B7Tokyo

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=__Introduction__=

This page is dedicated to one of the famous city of Japan, Tokyo. Tokyo, as you all know, hasn't been the capital of Japan from the scratch. Although it may not have a lot of ancient monuments from the Olden days of Japan like Kyoto, Tokyo still continues develop in its own modern way. Unfortunately, we kind of made this project into a travelling brochure or some sort, but all in all, it should be fairly short. Please feel free to edit if something's wrong or incorrect, and enjoy the page.

By Arlen Kim and Harry Seo

Our Presentation!

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=__とうきょう__=

Tokyo (東京 or とうきょう) is a capital city of Japan that houses 12 million people. There are also 26 cities in Tokyo. It's located in the east of Honshuu, and it's known as the home of the imperial family. Tokyo used to be called "Edo" until 1868. Also, Tokyo is known to have been hit by powerful earthquakes (The most dramatic one being the 1923 Kanto Earthquake) and also by typhoons although only few are actually strong. Tokyo is also famous for holding the 1964 summer Olympics.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo Link: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html

=__History__=

After the victory of the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa took control of Japan and created his government in Tokyo. Edo era was a time of peace where culture like kabuki and ukiyo-e developed to its fullest. However, in 1858, American fleet came to Japan and demanded them to open up. So, the Edo era slowly disintegrated and began a new era called the Meiji era, thus changing its name to Tokyo.
 * __Edo Era:__**

During this era, Japan started to absorb the western culture. Telecommunication system was developed in 1869 and steam locomotives in 1872 because of all the influence from foreign countries. Also, Japan became militaristic during this era, hence partaking in the events of World War II against the Allied forces.
 * __Meiji and Taisho Era:__**

After the loss, Tokyo entered the era of Showa under the control of general McArthur and the American GHQ. Tokyo was given the special ward system in 1949 to become more of a modern city and was given total control in 1952. Although it has been restoring, people felt the true restoration after the Tokyo Olympics, which was held in 1964.
 * __Showa and Heisei Era:__**

link: http://www.sakura-house.com/tips/tokyo_general/history/history.htm

=**__Transportation__**=

As many of you may know, Tokyo has varieties of transportation systems within its core. The dominating transportation system in Tokyo is its expensive railway system. Tokyo is also known to be the center of the famous bullet train, "しんかんせん" network. It also has five airports with only two of them being the major ones.



=**__Catastrophes__**=

Tokyo has went through two major catastrophes, which were the 1923 Kanto Earthquake and the firebombing in 1945 that occurred during WWII. During the Kanto Earthquake that took place in 1923, around 100,000 to 142,000 people were killed, and 37,000 went missing. The earthquake was 7.9 ~ 8.4 on the Richter scale! The firebombing in 1945 also inflicted a lot of damage in Tokyo. Around 75,000 to 200,000 people were killed, and because of the bombing, Tokyo's industrial output was cut by half. Because of this, the Emperor during WWII decided to find a peaceful solution to end the war.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_Great_Kant%C5%8D_earthquake Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo_in_World_War_II

=**__Places to visit__**=

There are many famous places in Tokyo to visit. Here are some lists of places that are famous in Tokyo.

**Ginza (銀座 or ぎんざ)**
Ginza is known as one of the most luxurious shopping place in the world. Ginza is located in the District of Chuuoo, Tokyo. Ginza is named after the silver-coin mint that was built in 1612. Ginza has lots of shops like department stores, boutliques, etc. that are designed to host costumers with high income. So, in another words, everything in Ginza is extremely expensive. Not only that, Ginza also provides entertainment through kabuki theatre that is located inside.

Akasaka palace (Or 迎賓館 - げいひんかん)
Akasaka palace is the former home of the Imperial Family, which now works as the State Guesthouse for visiting state representatives. It assumed the role of the state guesthouse in 1974.

Nogi Shrine (乃木 神社 - Nogi jinja)
Nogi Shrine is a famous shrine in Tokyo although it's not nearly as famous as other shrines all over Japan. This shrine is dedicated to the general Nogi Maresuke, who committed suicide with his wife after the death of the Meiji emperor. It was once destroyed by the bombing that took place in WWII, but it was restored.

**Akihabara (****秋葉原 - あきはばら)**
Akihabra is a major shopping place for people looking for electronic equipments or anime-related franchise. In short, it's an otaku heaven. Akihabara also happens to be one of the first place to have a store that's dedicated to personal robots and robotics.

**Tokyo Tower (東京タワー - Toukyou- Tawaa)**
Tokyo Tower is a communications tower that also works as an observation tower in Minato, Tokyo. It was built in 1958 and broadcasts TV shows and radio signals for Japanese media. It's known to be heavily influenced by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

**Harajuku** **(原宿 - はらじゅく)**
If you're a teenager in Japan with a free time on weekends, then, Harajuku is the place to go. It's a famous place among teenagers and is between Shinjuku and Takeshita Street. The former provides expensive foreign fashion clothes, whereas the latter provides youth style clothings such as gothic lolita and rockabilly.

**Tokyo Disneyland** **(東京ディズニーランド - Toukyou dizuniirando)**
Tokyo Disneyland is located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan near Tokyo. It's the first Disneyland to be built outside of U.S. and became active at April 15th, 1983. It also has 7 themed areas, which are: World Bazaar, Adventureland, Westernland, Critter Country, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland.

**Shibuya (渋谷 - しぶや) **
Shibuya is one of the 23 wards of Tokyo that is known to "never sleep" (It's a major nightlife area as you can see). It owns one of the busiest railway stations in Japan, which is the Shibuya Station and is also the famous place of origin for the story of the faithful dog, Hachiko, which waited for its dead master to arrive from the station. It also has a statue dedicated to Hachiko built adjacent to the station.

Ginza Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginza, http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3005.html

Akasaka Palace Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akasaka_Palace, http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/tokyo/akasaka_palace.htm

Nogi Shrine Link: http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2765115-nogi_jinja_shrine_tokyo-i

Akihabara Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihabara

Tokyo Tower Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Tower

Harajuku Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harajuku, http://www.japanforum.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=2

Tokyo Disneyland Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Disneyland

Shibuya Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya,_Tokyo, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D

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**__Hachiko Story [Movie]__**
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