1.
Special wards of Tokyo
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The special wards are 23 municipalities that together make up the core and the most populous part of Tokyo, Japan. Together, they occupy the land that was originally Tokyo City before it was abolished in 1943 to become part of the newly created Tokyo Metropolis, the special wards structure was established under the Japanese Local Autonomy Act and is unique to Tokyo. In Japanese, they are known as the 23 wards. Confusingly, all refer to themselves as a city in English. Moreover, in everyday English, Tokyo as a whole is referred to as a city. Thus, the closest English equivalents for the special wards would be the London boroughs, and this is merely a grouping of special wards, there is no associated single government body of wards separate from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. These services are handled by the Tokyo metropolitan government, whereas cities would provide these services themselves. This situation is identical between the Federal District and its 31 administrative regions in Brazil, waste disposal is handled by each ward under direction of the metropolitan government. Unlike other municipalities, special wards were not considered to be local public entities for purposes of the Constitution of Japan. This means that they had no right to pass their own legislation. The denial of elected mayors to the wards was reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in the 1963 decision Japan v. Kobayashi et al. The word special distinguishes them from the wards of other major Japanese cities, before 1943, the wards of Tokyo City were no different from the wards of Osaka or Kyoto. These original wards numbered 15 in 1889, large areas from five surrounding districts were merged into the city in 1932 and organized in 20 new wards, bringing the total to 35, the expanded city was also referred to as Greater Tokyo. By this merger, together with ones in 1920 and 1936. The 35 wards of the city were integrated into 22 on March 15,1947 just before the legal definition of special wards was given by the Local Autonomy Law. The 23rd ward, Nerima, was formed on August 1,1947 when Itabashi was split again, the postwar reorganization under the US-led occupation authorities democratized the prefectural administrations but did not include the reinstitution of Tokyo City. Each special ward has its own elected mayor and assembly, in 2000, the National Diet designated the special wards as local public entities, giving them a legal status similar to cities. The wards vary greatly in area and population, and some are expanding as artificial islands are built, setagaya has the most people, while neighboring Ōta has the largest area
2.
Tokyo
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Tokyo, officially Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan and one of its 47 prefectures. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous area in the world. It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government, Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Formerly known as Edo, it has been the de facto seat of government since 1603 when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters. It officially became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from the old capital of Kyoto in 1868, Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture and the city of Tokyo. The Tokyo metropolitan government administers the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo, the metropolitan government also administers 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the wards is over 9 million people. The prefecture is part of the worlds most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 37.8 million people, the city hosts 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked third in the International Financial Centres Development IndexEdit, the city is also home to various television networks such as Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon Television, NHK and the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Tokyo ranked first in the Global Economic Power Index and fourth in the Global Cities Index. The city is considered a world city – as listed by the GaWCs 2008 inventory – and in 2014. In 2015, Tokyo was named the Most Liveable City in the world by the magazine Monocle, the Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked first in the world in the Safe Cities Index, the 2016 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked Tokyo as the 3rd-best city in the world to be a university student. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, the 1979 G-7 summit, the 1986 G-7 summit, and the 1993 G-7 summit, and will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo was originally known as Edo, which means estuary. During the early Meiji period, the city was also called Tōkei, some surviving official English documents use the spelling Tokei. However, this pronunciation is now obsolete, the name Tokyo was first suggested in 1813 in the book Kondō Hisaku, written by Satō Nobuhiro. When Ōkubo Toshimichi proposed the renaming to the government during the Meiji Restoration, according to Oda Kanshi, Tokyo was originally a small fishing village named Edo, in what was formerly part of the old Musashi Province. Edo was first fortified by the Edo clan, in the twelfth century
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
5.
Prefectures of Japan
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The Prefectures of Japan consist of 47 prefectures. They form the first level of jurisdiction and administrative division of Japan and they consist of 43 prefectures proper, two urban prefectures, one circuit or territory and one metropolis. The Meiji Fuhanken sanchisei administration created the first prefectures to replace the provinces of Japan in 1868, each prefectures chief executive is a directly-elected governor. Ordinances and budgets are enacted by an assembly whose members are elected for four-year terms. Under the current Local Autonomy Law, each prefecture is subdivided into cities and districts and each district into towns, for example, Hokkaido has 14 subprefectures that act as branch offices of the prefecture. Some other prefectures also have offices that carry out prefectural administrative functions outside the capital. Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is a merged city-prefecture, the Wests use of prefecture to label these Japanese regions stems from 16th-century Portuguese explorers and traders use of prefeitura to describe the fiefdoms they encountered there. Its original sense in Portuguese, however, was closer to municipality than province and those fiefs were headed by a local warlord or family. Though the fiefs have long since been dismantled, merged, and reorganized multiple times, and been granted legislative governance and oversight, the Meiji government established the current system in July 1871 with the abolition of the Han system and establishment of the prefecture system. Although there were initially over 300 prefectures, many of them being former Han territories, this number was reduced to 72 in the part of 1871. The Local Autonomy Law of 1947 gave more power to prefectures. In 2003, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi proposed that the government consolidate the current prefectures into about 10 regional states, the plan called for each region to have greater autonomy than existing prefectures. This process would reduce the number of administrative regions and cut administrative costs. As of August 2012, no reorganization has been scheduled, the central government delegates many functions to the prefectures and municipalities, but retains the overall right to control them. Although local government expenditure accounts for 70 percent of government expenditure, the central government controls local budgets, tax rates. Historically, during the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate established bugyō-ruled zones around the nine largest cities in Japan, and 302 township-ruled zones elsewhere. When the Meiji government began to create the system in 1868, the nine bugyō-ruled zones became fu, while the township-ruled zones. Later, in 1871, the government designated Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto as fu, during World War II, in 1943, Tokyo became a to, a new type of pseudo-prefecture
6.
Godzilla
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Godzilla is a fictional giant monster originating from a series of tokusatsu films of the same name from Japan. It first appeared in Ishirō Hondas 1954 film Godzilla, the character is commonly alluded by the epithet King of the Monsters, a phrase first used in Godzilla, King of the Monsters. The Americanized version of Hondas original 1954 film, with the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon 5 incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for nuclear weapons. In the various stories it has appeared in, Godzilla has been featured alongside many supporting characters, Godzilla is also shown to have allies, such as Mothra, Rodan and Anguirus, and offspring, such as Minilla and Godzilla Junior. One popular story is that Gojira was actually the nickname of a corpulent stagehand at Toho Studio, kimi Honda, the widow of the director, dismissed this in a 1998 BBC documentary devoted to Godzilla, The backstage boys at Toho loved to joke around with tall stories. Godzillas name was written in ateji as Gojira, where the kanji are used for phonetic value, the Japanese pronunciation of the name is, the Anglicized form is /ɡɒdˈzɪlə/, with the first syllable pronounced like the word god, and the rest rhyming with gorilla. In the Hepburn romanization system, Godzillas name is rendered as Gojira, within the context of the Japanese films, Godzillas exact origins vary, but it is generally depicted as an enormous, violent, prehistoric sea monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation. Although the specific details of Godzillas appearance have varied slightly over the years, to emphasise the monsters relationship with the atomic bomb, its skin texture was inspired by the keloid scars seen on survivors in Hiroshima. The basic design has a reptilian visage, a robust build, an upright posture, in the original film, the fins were added for purely aesthetic purposes, in order to further differentiate Godzilla from any other living or extinct creature. Godzillas signature weapon is its atomic breath, a nuclear blast that it generates inside of its body, toho’s special effects department has used various techniques to render the breath, from physical gas-powered flames to hand-drawn or computer-generated fire. Godzilla is shown to possess immense strength and muscularity. Haruo Nakajima, the actor who played Godzilla in the films, was a black belt in Judo. Godzilla can breathe underwater, and is described in the film by the character Dr. Yamane as a transitional form between a marine and a terrestrial reptile. Godzillas allegiance and motivations have changed from film to film to suit the needs of the story, although Godzilla does not like humans, it will fight alongside humanity against common threats. However, it makes no effort to protect human life or property. It is not motivated to attack by predatory instinct, it doesnt eat people, and instead sustains itself on radiation and an omnivorous diet. When inquired if Godzilla was good or bad, producer Shogo Tomiyama likened it to a Shinto God of Destruction which lacks moral agency and cannot be held to human standards of good and he totally destroys everything and then there is a rebirth. Something new and fresh can begin, the creature in the 1998 Godzilla film was depicted laying eggs through parthenogenesis
7.
Japan Standard Time
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Japan Standard Time or JST is the standard timezone in Japan, and is 9 hours ahead of UTC, i. e. it is UTC+09,00. There is no daylight saving time, though its introduction has been debated several times, during World War II, it was often called Tokyo Standard Time. Japan Standard Time is the same as Korean Standard Time, Indonesian Eastern Standard Time, before the Meiji era, each local region had its own timezone in which noon was when the sun was exactly at its zenith. As modern transportation methods, such as trains, were adopted, in 1886, Ordinance 51 was issued in response to this problem, which stated, Ordinance 51 - July 13,1886 The prime meridian passes through Englands Greenwich Observatory. Longitudes are calculated using the prime meridian, counting 180 degrees either east or west, positive degrees are east, negative degrees are west. On January 1,1888,135 degrees east longitude will be set as the meridian for all of Japan. According to this, the time was set 9 hours ahead of GMT. In the ordinance, the first clause mentions GMT, the second defines east longitude and west longitude, the city of Akashi in Hyōgo Prefecture is located exactly on 135 degrees east longitude and subsequently became known as Toki no machi. While Korea came under Japanese rule in 1910, Korea Standard Time of UTC+8,30 continued to be used until 1912, when it was changed to Central Standard Time. Western Standard Time, which was used in Taiwan and some parts of Okinawa, was abolished by Ordinance 529 in 1937 and replaced by Central Standard Time in those areas. Territories occupied by Japan during World War II, including Singapore and Malaya, adopted Japan Standard Time for the duration of their occupation, more recently there have been efforts to bring back DST in Japan, but so far this has not happened. The two-time-zone system was implemented in Japan between January 1896 and September 1937, From October 1937, Central Standard Time was also used in western Okinawa, the IANA time zone database contains one zone for Japan in the file zone. tab, named Asia/Tokyo. From 1948–51, Japan observed DST between May and September every year under an initiative of the U. S. -led occupation army, since then, DST has never been officially implemented nationwide in Japan. Starting in the late 1990s, a movement to reinstate DST in Japan gained some popularity, aiming at saving energy, in the early 2000s, a few local governments and commerce departments promoted unmandated hour-earlier work schedule experiments during the summer without officially resetting clocks. The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy is expected to propose that the Japanese government begin studying DST in an attempt to combat global warming. Japanese PM Shinzo Abe made a significant effort to introduce daylight saving time, however, it is not clear that DST would conserve energy in Japan. JJY Japanese calendar UTC+09,00 Japanese clock
8.
Zelkova serrata
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Zelkova serrata is a species of the genus Zelkova native to Japan, Korea, eastern China and Taiwan. It is often grown as a tree, and used in bonsai. Zelkova serrata is a deciduous tree usually growing to 30 m tall. It is characterized by a short trunk dividing into many upright and erect spreading stems forming a broad, the tree grows rapidly when young though the growth rate slows to medium upon middle age and maturity. It has alternately arranged leaves growing to 5 cm long and broad, the leaves themselves are simple and ovate to oblong-ovate with serrated or crenate margins, to which the tree owes its specific epithet serrata. The leaves are acuminate or apiculate, rounded or subcordate at the base, the leaves are rough on top and glabrous or nearly glabrous on the underside. They are green to green in spring and throughout the summer, changing to yellows, oranges. The petioles are 2–5 mm long, Z. serrata develops monoecious flowers in spring with the leaves. Buds are ovoid, acutish, with imbricate, dark brown scales. They diverge at a 45 degree angle from the stem, the staminate flowers are shortly pedicellate and approximately 3mm in diameter, clustered in the axils of the lower leaves. The pistillate flowers are solitary or few in axils of the leaves, sessile. The flowers are yellow-green, not showy, and occur in groups along new stems. They give rise to small, ovate, wingless drupes that ripen in summer to autumn. The drupe is green maturing to brown, subsessile and 2.5 to 3.5 mm in diameter, to identify Zelkova serrata, one would look for a short main trunk, low branching and a vase-shaped habit. The twigs are slender with small, dark conical buds in a zigzag pattern, the bark is grayish white to grayish brown and either smooth with lenticels or exfoliating in patches to reveal orange inner bark. The branchlets are brownish-purple to brown and this tree requires full to partial sun and prefers moist, well drained soils. A fertilizer rich in potassium and nitrogen encourages new vegetation and floral buds and it is adaptable and tolerant of heat, little water, nutrient poor soils and various pH. It should be thinned to allow light into the inner canopy
9.
Azalea
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Azaleas /əˈzeɪliə/ are flowering shrubs in the genus Rhododendron, particularly the former sections Tsutsuji and Pentanthera. Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks, shade tolerant, they prefer living near or under trees. They are part of the family Ericaceae, plant enthusiasts have selectively bred azaleas for hundreds of years. This human selection has produced over 10,000 different cultivars which are propagated by cuttings, Azalea seeds can also be collected and germinated. Azaleas are generally slow-growing and do best in well-drained acidic soil, fertilizer needs are low, some species need regular pruning. Azaleas are native to several continents including Asia, Europe and North America and they are planted abundantly as ornamentals in the southeastern USA, southern Asia, and parts of southwest Europe. Magnolias owner John Grimke Drayton imported the plants for use in his estate garden from Philadelphia, with encouragement from Charles Sprague Sargent from Harvards Arnold Arboretum, Magnolia Gardens was opened to the public in 1871, following the American Civil War. Magnolia is one of the oldest public gardens in America, since the late nineteenth century, in late March and early April, thousands visit to see the azaleas bloom in their full glory. R. occidentale flowers are larger than other azaleas and are white with a splotch of yellow. R. arborescens are native to the east coast of North America and can be found growing wild from Alabama to Pennsylvania in wooded, plants grow up to 20 feet high and flowers are white and fragrant. The Flame Azalea, R. Native to the regions of Pennsylvania to Georgia. Flowers do not smell but bloom in every shade from yellow to crimson red. Flowers bloom in the late spring, a good variety for drier soils and shady areas. Foliage turns bright yellow in the Fall, Azalea leafy gall can be particularly destructive to azalea leaves during the early spring. Hand picking infected leaves is the method of control. They can also be subject to root rot in moist. In Chinese culture, the azalea is known as thinking of home bush and is immortalized in the poetry of Du Fu, the azalea is also one of the symbols of the city of São Paulo, in Brazil. In addition to being renowned for its beauty, the azalea is also highly toxic—it contains andromedotoxins in both its leaves and nectar, including honey from the nectar
10.
Japanese language
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Japanese is an East Asian language spoken by about 125 million speakers, primarily in Japan, where it is the national language. It is a member of the Japonic language family, whose relation to language groups, particularly to Korean. Little is known of the prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century recorded a few Japanese words, during the Heian period, Chinese had considerable influence on the vocabulary and phonology of Old Japanese. Late Middle Japanese saw changes in features that brought it closer to the modern language, the standard dialect moved from the Kansai region to the Edo region in the Early Modern Japanese period. Following the end in 1853 of Japans self-imposed isolation, the flow of loanwords from European languages increased significantly, English loanwords in particular have become frequent, and Japanese words from English roots have proliferated. Japanese is an agglutinative, mora-timed language with simple phonotactics, a vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length. Word order is normally subject–object–verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words, sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic impact, or make questions. Nouns have no number or gender, and there are no articles. Verbs are conjugated, primarily for tense and voice, but not person, Japanese equivalents of adjectives are also conjugated. Japanese has a system of honorifics with verb forms and vocabulary to indicate the relative status of the speaker, the listener. Japanese has no relationship with Chinese, but it makes extensive use of Chinese characters, or kanji, in its writing system. Along with kanji, the Japanese writing system uses two syllabic scripts, hiragana and katakana. Latin script is used in a fashion, such as for imported acronyms. Very little is known about the Japanese of this period, Old Japanese is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language. Through the spread of Buddhism, the Chinese writing system was imported to Japan, the earliest texts found in Japan are written in Classical Chinese, but they may have been meant to be read as Japanese by the kanbun method. Some of these Chinese texts show the influences of Japanese grammar, in these hybrid texts, Chinese characters are also occasionally used phonetically to represent Japanese particles. The earliest text, the Kojiki, dates to the early 8th century, the end of Old Japanese coincides with the end of the Nara period in 794
11.
Hepburn romanization
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The system was originally proposed by the Romanization Club in 1885. The revised edition by Romaji-Hirome-kai in 1908 is called standard style romanization, Hepburn is based on English phonology and has competed with the alternative Nihon-shiki romanization, which was developed in Japan as a replacement of Japanese script. In 1930, a Special Romanization Study Commission was appointed to compare the two, the ordinance was temporarily overturned by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers during the Occupation of Japan, but was reissued in 1954. In 1972, a version of Hepburn was codified as ANSI standard Z39. 11-1972. It was proposed in 1989 as a draft for ISO3602, the ANSI Z39. 11-1972 standard was consequently deprecated on October 6,1994. As of 1978, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, in addition The Japan Times, the Japan Travel Bureau, and many other private organizations used Hepburn instead of Kunrei-shiki. The National Diet Library used Kunrei-shiki, although Hepburn is not a government standard, some government agencies mandate it. In many other areas where it de jure status, Hepburn remains the de facto standard. Signs and notices in city offices and police stations, at shrines, temples, English-language newspapers and media use the simplified form of Hepburn. Cities and prefectures use it in information for English-speaking residents and visitors, official tourism information put out by the government uses it, as do guidebooks, local and foreign, on Japan. Many students of Japanese as a foreign language learn Hepburn, there are many variants of Hepburn romanization. The two most common styles are, Traditional Hepburn, as defined in various editions of Hepburns dictionary and this variant is characterized by the rendering of syllabic n as m before the consonants b, m and p, e. g. Shimbashi for 新橋. Modified Hepburn, also known as Revised Hepburn, in which the rendering of syllabic n as m before certain consonants is no longer used, in Japan itself, there are some variants officially mandated for various uses, Railway Standard, which follows the Hyōjun-shiki Rōmaji. All JR railways and other major railways use this type for station names, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Standard, which follows the modified Hepburn style. This is used for road signs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Passport Standard, a permissive standard which explicitly allows the use of non-Hepburn romaji in personal names, notably for passports. In particular, rendering the syllabic n as m before b, m, p, details of these variants can be found below. The romanizations set out in the first and second versions of Hepburns dictionary are primarily of historical interest, supporters argue that Hepburn is not intended as a linguistic tool. The long vowels are indicated by macrons
12.
Shinjuku Station
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Shinjuku Station is a major railway station in Shinjuku and Shibuya wards in Tokyo, Japan. The station itself has 36 platforms, including an arcade, above ground arcade. There are well over 200 exits, another 17 platforms can be accessed through hallways to 5 directly connected stations without surfacing outside. These consist of eight island platforms on a north-south axis. The JR section alone handles an average of 1.5 million passengers a day, the terminus for the private Odakyu Odawara Line is parallel to the JR platforms on the west side, and handles an average of 490,000 passengers daily. This is a commuter route stretching southwest through the suburbs and out towards the coastal city of Odawara. The ten platforms are built on two levels beneath the Odakyu department store, three express service tracks on the level and two tracks on the level below. Each track has platforms on both sides in order to separate boarding and alighting passengers. Chest-high platform screen doors were added to platforms 4 and 5 in September 2012, the Keio Line concourse is located to the west of the Odakyu line concourse, two floors below ground level under Keio department store. It consists of three platforms stretching north to south, approximately 720,000 passengers use this section daily, which makes it the busiest amongst the non-JR Group railways of Japan. This suburban commuter line links Shinjuku to the city of Hachiōji to the west, chest-high platform edge doors were introduced on the Keio Line platforms in March 2014. The doors are different colours for each platform, the doors on platform 2 are green. The concourse is managed by Keio Corporation but is in a location to the main Keio platforms. Further south are the two north-to-south Toei Ōedo subway line platforms, Tokyo Metros two Marunouchi Line underground platforms stretch east-west to the north of the JR and Odakyu facilities, directly below the Metro Promenade underground mall. Many department stores and shopping malls are built directly into the station, the Metro Promenade in turn connects to Shinjuku Subnade, another underground shopping mall, which leads onto Seibu Railways Seibu-Shinjuku station. On April 4,2016, the new bus terminal and commercial facilities nearby south exit, named Busta Shinjuku, considerable numbers of the coaches and the airport buses depart from this new terminal. The figures below are the number of passengers entering and exiting each day released by each train operator. The figure for JR East only includes entering passengers, the passenger figures for the JR East station in previous years are as shown below
13.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
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Located in Shinjuku, the building consists of a complex of three structures, each taking up a city block. The tallest and most prominent of the three is Tokyo Metropolitan Main building No.1, a tower 48 stories tall that splits into two sections at the 33rd floor, the building also has three levels below ground. The design of the building, by architect Kenzo Tange, has many symbolic touches, the other two buildings in the complex are the eight-story Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Building and Tokyo Metropolitan Main Building No.2, which has 37 stories including three below ground. The two panoramic observation decks, one in each tower on floor 45, are free of charge to the public and contain gift shops, the building was designed by Kenzo Tange and finished in December 1990 at the expense of ¥157 billion of public money. It replaced the former Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building at Yūrakuchō, which was built in 1957, the former Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is now the site of the Tokyo International Forum. It was the tallest building in Tokyo, at 242.9 meters, though it has not gained the same degree of worldwide recognition as Tokyo Tower or Tokyo Skytree, the Metropolitan Government Building has come to represent the city in its own right. It frequently appears in Japanese science fiction and anime such as Digimon Tamers as a symbol of authority or in scenes depicting a futuristic or post-apocalyptic Shinjuku
14.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government
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The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is the government of the Tokyo Metropolis, one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. The government consists of an elected governor and assembly. The headquarters building is located in the ward of Shinjuku, the metropolitan government administers the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo, as well as the other cities and towns that constitute the prefecture. Under Japanese law, Tokyo is designated as a to, translated as metropolis, in addition to these 23 local governments, Tokyo also encompasses 26 cities, five towns, and eight villages, each of which has a local government. These other municipalities are located in the part of the prefecture, as well as the outlying island chains of Izu. The Metropolitan Assembly is the organ of the whole prefecture of Tokyo. It consists of 127 members elected each four years, regular sessions are held four times each year, in February, June, September and December. These sessions typically lasts for 30 days, between these are plenary sessions where discussions on bills are held. As in other prefectures of Japan, the people of Tokyo directly elect the governor to four-year terms of office, there is no limit to the number of terms a person may serve. Unlike collegiate cabinet systems, where the decisions are made unanimously, in contrast to other prefectures, the governor of Tokyo has a relatively important role given the size of Tokyos budget. The Tokyo metropolitan government also has relative freedom in how it allocates the budget, Tokyos gubernatorial elections had always been held as part of the unified local elections from 1947 to 2011. But following Shintarō Ishiharas resignation in October 2012, Tokyo held a gubernatorial election in December 2012 and has left the unified election cycle. The four largest established national parties of the past decade are represented in the Tokyo Assembly. The Social Democratic Party, formerly the Japanese Socialist Party, which had been the major party for much of the postwar era. The previous governor Naoki Inose, endorsed by LDP, Kōmeitō and JRP, Inose resigned in December 2013 and his successor Yoichi Masuzoe was elected in the Tokyo gubernatorial election,2014. The last assembly election was held in June 2013, the LDP won 36% of the vote and 59 of 127 seats in the Tokyo prefectural election,2013. In the previous election of 2009, the Democratic Party had managed to become strongest party after forty years of LDP dominance, in 2012, the DPJ was reduced to fourth party with 15 seats as the Kōmeitō won 23 seats and Communists 17 seats
15.
Population
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A population is the number of all the organisms of the same group or species, which live in a particular geographical area, and have the capability of interbreeding. In sociology, population refers to a collection of humans, Demography is a social science which entails the statistical study of human populations. This article refers mainly to human population, in population genetics a sexual population is a set of organisms in which any pair of members can breed together. This means that they can regularly exchange gametes to produce normally-fertile offspring and this also implies that all members belong to the same species. If the gamodeme is very large, and all gene alleles are uniformly distributed by the gametes within it, however, there may be low frequencies of exchange with these neighbours. This may be viewed as the breaking up of a sexual population into smaller overlapping sexual populations. The overall rise in homozygosity is quantified by the inbreeding coefficient, note that all homozygotes are increased in frequency – both the deleterious and the desirable. The mean phenotype of the collection is lower than that of the panmictic original – which is known as inbreeding depression. It is most important to note, however, that some lines will be superior to the panmictic original, while some will be about the same. The probabilities of each can be estimated from those binomial equations, in plant and animal breeding, procedures have been developed which deliberately utilise the effects of dispersion. It can be shown that dispersion-assisted selection leads to the greatest genetic advance and this is so for both allogamous and autogamous gamodemes. In ecology, the population of a species in a certain area can be estimated using the Lincoln Index. As of todays date, the population is estimated by the United States Census Bureau to be 7.496 billion. The US Census Bureau estimates the 7 billion number was surpassed on 12 March 2012, according to papers published by the United States Census Bureau, the world population hit 6.5 billion on 24 February 2006. The United Nations Population Fund designated 12 October 1999 as the day on which world population reached 6 billion. This was about 12 years after world population reached 5 billion in 1987, the population of countries such as Nigeria, is not even known to the nearest million, so there is a considerable margin of error in such estimates. Researcher Carl Haub calculated that a total of over 100 billion people have probably been born in the last 2000 years, Population growth increased significantly as the Industrial Revolution gathered pace from 1700 onwards. In 2007 the United Nations Population Division projected that the population will likely surpass 10 billion in 2055
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Population density
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Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume, it is a quantity of type number density. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and most of the time to humans and it is a key geographical term. Population density is population divided by land area or water volume. Low densities may cause a vortex and lead to further reduced fertility. This is called the Allee effect after the scientist who identified it, commonly this may be calculated for a county, city, country, another territory, or the entire world. The worlds population is around 7,000,000,000, therefore, the worldwide human population density is around 7,000,000,000 ÷510,000,000 =13.7 per km2. If only the Earths land area of 150,000,000 km2 is taken into account and this includes all continental and island land area, including Antarctica. If Antarctica is also excluded, then population density rises to over 50 people per km2, thus, this number by itself does not give any helpful measurement of human population density. Several of the most densely populated territories in the world are city-states, microstates, cities with high population densities are, by some, considered to be overpopulated, though this will depend on factors like quality of housing and infrastructure and access to resources. Most of the most densely populated cities are in Southeast Asia, though Cairo, for instance, Milwaukee has a greater population density when just the inner city is measured, and the surrounding suburbs excluded. Arithmetic density, The total number of people / area of land, physiological density, The total population / area of arable land. Agricultural density, The total rural population / area of arable land, residential density, The number of people living in an urban area / area of residential land. Urban density, The number of people inhabiting an urban area / total area of urban land, ecological optimum, The density of population that can be supported by the natural resources. S. States by population density Selected Current and Historic City, Ward & Neighborhood Density
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Chiyoda, Tokyo
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Chiyoda is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. In English, it is called Chiyoda City, Chiyoda consists of the Imperial Palace and a surrounding radius of about a kilometer. As of May 2015, the ward has an population of 54,462. The total area is 11.66 km², of which the Imperial Palace, Hibiya Park, National Museum of Modern Art, often called the political center of the country, Chiyoda, literally meaning field of a thousand generations, inherited the name from the Chiyoda Castle. Akihabara, a known for being an otaku cultural center. The Chiyoda ward was created on March 15,1947 by the unification of Kanda Ward and it has been a site of a number of historical events. In 1860, the assassination of Ii Naosuke took place outside the Sakurada Gate of the Imperial Palace, in 1932, assassins attacked and killed prime minister Inukai Tsuyoshi. In 1936, an attempted coup détat, the February 26 Incident, in 1960, Socialist Party leader Inejirō Asanuma was assassinated in Hibiya Hall. In 1995, members of Aum Shinrikyo carried out the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, Chiyoda is located at the very heart of former Tokyo City in eastern mainland Tokyo. The central area of the ward is occupied by the Imperial Palace. The east side of the ward, bordering Chūō, is the location of Tokyo Station, the south side, bordering Minato, encompasses Hibiya Park and the National Diet Building. It is almost exclusively occupied by administrations and agencies, the west and northwest are primarily upper class residential, the Yasukuni Shrine is also there. To the north and northeast are several neighborhoods and the Akihabara commercial district. Chiyoda is run by an elected mayor and a city assembly of 25 elected members. The current mayor is Masami Ishikawa, an independent, for the Metropolitan Assembly, Chiyoda forms a single-member electoral district. In the 2013 election, no Democrat contested the seat and Uchida won back the district against a Communist, the Tokyo Fire Department has its headquarters in Ōtemachi in Chiyoda. For the national House of Representatives, Chiyoda, together with Minato and Shinjuku, the district is currently represented by Liberal Democrat Miki Yamada. The ward is home to the Diet of Japan, the Supreme Court of Japan
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Toshima
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Toshima is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the eight wards of the Tokyo Metropolitan area, including Chiyoda, Minato, Shibuya, Chuo, Shinjuku, Taito. Located in the area of Tokyo, Toshima is bordered by the wards of Nerima, Itabashi, and Kita wards, in the north. The ward was founded on March 15,1947 and reached a peak resident population of 370,000 in 1965. The population has continued to decline and as of May 1,2015, during the day the population swells with commuters, resulting in a daytime population of around 378,475. The total land area of Toshima is 13.01 km², approximately 47% of Toshimas land is residential, and 20% is commercial and public areas. Although Toshima is a ward, it is referred to as a city, the ward offices are located in Ikebukuro, which is also the commercial and entertainment center of Toshima. With a non-Japanese population of 19,868, or 7. 42% of the total, of the foreign population, 56% is of Chinese descent, 20% is of Korean descent, with the rest being of primarily Filipino and European descent. Toshima was formed in 1932 by the merger of four towns, Sugamochō, Nishi-sugamochō, Takadachō, the area evolved from a suburban agricultural district in the Edo period to the urban commercial center that it is today. The growth was fueled by the construction of rail lines built in the Meiji. The former Somei village, now part of Toshima, is the birthplace of the Somei Yoshino, the variety was developed at the end of the Edo period. Toshima is run by a city assembly of 36 elected members, the current mayor is Yukio Takano, an independent backed by all major parties except the Japanese Communist Party. In April 2011, Taiga Ishikawa was elected to the Toshima assembly, Sunshine City, The focal point of much of the entertainment in and around Ikebukuro, Sunshine City sports some of the best shopping and dining in Toshima. Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Near Ikebukuro Station, this facility built in 1990 is one of the spots in Toshima and has a concert hall with regular performances. There is a stage in the space out front and it is a popular place for amateur musicians during the warmer months. Sugamo Jizodori, The shopping district known as old ladies Harajuku, fukuro Matsuri, This festival started in 1968 and features a parade of mikoshi and a yassa dance. It is held on September 14 and 15 of each year outside the west exit of Ikebukuro Station and attracts as many as 200,000 people. Otsuka Awa Odori Dance, A large summer event gathering 150,000 people, Nagasaki Shishimai, The lion dance is performed every year on the second Sunday of May at Nagasaki Shrine
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Nakano, Tokyo
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Nakano is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Nakano City, as of May 1,2015, the ward has an estimated population of 322,731 and a population density of 20,701 persons per km². The total area is 15.59 km², the ward was founded on October 1,1932 when the towns of Nogata and Nakano were absorbed into the former Tokyo City as Nakano Ward. The present administration dates from March 15,1947 when the Allied occupation reformed the administration of Tokyo-to,1447, Ōta Dōkan defeated Toshima Yasutsune in a battle here. 1606, The Naruki Kaidō, predecessor of todays Ōme Kaidō was established,1695, In connection with the Shorui Awaremi no Rei, a facility for keeping wild dogs opened. 1871, The twelve villages that comprise present-day Nakano became part of Tokyo Prefecture, the forerunner of todays Chūō Main Line included a station at Nakano en route from Shinjuku to Hachioji. 1932, Tokyo City expands to encompass the district that included Nakano,1943, With the abolition of Tokyo City, Nakano becomes part of Tokyo-to. 1947, Nakano becomes one of the special wards under the new system,1961, The Tokyo subway system extends to Nakano. 1973, Construction of Nakano Sun Plaza near Nakano Station reaches completion, five special wards surround Nakano, Shinjuku, Suginami, Nerima, Shibuya, and Toshima. It lies just west of the bustling Shinjuku area, Rivers include the Kanda, Myosho-ji and Zenpuku-ji Rivers, and the Aratama Waterway. Public high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education
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Shibuya
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Shibuya is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As of May 1,2016, it has an population of 221,801. The total area is 15.11 km², the name Shibuya is also used to refer to the shopping district which surrounds Shibuya Station, one of Tokyos busiest railway stations. This area is known as one of the centers of Japan, particularly for young people. Shibuya was historically the site of a castle in which the Shibuya family resided from the 11th century through the Edo period. Following the opening of the Yamanote Line in 1885, Shibuya began to emerge as a terminal for southwestern Tokyo and eventually as a major commercial. The village of Shibuya was incorporated in 1889 by the merger of the villages of Kami-Shibuya, Naka-Shibuya and Shimo-Shibuya within Minami-Toshima County, the village covered the territory of modern-day Shibuya Station area as well as the Hiroo, Daikanyama, Aoyama and Ebisu areas. Shibuya became a town in 1909, the town of Shibuya merged with the neighboring towns of Sendagaya and Yoyohata to form Shibuya Ward of Tokyo City in 1932. Tokyo City became Tokyo Metropolis in 1943, and the special ward was established on March 15,1947. A statue of Hachikō was built adjacent to the station, during the occupation of Japan, Yoyogi Park was used as a housing compound for U. S. personnel known as Washington Heights. The U. S. military left in 1964, and much of the park was repurposed as venues for the 1964 Summer Olympics, the ward itself served as part of the athletics 50 km walk and marathon course during the 1964 games. Shibuya has achieved popularity among young people since the early 1980s. There are several famous fashion department stores in Shibuya, Shibuya 109 is a major shopping center near Shibuya Station, particularly famous as the origin of the kogal subculture. Called Ichi-Maru-kyū, which translates as 1–0–9 in Japanese, the name is actually a pun on that of the corporation that owns it — Tōkyū, during the late 1990s, Shibuya also became known as the center of the IT industry in Japan. It was often called Bit Valley in English, a pun on both Bitter Valley, the translation of Shibuya, as well as bit, the computer term for binary digits. Shibuya includes many commercial and residential districts such as Daikanyama, Ebisu, Harajuku, Hiroo, Higashi, Omotesandō, Sendagaya. The mayor is Toshitake Kuwahara, an independent backed by the Liberal Democratic Party, Shibuya mayoral election,2003 Meiji Shrine, Shinto shrine dedicated to the souls of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken, surrounded by a 700, 000-square-meter forest. Shinjuku Gyoen, former Imperial gardens now open to the public as a park, Yoyogi Park, once a training base for the Imperial Japanese Army, later the Washington Heights housing area for the Occupation of Japan, then the lodgings for contestants in the Tokyo Olympics
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Minato, Tokyo
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Minato is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English, as of 1 July 2015, it has an official population of 243,094, and a population density of 10,850 persons per km². The total area is 20.37 km², Minato hosts a large number of embassies. It is also home to domestic companies, including Honda, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, NEC, Sony, Fujitsu, and Toshiba, as well as the Japanese headquarters of a number of firms, including Google, Apple. Minato is located southwest of the Imperial Palace and has boundaries with the wards of Chiyoda, Chūō, Kōtō, Shinagawa, Shibuya. The ward was founded on March 15,1947 with the merger of Akasaka, Azabu, Minato is governed by mayor Masaaki Takei, an Independent supported by all major parties except the Japanese Communist Party. The city legislative assembly has 51 members and is dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party, Mita Junior High School opened in 2001 after the merger of Minato Junior High School and Shibahama Junior High School. The local public schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education. Akasaka High School Mita High School Roppongi High School Shiba Commercial High School There are also a variety of schools, including, Friends School. The metropolis operates the Tokyo Metropolitan Library Central Library in Minato, in addition ANA subsidiary Air Japan has some offices in Minato. The Japanese division of CB&I, the Japanese division of Aramark and Aim Services, Google Japan, Japan, and the main Japanese offices of Hanjin and Korean Air are located there. Air France operates an office and ticketing counter in the New Aoyama Building in Minato, the Japanese division of Deutsche Post, DHL. Air Frances Minato office handles Aircalin-related inquiries, Air China has operations in the Air China Building in Minato. Asiana Airlines operates an office on the sixth floor of the ATT New Tower Building. Hawaiian Airlines has its Japan offices in the Eagle Hamamatsuchō Building in Minato, iran Air has its Tokyo office in Akasaka. Previously operations were at the World Trade Center in Minato, several countries operate their embassies in Minato. Aoyama, Home to Aoyama Cemetery, one of Tokyos largest graveyards, atago Shrine, the highest point in all 23 wards of Tokyo
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Isetan
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Not to be confused with Philippines-based department store Isetann. Isetan is a Japanese department store, on April 1,2008, Isetan and Mitsukoshi were merged under a joint holding company called Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. Shinjuku flagship store The Isetan flagship store in Shinjuku is considered to be one of the most influential department stores in Japan, the store is often first with showcasing new trends and new products. In particular, the fashion and food floors are thought to be very trendsetting, behind the main store, there is a whole building dedicated to Mens Fashion Fuchu Tachikawa Matsudo Sagamihara Urawa-ku, Saitama Niigata Isetan Shizuoka Isetan West Japan Railway Isetan Ltd. JR Kyoto Isetan JR Osaka Isetan Mitsukoshi Iwataya HaMaYa Department Store Kichijōji, Musashino - Shop closed on March 14,2010
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Shinjuku Golden Gai
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Shinjuku Golden Gai is a small area of Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, famous both as an area of architectural interest and for its nightlife. It is composed of a network of six narrow alleys, connected by even narrower passageways which are just about wide enough for a person to pass through. Over 200 tiny shanty-style bars, clubs and eateries are squeezed into this area, in this area, shooting photograph and video on the street is prohibited. Golden Gai is a few minutes walk from the East Exit of Shinjuku Station and this has left Golden Gai as one of a decreasing number of examples of the nature of Tokyo before Japan’s “economic miracle”, that took place in the latter half of the 20th century. Typically, the buildings are just a few feet wide and are built so close to the next door that they nearly touch. Most are two-story, having a bar at street level and either another bar or a tiny flat upstairs. None of the bars are large, some are so small that they can only fit five or so customers at one time. The buildings are generally ramshackle, and the alleys are dimly lit, giving the area a very scruffy, however, Golden Gai is not a cheap place to drink, and the clientele that it attracts is generally well off. Shinjuku Golden Street Theatre is a theater in one corner of Golden Gai that puts on mainly comedy shows. Bars in Golden Gai are known in particular for the artistic affinities of their patrons, Golden Gai is well known as a meeting place for musicians, artists, directors, writers, academics and actors, including many celebrities. Many of the bars have a theme, such as jazz, R&B, karaoke, punk rock, or flamenco. Others cater to customers with a particular interest, such as go, exploitation films, most of the bars dont open until 9 or 10pm, so the area is very quiet during the day and early evening. Golden Gai was known for prostitution before 1958, when prostitution became illegal, since then it has developed as a drinking area, and at least some of the bars can trace their origins back to the 1960s
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Shinjuku Gyoen
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Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is a large park and garden in Shinjuku and Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally a residence of the Naitō family in the Edo period, afterwards, it became a garden under the management of the Imperial Household Agency of Japan. It is now a park under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Environment. The shogun bequeathed this land to Lord Naitō of Tsuruga in the Edo period who completed a garden here in 1772, after the Meiji Restoration the house and its grounds were converted into an experimental agricultural centre. It then became a botanical garden before becoming a garden in 1879. The current configuration of the garden was completed in 1906, most of the garden was destroyed by air raids in 1945, during the later stages of World War II. The garden was rebuilt after the war, the jurisdiction over the Imperial Palace Outer Garden and the Kyoto imperial garden was transferred to the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 1947. On May 21,1949, the garden open to the public as National Park Shinjuku Imperial Gardens. It came under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Environment in January 2001 with the official name Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, in 1989, the Shinjuku Gyoen was the site chosen for the funeral rites of Emperor Shōwa before he was buried at the Musashi Imperial Graveyard. The garden, which is 58.3 hectares in area with a circumference of 3.5 km, a traditional Japanese tea house can be found within the gardens. The garden is a favourite hanami spot, and large crowds can be present during cherry blossom season, the garden has more than 20,000 trees, including approximately 1,500 cherry trees which bloom from late March, to early April, and on to late April. Horticulture work has been going on in the greenhouses in the garden since 1892, the present greenhouse, built in the 1950s has a stock of over 1,700 tropical and subtropical plant species on permanent display. The garden has three gates, Shinjuku Gate, Okido Gate and Sendagaya Gate. Shinjuku Gyoen is open from 9,00 until 16,30, on Mondays the garden is closed, except during the cherry blossom and chrysanthemum seasons, late March–late April and early November respectively, when the garden is open seven days a week. The greenhouse, is open from 9,30 until 16,00, the garden is a short walk from Shinjuku-gyoemmae Station on the Marunouchi Line or Sendagaya Station on the Chūō-Sōbu Line. The garden is on the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line near Shinjuku-sanchōme Station, from that station the garden is a four-minute walk. Shinjuku Gyoen should not be confused with Shinjuku Central Park, which is located behind the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Nishi-Shinjuku, in Yasunari Kawabatas The Sound of the Mountain, Shingo declares, You can stretch out. Its like getting out of Japan - I wouldnt have dreamed that there was a place like this right in the middle of Tokyo and it is the setting of the 2013 anime film The Garden of Words
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Japanese garden
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Japanese gardens are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetic and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Ancient Japanese art inspired past garden designers, by the Edo period, the Japanese garden had its own distinct appearance. The idea of unique gardens began during the Asuka period. Japanese merchants witnessed the gardens that were being built in China, today, the tradition of Japanese garden art is still popular around the world, with many eastern and western practitioners expressing themselves through the medium. Japanese gardens first appeared on the island of Honshu, the central island of Japan. Japanese gardens have their roots in the Japanese religion of Shinto, with its story of the creation of eight islands, and of the shinchi. Prehistoric Shinto shrines to the kami, the gods and spirits, are found on beaches, prehistoric shrines often took the form of unusual rocks or trees marked with cords of rice fiber and surrounded with white stones or pebbles, a symbol of purity. The white gravel courtyard became a feature of Shinto shrines, Imperial Palaces, Buddhist temples. Japanese gardens were strongly influenced by the Chinese philosophy of Daoism and Amida Buddhism. Daoist legends spoke of five mountainous islands inhabited by the Eight Immortals, each Immortal flew from his mountain home on the back of a crane. The islands themselves were located on the back of a sea turtle. In Japan, the five islands of the Chinese legend became one island, called Horai-zen, replicas of this legendary mountain, the symbol of a perfect world, are a common feature of Japanese gardens, as are rocks representing turtles and cranes. The earliest recorded Japanese gardens were the gardens of the Japanese Emperors. They are mentioned in several passages of the Nihon Shoki. In the spring of the year 74 AD, the chronicle recorded, The Emperor Keikō put a few carp into a pond, and rejoiced to see them morning and evening. The following year, The Emperor launched a boat in the pond of Ijishi at Ihare, and went aboard with his imperial concubine. And in 486, The Emperor Kenzō went into the garden, the Chinese garden had a very strong influence on early Japanese gardens. In or around 552 AD, Buddhism was officially installed from China, via Korea, between 600 and 612, the Japanese Emperor sent four legations to the Court of the Chinese Sui Dynasty
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English landscape garden
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The English garden presented an idealized view of nature. The work of Lancelot Capability Brown was particularly influential, by the end of the 18th century the English garden was being imitated by the French landscape garden, and as far away as St. Petersburg, Russia, in Pavlovsk, the gardens of the future Emperor Paul. It also had a influence on the form of the public parks. These parks featured vast lawns, woods, and pieces of architecture and these gardens, modelled after the gardens of Versailles, were designed to impress visitors with their size and grandeur. William Kent was an architect, painter and furniture designer who introduced Palladian style architecture to England and his gardens were designed to complement the Palladian architecture of the houses he built. He collaborated with Kent on several major gardens, providing the botanical expertise which allowed Kent to realize his architectural visions, Kent created one of the first true English landscape gardens at Chiswick House for Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington. Between 1733 and 1736, he redesigned the garden, adding lawns sloping down to the edge of the river, for the first time the form of a garden was inspired not by architecture, but by an idealized version of nature. Rousham House in Oxfordshire is considered by some as the most accomplished, the patron was General Dormer, who commissioned Bridgeman to begin the garden in 1727, then brought in Kent to recreate it in 1737. Bridgeman had built a series of gardens, including a grotto of Venus, on the slope along the river Cherwell, finally, he added cascades modelled on those of the garden of Aldobrandini and Pratolino in Italy, to add movement and drama. Stowe, in Buckinghamshire, was a more radical departure from the formal French garden. In the early 18th century, Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham, had commissioned Charles Bridgeman to design a formal garden, bridgemans design included an octagonal lake and a Rotunda designed by Vanbrugh. In the 1730s, William Kent and James Gibbs were appointed to work with Bridgeman, Kent remade the lake in a more natural shape, and created a new kind of garden, which took visitors on a tour of picturesque landscapes. The garden attracted visitors from all over Europe, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and it became the inspiration for landscape gardens in Britain and on the Continent. Stourhead, in Wiltshire, created by banker Henry Hoare, was one of the first picturesque gardens, Hoare had travelled to Italy on the Grand Tour and had returned with a painting by Claude Lorrain. He sought to create an ideal landscape out of the English countryside and he created artificial lakes and used dams and canals to transform streams or springs into the illusion that a river flowed through the garden. He compared his own role as a designer to that of a poet or composer. Here I put a comma, there, when its necessary to cut the view, I put a parenthesis, there I end it with a period, the most important were, Petworth in 1752, Chatsworth in 1761, Bowood in 1763, Blenheim Palace in 1764. Humphry Repton was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, to help clients visualize his designs, Repton produced Red Books with explanatory text and watercolors with a system of overlays to show before and after views
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French formal garden
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The French formal garden, also called the jardin à la française, is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. The Garden à la française evolved from the French Renaissance garden, the gardens were designed to represent harmony and order, the ideals of the Renaissance, and to recall the virtues of Ancient Rome. His successor Henry II, who had traveled to Italy and had met Leonardo da Vinci. The Château de Chenonceau had two gardens in the new style, one created for Diane de Poitiers in 1551, in 1536 the architect Philibert de lOrme, upon his return from Rome, created the gardens of the Château dAnet following the Italian rules of proportion. The different parts of the gardens were not harmoniously joined together, all this was to change in the middle of the 17th century with the development of the first real Garden à la française. The first important garden à la française was the Chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte, created by Nicolas Fouquet, Fouquet commissioned Louis Le Vau to design the chateau, Charles Le Brun to design statues for the garden, and André Le Nôtre to create the gardens. For the first time, that garden and the chateau were perfectly integrated, the symmetry attained at Vaux achieved a degee of perfection and unity rarely equalled in the art of classic gardens. The chateau is at the center of this spatial organization which symbolizes power. The Gardens of Versailles, created by André Le Nôtre between 1662 and 1700, were the greatest achievement of the Garden à la francaise. The central symbol of the Garden was the sun, the emblem of Louis XIV, the views and perspectives, to and from the palace, continued to infinity. The king ruled over nature, recreating in the not only his domination of his territories. Andre Le Nôtre died in 1700, but his pupils and his ideas continued to dominate the design of gardens in France through the reign of Louis XV. The major inspiration for gardens continued to be architecture, rather than nature – the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel designed elements of the gardens at Versailles, Choisy, nonetheless, a few variations in the strict geometry of the garden à la française began to appear. Elaborate parterres of broderies, with their curves and counter-curves, were replaced by parterres of grass bordered with flowerbeds, circles became ovals, called rotules, with alleys radiating outward in the shape of an x, and irregular octagon shapes appeared. Gardens began to follow the landscape, rather than moving earth to shape the ground into artificial terraces. Jacques Boyceau, sieur de la Barauderie the superintendent of royal gardens under Louis XIII and his book, Traité du jardinage selon les raisons de la nature et de lart. Ensemble divers desseins de parterres, pelouzes, bosquets et autres ornements was published after his death in 1638, claude Mollet, was the chief gardener of three French Kings, Henry IV, Louis XIII and the young Louis XIV. The gardens he created became the symbols of French grandeur and rationality, joseph-Antoine Dezallier dArgenville wrote Theorie et traite de jardinage, laid out the principles of the Garden à la francaise, and included drawings and designs of gardens and parterres
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Nishi-Shinjuku
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Nishi-Shinjuku is a skyscraper business district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. This region was previously called Tsunohazu, Nishi-Shinjuku was Tokyos first major foray into building skyscrapers with the first appearing in the 1970s with Keio Plaza Inter-Continental. It is the location of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, livedoor has its headquarters in the Sumitomo Fudosan Nishishinjuku Building. H. I. S. has its headquarters in the Shinjuku Oak Tower, seiko Epsons Tokyo Office is in the Shinjuku NS Building. Capcoms Tokyo offices are located in the Shinjuku Mitsui Building, taisei Corporation has its headquarters in Nishi-Shinjuku
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Skyscraper
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A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building having multiple floors. When the term was used in the 1880s it described a building of 10 to 20 floors. Mostly designed for office, commercial and residential uses, a skyscraper can also be called a high-rise, for buildings above a height of 300 m, the term supertall can be used, while skyscrapers reaching beyond 600 m are classified as megatall. One common feature of skyscrapers is having a steel framework that supports curtain walls and these curtain walls either bear on the framework below or are suspended from the framework above, rather than resting on load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Some early skyscrapers have a frame that enables the construction of load-bearing walls taller than of those made of reinforced concrete. Modern skyscrapers walls are not load-bearing, and most skyscrapers are characterized by surface areas of windows made possible by steel frames. However, skyscrapers can have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls with a surface area of windows. Modern skyscrapers often have a structure, and are designed to act like a hollow cylinder to resist wind, seismic. To appear more slender, allow less wind exposure, and transmit more daylight to the ground, many skyscrapers have a design with setbacks, a relatively big building may be considered a skyscraper if it protrudes well above its built environment and changes the overall skyline. The maximum height of structures has progressed historically with building methods and technologies, the Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest building in the world. High-rise buildings are considered shorter than skyscrapers, the first steel-frame skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois in 1885. Even the scholars making the argument find it to be purely academic and this definition was based on the steel skeleton—as opposed to constructions of load-bearing masonry, which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicagos Monadnock Building. What is the characteristic of the tall office building. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and it must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line. Some structural engineers define a highrise as any vertical construction for which wind is a significant load factor than earthquake or weight. Note that this criterion fits not only high-rises but some other tall structures, the word skyscraper often carries a connotation of pride and achievement. A loose convention of some in the United States and Europe draws the limit of a skyscraper at 150 m or 490 ft. The tallest building in ancient times was the 146 m Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt and it was not surpassed in height for thousands of years, the 14th century AD Lincoln Cathedral being conjectured by many to have exceeded it
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Tallest buildings in Tokyo
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Tokyo is the most populated of Japans 47 prefectures. In Tokyo, there are 46 buildings and structures that stand taller than 185 metres, the tallest structure in the prefecture is Tokyo Skytree, a lattice tower that rises 634 metres, which was completed in 2012. It also stands as the tallest structure in Japan, the tallest tower in the world, the tallest building and third-tallest overall structure in Tokyo is the 256-metre-tall Toranomon Hills, which was completed in 2014. The prefectures second tallest building is Midtown Tower, which rises 54 stories and 248 metres in height, overall, of the 25 tallest buildings and structures in Japan,16 are in Tokyo. Skyscrapers are a recent phenomenon in Japan. Due to aesthetic and engineering concerns, Japans Building Standard Law set a height limit of 31 metres until 1963. Following these changes in building regulations, the Kasumigaseki Building was constructed and completed in 1968, a booming post-war Japanese economy and the hosting of the 1964 Summer Olympics helped lead to a building boom in Tokyo during the 1960s and 1970s. Construction continued through the 1980s and 1990s as the Japanese asset price bubble rose, mainland Tokyo is divided into two sections, Western Tokyo and the special wards of Tokyo. All of the prefectures tallest buildings are within the 23 special wards, nishi-Shinjuku, a district within Shinjuku, was the prefectures first major skyscraper development area. Starting with the construction of the Keio Plaza Hotel in the 1971, Tokyo has been the site of many skyscraper construction projects in recent years. Since 2010,13 buildings rising higher than 185 metres have been completed, as of February 2017, eight such buildings are under construction in the prefecture. Several other construction projects planned to exceed the height of 185 metres are proposed for the near future and this list ranks Tokyo skyscrapers that stand at least 185 metres tall, based on standard height measurement. This height includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts, an equal sign following a rank indicates the same height between two or more buildings. The Year column indicates the year in which a building was completed, freestanding towers, guyed masts and other not habitable structures are included for comparison purposes, however, they are not ranked. * Indicates buildings that are still under construction but have been topped out, = Indicates buildings that have the same rank because they have the same height. This list ranks Tokyo structures that stand at least 185 metres tall, excluding buildings and this height includes spires, architectural details and antenna masts. This lists buildings and free-standing structures that are under construction in Tokyo and are planned to rise at least 185 metres, any buildings that have been topped out but are not completed are also included. * Indicates buildings that are still under construction but have been topped out and this is a list of buildings that once held the title of tallest building in Tokyo
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Mejiro Station
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Mejiro Station, is a railway station on the Yamanote Line in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company. Mejiro Station is served by the circular Yamanote Line and it is one of only two stations on the Yamanote Line that does not provide a direct connection to any other line, the other being Shin-Ōkubo Station. Mejiro Station has one platform serving two tracks. The station building is located above the tracks, and accessibility to, there are several small shops and a bakery/cafe within the station. Platform edge doors were installed and brought into use from 9 November 2013, the station opened on March 16,1885. In fiscal 2012, the station was used by an average of 37,684 passengers daily, the passenger figures for previous years are as shown below. Mejiro is one of the Yamanote Lines smaller stations, situated between bustling Ikebukuro and relatively quiet Takadanobaba, Mejiro Station has only a single exit. The ticket gate emerges onto Mejiro-dori with the campus of Gakushuin University and the Mejiro Elementary School to the right. Just off Mejiro-dori, the area becomes residential and quite peaceful. The streets to the west, away from the Yamanote loop, feature a mix of apartment buildings spanning a few decades. By looking straight ahead from Mejiro Stations main exit, one can see well into the distance toward Ikebukuros monument-like garbage processing center, list of railway stations in Japan Transportation in Greater Tokyo JR East station information
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Nakai Station
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Nakai Station is the name of two railway stations in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, served by the Seibu Shinjuku Line and the Toei Ōedo Line respectively. The two stations are separated by two minutes walk through a shopping street. Nakai Station is served by the two lines. Seibu Shinjuku Line Toei Ōedo Line The Seibu station has two platforms serving two tracks. The station has a central track used for passing express trains in both directions. The Toei station has a platform with two tracks, located underground parallel to and below both Yamate-dori and the Central Circular Route. The Seibu station opened on 16 April 1927, the Toei station opened in 1997. Station numbering was introduced on all Seibu Railway lines during fiscal 2012, the station number for the Ōedo Line is E-32. In fiscal 2013, the station was the 35th busiest on the Seibu network with an average of 28,264 passengers daily, in fiscal 2012, an average of 11,086 people used the Toei station to board a train per day. The passenger figures for the Seibu station in years are as shown below
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Higashi-Shinjuku Station
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Higashi-Shinjuku Station is a subway station in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the two Tokyo subway operators Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation and Tokyo Metro. Higashi-Shinjuku Station is served by the Toei Oedo Line and the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line, the station is numbered E-02 for the Oedo Line, and F-12 for the Fukutoshin Line. The platforms and tracks are located underground, the Toei platform is an island platform serving two tracks located on the third basement level. The Tokyo Metro station has two platforms each serving two tracks, with platform 1/2 on the fifth basement level and platform 2/4 on the sixth basement level. Non-stop trains pass stopping trains at this station, the station opened on 12 December 2000, with the opening of the Toei Oedo Line. The Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line part of the station opened on 14 June 2008, the two Tokyo Metro island platforms initially used only one track each, with the second tracks for passing non-stop trains hidden behind screens. The Shibuya-bound platform was numbered 1, and the Wakoshi-bound platform was numbered 2, the screens were removed some time in 2015. In fiscal 2011, the Toei station was used by an average of 21,552 passengers daily, and the Tokyo Metro Station was used by 20,188
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Shinjuku travel guide from Wikivoyage
