Which capital city was founded as Edo before becoming Japan’s capital? Tokyo is the answer: modern Tokyo grew from the city historically known as Edo.
Edo Castle was built in 1457, but the city expanded dramatically after Tokugawa Ieyasu established his shogunate there in 1603. Edo became the political center of Japan, even while the emperor and imperial court remained in Kyoto. Its population exceeded one million by the early eighteenth century, making it one of the world’s largest cities.
In 1868, the Tokugawa shogunate was overthrown during the Meiji Restoration. Edo was renamed Tokyo, meaning “Eastern Capital,” and the emperor’s residence moved from Kyoto to the renamed city. This transition established Tokyo as Japan’s national political capital.
A common mix-up is treating Kyoto and Tokyo as interchangeable capitals. Kyoto was the imperial capital for centuries, while Edo was the shogunate’s de facto seat of power. Tokyo is the modern capital, and its urban form still reflects Edo’s castle-centered history, waterways, and planned districts.