Western Tokyo, known as the , or locally, in the Tokyo Metropolis consists of 30 ordinary municipalities ( cities (市 shi), towns (町 machi) and one

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

(村 mura)), unlike the eastern part which consists of 23 special wards. Before it was transferred to Tokyo in 1893, the Tama area, then also still often referred to as the (referring to the West,

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and South Tama counties it consisted of) had formed the Northern part of

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

. National Archives of Japan
三多摩を東京府に編入
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Overview

Whereas in the east of Tokyo Metropolis the 23 special wards occupy the area that was formerly Tokyo City, the west consists of 30 other ordinary municipalities: cities (Nos. 1–26), towns (Nos. 27, 28, 30) and a

(No. 29).

List of cities, towns and village

The towns of Hinode, Mizuho, and Okutama, and the village of Hinohara make up the non-contiguous Nishitama District. The offshore islands of Tokyo (including the Bonin,

Volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

, Izu island chains, and the uninhabited islands of Okinotorishima and Minamitorishima) are not considered part of Western Tokyo.

History

Under the

Ritsuryō is the historical Japanese legal system, legal system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Legalism (Chinese philosophy), Chinese Legalism in Feudal Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (). ''Kya ...

system, Western Tokyo was part of Musashi Province. The provincial capital was at Fuchū. The provincial temple (''kokubunji'') was at Kokubunji and the principal shrine (''ichinomiya'') was at Tama. Western Tokyo previously consisted of three districts: * (lit. "Western Tama") encompassed the present-day cities of Akiruno, Fussa, Hamura, and Ōme; in addition to the four municipalities (3 towns and a village) that still remain a part of the district. * (lit. "Southern Tama") covered the area now occupied by Hachiōji, Hino, Inagi, Tama, and Machida. With the formation of Inagi (the last city to be created in Tokyo in 1971), Minamitama District ceased to exist. * (lit. "Northern Tama") consisted of the locations of the present-day cities of Akishima, Chōfu, Fuchū, Higashikurume, Higashimurayama, Higashiyamato, Kiyose, Kodaira, Koganei, Kokubunji, Komae, Kunitachi, Mitaka, Musashimurayama, Musashino, Nishitokyo, and Tachikawa, as well as some land now in Setagaya. With the establishment of the city of Musashimurayama in 1970, Kitatama District ceased to exist.

References

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