23 special wards. Before Saitama became a designated city in 2001, the area was called Template:Nihongo. Template:As of, the area has a population of 34.6 million.

• The Template:Nihongo is another definition by the Japan Statistics Bureau. It is the set of municipalities that are completely or mostly within 50 and 70 kilometres of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings in Shinjuku, with populations (as of 2000) of 30,724,000 and 34,394,000 respectively.<ref>Japan Statistics Bureau - Population figures for range of distance</ref> However, suburbs tend to extend in a finger like outward along major train routes so this isn't the most accurate definition.

• The Tokyo Metropolitan Employment Area, which is also called Template:Nihongo in Japanese, is the area defined by the Center for Spatial Information Service, the University of Tokyo. It consists of all municipalities that have at least 10% of their population commuting to 23 special wards, with the populations (as of 2000) of 31.7 million.

For the definition in the below table, it uses the 一都三県 Itto Sanken, subtracting out sparsely populated western mountainous areas (gun, 郡) or areas that were consolidated from gun into sparse towns or cities and the far flung Izu Islands of Tokyo prefecture. For Chiba East and southern coast areas are not included as they are suburban. Sometimes these areas are self governing areas (自治体) within the prefecture. Note the total size is smaller than Los Angeles County.

Region (Core)	Population February 2008 estimates Japan Statistics Bureau	Area km²	Density per km²
Tokyo Prefecture (Urban)	12,770,000	1,457.3	8,762.8
Kanagawa Prefecture (Urban)	8,877,000	2,191.1	4,051.4
Saitama Prefecture (Urban)	6,997,000	2,867.53	2,440.1
Chiba Prefecture (West Bay)	4,829,000	1,788.94	2,699.4
4 Prefectures, Core areas	33,473,000	8,304.87	4,030

For the table below, it includes continuous suburban areas not interrupted by rural land plus the core areas as above, using this definition, Greater Tokyo is still smaller in land area than the smallest metropolitan area definition for New York City, the MSA of New York metropolitan area, which has 18.75 million people and 17,405 km². compared to Tokyo's 39.19 million and 16,410 km². This definition is very similar to Kantō Major Metropolitan Area, but updated for 2008. Extending the definition of Tokyo further doesn't significantly change the population figures as land becomes rural and mountainous. The Combined Statistical Area of New York is far looser definition at 30,671 km². and 21.9 million people.

Region Continuous suburban areas	Population February 2008 estimates	Area km²	Density per km²
Chiba Prefecture (Suburban)	1,288,400	3,368.56	382.48
Northeast (parts of Gunma, Tochigi)	1,586,100	1,588.14	998.71
Northwest (parts of Tochigi, Ibaraki)	1,924,800	2,110.15	912.2
Southwest (part of Izu Peninsula)	916,400	1,038.85	934.6
Total Suburban Areas	5,715,400	8,105.70	705.1
Greater Tokyo	39,188,400	16,410.57	2,388

Various definitions of Tokyo/Kantō

23 special wards, population 8.6 million (2007).	Tokyo Metropolis, excluding Izu/Ogasawara Islands. Population 12.7 million (2008).	Tokyo Metropolitan Employment Area, according to the University of Tokyo. Population 31.7 million (2000).	One Metropolis and Three Prefectures, population 34.9 million (2008).
Kantō Major Metropolitan Area, according to the Japan Statistics Bureau. Population 34.6 million (2000). 2008 estimate ranges around 39 million, but some cities have amalgamated.	Kantō region, population 41.9 million (2008).	National Capital Region, according to the National Capital Region Planning Act. Population 42.8 million (2008).

Metropolitan Area definitions for Tokyo

• The Template:Nihongo is a potentially ambiguous term. Informally, it may mean the One Metropolis, Three Prefectures, or the area without Saitama Prefecture. Formally, it may mean the South Kantō Block, which is not the Greater Tokyo Area, but a proportional representation block of the national election, comprising Kanagawa, Chiba, and Yamanashi Prefectures.

• In informal occasions, the term Template:Nihongo often means Greater Tokyo Area. Officially, the term refers to a much larger area, namely the whole Kantō region and Yamanashi Prefecture.

The Greater Tokyo Area continues to increase its population and density despite a demographic decline nationwide.Template:Fact　It should be noted that Tokyo as a metropolis includes some 394 kmTemplate:Su of islands (Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands), as well as some mountainous areas to the far west, which are not part of Greater Tokyo, but have comparatively very small population.

Cities

(populations listed for those over 300,000)

Cities within Tokyo

Tokyo is legally classified as a Template:Nihongo, a word which translates as "metropolis," and is treated as one of the forty-seven prefectures of Japan. It is not administered as a single city.

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 Template:Nihongo. The twenty three special wards currently have the legal status of cities, with individual mayors and city councils, and call themselves "cities" in English. However, when listing Japan's largest cities, Tokyo's twenty three wards are often counted as one city. See: Special wards of Tokyo

Western Tokyo Metropolis

Western Tokyo, known as the Tama Area (Tama-chiiki 多摩地域) comprises a number of municipalities, including these suburban cities:

Akiruno Akishima Chōfu Fuchū Fussa Hachiōji (pop 540,000) Hamura Higashikurume Higashimurayama

Higashiyamato Hino Inagi Kiyose Kodaira Koganei Kokubunji Komae Kunitachi

Machida (pop over 410,000) Mitaka Musashimurayama Musashino Nishitōkyō Ōme Tachikawa Tama

Cities outside Tokyo

The core cities of the Greater Tokyo Area outside Tokyo Metropolis are:

• Chiba (population 940,000)
• Kawasaki (population 1.36 million)
• Saitama (population 1.19 million)
• Yokohama (population 3.62 million)

The other cities in Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama Prefectures are:

Abiko Ageo Asahi Asaka Atsugi Ayase Chichibu Chigasaki Chōshi Ebina Fujimi Fujimino Fujisawa (pop 400,000) Fukaya Funabashi (pop 580,000) Futtsu Gyōda Hadano Hannō Hanyū Hasuda Hatogaya Hidaka Higashimatsuyama Hiratsuka Honjō Ichihara Ichikawa (pop. 470,000) Inzai Iruma

Isehara Kamagaya Kamakura Kamogawa Kashiwa (pop 380,000) Kasukabe Katsuura Kawagoe (pop 330,000) Kawaguchi (pop 500,000) Kazo Kimitsu Kisarazu Kitamoto Koshigaya (population 318,000) Kōnosu Kuki Kumagaya Matsudo (pop 480,000) Minamiashigara Misato Miura Mobara Nagareyama Narashino Narita Niiza Noda Odawara Okegawa

Sagamihara (pop 700,000) Sakado Sakura Satte Sawara Sayama Shiki Shiroi Sodegaura Sōka Tateyama Toda Tōgane Tokorozawa (pop 338,000) Tomisato Tsurugashima Urayasu Wakō Warabi Yachimata Yachiyo Yamato Yashio Yōkaichiba Yokosuka (pop 420,000) Yoshikawa Yotsukaidō Zama Zushi

source: stat.go.jp census 2005

Additional cities

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

Gunma Prefecture

• Tatebayashi

Ibaraki Prefecture

Inashiki Ishioka Jōsō Kasumigaura

Koga Moriya Ryūgasaki Toride

Tsuchiura Tsukuba Ushiku

Shizuoka Prefecture

• Atami

Tochigi Prefecture

• Oyama

Yamanashi Prefecture

• Ōtsuki
• Uenohara

Border areas

Greater Tokyo is bordered by metropolitan areas of Numazu-Atami (approx. 500,000) to the southwest, Maebashi-Takasaki-Ōta-Ashikaga (approx. 1,500,000 people) on the northwest, and Greater Utsunomiya (approx. 800,000) to the north. If these areas are included, Greater Tokyo's population would be around 38-39 million.

Geography

At the centre of the main urban area (approximately the first 10km from Tokyo Station) 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 (broken) loop about 40km from central Tokyo. Situated along the loop are the major cities of Yokohama (to the south of Tokyo), Hachiōji (to the west), Ōmiya (now part of Saitama City, to the north), and Chiba (to the east). 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 Area 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 comprising various cities and towns along the coast of Sagami Bay, with their long beaches comprising black volcanic sand, and to the west the area is mountainous.

Many rivers run through the area, the major ones being Arakawa and Tama River.

Economy

Tokyo has the largest city economy in the world and one of three command centers along with New York City and London.

Greater Tokyo Area 2005

• 2005 average exchange rate (1 US Dollar = 110.22 Yen)<ref> Annual Average Exchange Rate</ref>

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

Source <ref>都道府県 平成 92,269,424'</ref>

GDP(nominal) 2005

Greater Tokyo Area and Top 10 Countries. <ref>GDP(nominal) 2005</ref>

Rank	Country	GDP (in billion US$)
1	Template:Flag	<center>12,416
2	Template:Flag	<center>4,533
3	Template:Flag	<center>2,794
4	Template:Flag	<center>2,243
5	Template:Flag	<center>2,201
6	Template:Flag	<center>2,126
7	Template:Flag	<center>1,762
	(National Capital Region)	<center>1,759
	(The One Metropolis and Three Prefectures)	<center>1,488
8	Template:Flag	<center>1,124
9	Template:Flag	<center>1,113
10	Template:Flag	<center>882

GDP (purchasing power parity) 2005

The agglomeration of Tokyo is the world's largest economy, with the largest gross metropolitan product at purchasing power parity (PPP) in the world in 2005 according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers. <ref>The 150 richest cities in the world by GDP in 2005 </ref>

Rank	Urban agglomerations	Country	GDP(PPP) (in billion US$)
1	Tokyo	Template:Flag	<center>1,191
2	New York City	Template:Flag	<center>1,133
3	Los Angeles	Template:Flag	<center>639
4	Chicago	Template:Flag	<center>460
5	Paris	Template:Flag	<center>460
6	London	Template:Flag	<center>452
7	Osaka	Template:Flag	<center>341
8	Mexico City	Template:Flag	<center>315
9	Philadelphia	Template:Flag	<center>312
10	Washington, D.C.	Template:Flag	<center>299

Transportation

Template:Main

Air

The Greater Tokyo Area has two major airports, Tokyo International Airport (chiefly domestic) and Narita International Airport (chiefly international). Minor facilities include the Chōfu and Honda Airport. Tokyo Heliport serves helicopter traffic, including police, fire, and news. Various military facilities handle air traffic: Naval Air Facility Atsugi (United States Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force), Hyakuri Airfield (Japan Air Self-Defense Force), Yokota Air Base (United States Air Force), and Camp Zama (United States Army). Hyakuri is being developed for civil aviation with plans for service to begin in March 2010; it will be called Ibaraki Airport.

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 to 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. Major 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 4 kilometers, 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 (20 million different passengers) as well as physical extent with approximately 2,578 kilometers of track. Some 57 percent of all Greater Tokyo residents used rail as their primary means of transport in 2001.<ref>Urban Transport Fact Book - Tokyo-Yokohama suburban rail summary</ref>

JR East and many other carriers crisscross the region with a network of rail lines. (See this map showing the Suica/PASMO accepting area that roughly corresponds with Greater Tokyo.) The most important carriers include Keihin Kyūkō Electric Railway (Keikyū), 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 (Toei and Toden lines), Yokohama operates three lines. The Tokyo Monorail provides service to Haneda Airport and other destinations.

Other

The Shuto Expressway system connects 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.

See also

Template:Portal

• List of metropolitan areas in Japan by population
• National Capital Region (Japan) briefly shows the two definitions of the "Capital Area" (Shuto-ken.)

References

Template:Reflist

External links

• Urban Employment Areas in Japan (2000)

Template:World's most populated metropolitan areas Template:World's most populated urban areas

Template:Coord missing

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