Tokyo (東京 Tōkyō, "Eastern Capital"), officially Tokyo Metropolis (東京都 Tōkyō-to), is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan.
Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the most populous metropolitan area in the world. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family. Tokyo is in the Kanto region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture (東京府 Tōkyō-fu) and the city of Tokyo (東京市 Tōkyō-shi).
Tokyo was originally known as Edo, which means "estuary". Its name was changed to Tokyo (Tōkyō: tō "east" and kyō "capital") when it became the imperial capital in 1868, in line with the East Asian tradition of including the word capital ('京') in the name of the capital city. During the early Meiji period, the city was also called "Tōkei", an alternative pronunciation for the same Chinese characters representing "Tokyo". Some surviving official English documents use the spelling "Tokei". However, this pronunciation is now obsolete.
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