Page 103 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Japan

The Imperial Palace, with the Nijubashi Bridge in the foreground

CENTRAL TOKYO

Situated to the north and west of the Sumida
River, this area has been at the heart of Tokyo
since the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu built his castle
and capital where the Imperial Palace still stands
today. When Ieyasu moved his military center
here in 1590, it was surrounded by swamp and
marshland. Once filled in, the area that became
Ginza – “the silver place” – attracted tradesman
and merchants. Destroyed by a series of disasters,
including a devastating fire in 872, the Great Kanto
Earthquake of 1923, and the Allied bombing in
World War II, the area has reinven ted itself several
times over, but has always remained true to its
history as the center of Tokyo.
The presence of the Hibiya business district
and cosmopolitan Marunouchi, home to the Tokyo
International Forum, means that Central Tokyo is
still politically important, despite the decline of
the Imperial Palace. Ginza and Nihonbashi remain
as thriv ing and prosperous today as they have been
since the Edo period, offering a mix of department
stores and affluent side-street boutiques.
103

102-103_EW_Japan.indd 103 04/02/2019 14:54