"Tokyo" Tokyo by vinceckw

Arrive: 09 Jan 2013 - Depart: 12 Jan 2013 (LR MYMM)
Arrive: 13 Nov 2012 - Depart: 15 Nov 2012 (Holiday)
Arrive: 17 Dec 2011 - Depart: 21 Dec 2011
Arrive: 10 Jul 2011 - Depart: 12 Jul 2011
Arrive: 18 Dec 2010 - Depart: 23 Dec 2010
Transit: 01 Aug 2009 & 10 Aug 2009
Transit: 17 Aug 2008 & 24 Aug 2008
Arrive: 17 Aug 2003 - Depart: 21 Aug 2003
Arrive: 11 Jun 2000 - Depart: 16 Jun 2000

Tokyo, officially Tokyo Metropolis, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshû. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the city of Tokyo in the eastern part of the prefecture, and total over 8 million people. The population of the prefecture exceeds 12 million.

Tokyo was originally known as Edo, meaning estuary. Its name was changed to Tokyo (Tôkyô: tô (east) + kyô (capital)) when it became the imperial capital in 1868. During the early Meiji period, the city was also called "Tôkei", an alternative pronunciation for the same Chinese characters representing "Tokyo". Some surviving official English documents use the spelling "Tokei". This pronunciation is now obsolete.