Tokyo Prefecture
A former Japanese prefecture, known as Tokyo-fu, that existed from the Meiji Restoration until its reorganization as Tokyo Metropolis in 1943.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Tokyo Prefecture, formally Tokyo-fu, was a historical prefectural government of Japan that existed from the political transformation of Edo in 1868 until the creation of Tokyo Metropolis in 1943. It should not be confused with the present-day Tokyo Metropolis, the broader Tokyo metropolitan area, or modern commercial organizations using the Tokyo name. The prefecture emerged during the Meiji Restoration as the new imperial government replaced the shogunate administration of Edo. At first, its territory was largely limited to the former shogunal city. The surrounding Musashi-area territories were initially distributed among several prefectures, including Shinagawa, Kosuge, and Ōmiya/Urawa. Through a series of administrative changes in the early 1870s, much of the surrounding countryside was incorporated into Tokyo. The Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands were added in stages in the late 1870s and around 1880, while the three Tama districts were transferred from Kanagawa Prefecture to Tokyo in 1893. That transfer brought Tokyo-fu close to the territorial scale associated with modern Tokyo. Tokyo-fu was both an urban and rural administrative unit. Tokyo City remained its demographic, political, and economic center, while the prefecture also contained agricultural districts, towns, villages, islands, and expanding suburban settlements. Administrative subdivisions changed repeatedly as the central government introduced numbered large and small districts, restored traditional counties, established urban districts, and later implemented modern municipalities. The 1889 municipal system left Tokyo with roughly eighty municipalities, and the 1893 Tama transfer increased the total to more than 170. By 1943, municipal consolidation had reduced the number to 87 municipalities: three cities, 18 towns, and 66 villages. Industrialization and population growth strengthened Tokyo City's dominance. Suburban areas expanded rapidly in the early twentieth century, although the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake caused extensive destruction and temporarily disrupted the region's growth. In 1932, large suburban municipalities were absorbed into Tokyo City, including heavily populated settlements such as Shibuya and Nishisugamo. These mergers were connected to long-running proposals for a metropolitan system that would coordinate the city and prefecture more closely. Debate over Tokyo's constitutional and administrative form continued for decades. Proposals in the 1890s considered separating rural districts into a Musashi prefecture while granting Tokyo City a special metropolitan status. During the Taishō democracy period, political parties and local reformers promoted models that would have given an enlarged Tokyo City greater autonomy. The 1922 law concerning the six major cities expanded Tokyo City's authority in limited ways, but it did not establish a metropolitan government. The decisive reform came during the wartime centralization of 1943. Tokyo City was abolished, its 35 wards were incorporated into the new Tokyo Metropolis, and the prefectural and municipal governments were unified under a metropolitan administration. The reform retained most of the other municipalities within Tokyo's territory but placed the new government under particularly strong central-government supervision. The governor's title changed from chiji to chōkan, and the office became closely tied to the Imperial government, with direct imperial appointment. Tokyo Prefecture therefore ended not through territorial disappearance but through institutional transformation. Tokyo Metropolis inherited its prefectural functions and territory while also assuming the municipal functions previously performed by Tokyo City. Postwar reforms under the Allied occupation restored local autonomy. The 1947 Constitution and Local Autonomy Law placed Tokyo on a basis broadly comparable to other prefectures, restored the title chiji, and gave residents of the former Tokyo City area expanded local-government rights through the system of special wards.
History
Tokyo Prefecture was created during the Meiji Restoration as the new Japanese government reorganized the former shogunal capital. In 1868, the administration of Edo was replaced by a new government structure and the city was renamed Tokyo. The initial prefectural territory was concentrated around the former city, while surrounding lands in Musashi Province were administered separately. Former shogunal holdings and hatamoto territories were divided among Shinagawa, Kosuge, and Ōmiya/Urawa prefectures before being recombined through the administrative changes of 1871 and 1872. The prefecture expanded in several stages. Rural areas from the neighboring prefectures and the Setagaya exclave associated with the former Hikone domain were incorporated in the early 1870s. The government also experimented with numbered large and small districts connected to the modern family-registration system. This system was unpopular and was later replaced by arrangements based on counties, urban districts, towns, and villages. The 1878 legislation that revived the traditional gun districts also created ku districts for major urban centers. Tokyo's rural administration consequently developed alongside a dense urban structure centered on Tokyo City. The territorial scope broadened again when the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands were placed under Tokyo administration in the late 1870s and around 1880. The most important expansion was the 1893 transfer of the three Tama districts from Kanagawa Prefecture. This brought a large rural and suburban hinterland into Tokyo-fu and made the prefecture comparable in extent to the territory later associated with modern Tokyo. The municipal reforms of 1889 introduced modern cities, towns, and villages. Tokyo-fu initially contained approximately eighty municipalities, but the Tama transfer raised the number to more than 170. Subsequent mergers and incorporations reduced the total. Tokyo City remained the dominant administrative and economic center, even as suburban development accelerated. Industrialization, railway growth, and population concentration transformed the surrounding districts. The Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 devastated large parts of the urban region, but reconstruction and continuing migration soon renewed metropolitan expansion. During the 1930s, Tokyo City's boundaries were enlarged through the incorporation of major suburban municipalities. The 1932 mergers brought many rapidly growing settlements into the city, including Shibuya and Nishisugamo. These developments intensified the practical overlap between prefectural and city administration and revived proposals for a metropolitan government. Earlier plans had included separating the countryside into a Musashi prefecture or giving Tokyo City special-city powers. Although the six major cities legislation of 1922 provided some additional authority, no full metropolitan system was created at that time. The 1943 reform was enacted under the wartime government's drive to centralize and simplify local administration. Tokyo City was abolished, its 35 wards were transferred into the new Tokyo Metropolis, and the prefectural government became responsible for both prefectural duties and the municipal functions formerly handled by the city. The other municipalities largely remained in existence; in total, Tokyo had 87 municipalities in 1943, consisting of three cities, 18 towns, and 66 villages. The new metropolitan government was more directly controlled by the national government than ordinary prefectures. Its governor was called chōkan rather than chiji and was appointed through a process associated with the Imperial government. Additional wartime administrative structures were imposed in 1944 and 1945, while neighborhood associations were integrated into systems of social and political mobilization. After Japan's defeat, the occupation authorities reversed much of this centralization and introduced stronger local-autonomy guarantees. The 1947 Constitution and Local Autonomy Law restored Tokyo's position as a prefecture-level government, returned the governor's title to chiji, and established the special-ward framework for the former Tokyo City area. Tokyo Prefecture thus survives historically as the predecessor institution of the current Tokyo Metropolis rather than as a continuing separate prefecture.
- 1947
Postwar restoration of local autonomy
[1]The new constitutional and local-government framework restored Tokyo's ordinary prefectural status, reinstated the title chiji, and established the modern special-ward framework.
- 1943
Establishment of Tokyo Metropolis
[1]Tokyo City was abolished and its municipal functions were combined with those of Tokyo-fu in the new Tokyo Metropolis, ending Tokyo Prefecture as a separate historical institution.
- 1932
Greater Tokyo City mergers
[1]Large suburban municipalities, including Shibuya and Nishisugamo, were incorporated into Tokyo City, greatly increasing the city's size and administrative weight within the prefecture.
- 1923
Great Kantō earthquake
[1]The earthquake caused severe destruction across Tokyo's urban region and temporarily interrupted the prefecture's rapid growth.
- 1922
Additional authority under the six major cities law
[1]Tokyo City received limited additional administrative authority under legislation concerning Japan's six major cities, without becoming a metropolitan government.
- 1893
Transfer of the Tama districts
[1]The three Tama districts were transferred from Kanagawa Prefecture to Tokyo, substantially expanding Tokyo-fu's rural and suburban hinterland.
- 1889
Introduction of modern municipalities
[1]Tokyo-fu was reorganized into a modern municipal hierarchy of one city, towns, and villages, initially comprising approximately eighty municipalities.
- 1878
Reorganization into counties and urban districts
[1]National local-government legislation restored county districts in rural areas and introduced ku districts for major cities, reshaping Tokyo's internal administration.
- 1871
Early incorporation of surrounding territories
[1]Administrative reforms began transferring surrounding rural areas and former shogunal territories into Tokyo after the initial division among neighboring prefectures.
- 1868
Creation of the Tokyo administrative government
[1]During the Meiji Restoration, the former shogunal city of Edo was reorganized under the new government and renamed Tokyo, forming the basis of Tokyo-fu.
Products and positioning
Historical territorial government and administrative predecessor of modern Tokyo Metropolis.
Brand decisions
1943
Unification of Tokyo-fu and Tokyo CityStrategyBackground
Long-running proposals sought to coordinate or unify the prefectural and municipal governments as Tokyo expanded. The wartime government pursued the reform as part of a broader centralization and simplification of local administration.
Action taken
Tokyo City was abolished, its 35 wards became part of Tokyo Metropolis, and the new metropolitan government assumed both prefectural responsibilities and the former city's municipal functions.
Aftermath
The reform created the institutional predecessor of present-day Tokyo Metropolitan Government but reduced local autonomy and increased national-government supervision. Postwar reforms later restored elected local government and redefined the special wards.
1893
Expansion through the Tama transferStrategyBackground
Tokyo's original territory was concentrated around the former Edo city, while substantial surrounding areas remained in separate prefectures.
Action taken
The three Tama districts were transferred from Kanagawa Prefecture to Tokyo-fu, expanding the prefecture's rural and suburban territory.
Aftermath
Tokyo-fu acquired a territorial scale close to that of modern Tokyo, and its municipal count increased to more than 170 before later consolidation.
Recent events
- 1947
Postwar local-government reforms restored Tokyo's prefectural status and local autonomy[1]
Regulation · Other
The postwar constitutional and local-government framework brought Tokyo into a system broadly equal to that of other Japanese prefectures and restored the ordinary prefectural governor title.
- 1943
Tokyo City and Tokyo Prefecture were unified to create Tokyo Metropolis[1]
Other
Wartime administrative reform abolished Tokyo City and merged its municipal and prefectural functions into the newly established Tokyo Metropolis.
Sources2 sources
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