What is the capital of Japan?

The capital of Japan is Tokyo.

Tokyo is Japan’s political, economic, and administrative centre. It sits on the eastern coast of the island of Honshu and forms the core of the enormous Tokyo metropolitan area, one of the world’s most populous urban regions. The city hosts Japan’s national government, the Imperial Palace, major universities, financial institutions, and global companies.

Tokyo’s earlier name was Edo. In 1868, during the Meiji Restoration, Emperor Meiji moved the imperial court from Kyoto to Edo and renamed the city Tokyo, meaning “eastern capital.” The change reflected Japan’s shift toward a modern centralized state and closer engagement with the wider world.

Kyoto was Japan’s imperial capital for more than a thousand years, so it is often remembered as the country’s historic capital. Osaka is another major Japanese city, but neither is the modern national capital. Japan has no single statute explicitly declaring Tokyo the capital, yet the government, public usage, and national institutions universally recognize it as such.