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Text: Zhang Runchen
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introduction
Today, Tokyo, the capital of Japan, has the second largest GDP among the top ten cities in the world, second only to New York. In Asia, Tokyo has the largest GDP and is truly the "first city" in Asia. The total investment in commercial land in Tokyo is 19.3 billion US dollars, or about 2 trillion yen, ranking first in the world.
It took 200 years for New York to become the number one in the world. But Tokyo was in ruins a few decades ago, and it only took 80 years to become the world's second.
(Tokyo)
1. From foggy to brilliant
Japan has a history of 2,000 years of civilization, but Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is a "young city". Japan's economic and political center has long been located in the large metropolitan area of the Kansai region, where the cities of Kobe, Kyoto, and Nara are located.
And Tokyo, in the Kanto region, has indeed been on the "edge of civilization" for a long time.
500 years ago, it was just a small fishing village. More than 400 years ago, the Tokugawa family established the Edo Shogunate here, and Edo, or Tokyo, officially entered the center of Japan's history.
The first 200 years of Tokyo were not really big cities, it could only be regarded as the political center of Japan, just like the capital of Brazil in Brazil, but the heart of Brazil will always be Rio de Janeiro.
(Tokyo)
It was not until after the Shogun Movement that the Meiji Emperor of Japan changed its name to Tokyo, after which Japan began to fully westernize, and Japan became the first country in Asia to industrialize. Tokyo became the first city in Asia to industrialize.
Compared to traditional economic centers such as Osaka, Tokyo does not have as many interests involved, and it is indeed an excellent candidate to start industrialization first.
Japan's first railway, the Keihin Railway, connected the cities of Tokyo and Yokohama. By 1920, Tokyo's population had reached 3.7 million, and it took Japan thirty years to make Tokyo and Yokohama a city.
(Tokyo during the Meiji era)
If you ask me when did London rise? Then I will definitely answer you, after the Great Fire of London in 1666. If you ask me, when did Tokyo start to rise? Then I will definitely answer you, it was the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.
The earthquake destroyed 60% of the buildings in the Tokyo metropolitan area, and a large number of people were displaced to the suburbs, which became part of Tokyo after the reconstruction.
After the reconstruction, Tokyo has been greatly improved in terms of transportation, housing, public health, disaster and flood prevention, and it is only at this moment that Tokyo has truly become a modern city.
(Great Kanto Earthquake)
In order to supply the large consumption of the US military in the Korean battlefield, and also to improve industrial capacity, the Shinkansen was Japan built, and the cities along the route began to develop rapidly, and the land price along the line began to rise rapidly, and the Shinkansen also became the "backbone of the rise of the Japan economy".Japan
Before and after World War II, Tokyo's functions as an industrial city and a political city were insignificant. For a long time, Japan's finance and United States' finance were effectively twins (both before and after World War II).
(Tokyo)
However, during the Taisho and Showa periods, Japan developed its own financial industry on a small scale due to the impact of the periodic economic crises United States. At that time, no one could have imagined that the financial industry would become a pillar industry in Tokyo in the future......
2. Tokyo's financial rise
In the seventies of the last century, Japan's economy had initially recovered, and the post-war government of Japan also decided to carry out a certain degree of reform of the existing controlled economy. Part of this is financial liberalization reforms. As a result, the financial industry in Japan, especially in Tokyo, has gradually liberalized and internationalized.
(Tokyo Stock Exchange)
At that time, the development of Tokyo, Japan, was indeed very good, and industry, transportation, infrastructure and high land prices became factors that attracted international investment. In addition, some neighboring countries and regions are not so stable compared to Japan, so the western Pacific international tour capital with the instinct of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages has entered Tokyo.
During this period, the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Tokyo International Futures Exchange were established.
By the 80s, Tokyo had become an international financial center on a par with New York and London. At that time, Japan was the world's second largest economy, the world's largest creditor country, and the country with the largest overseas investment, and the legend that "Japan has a Japan overseas" began to circulate during this period.
(Tokyo Real Estate)
The world's second largest economy is very golden, because in the eighties, Japan's GDP even briefly surpassed United States and became the world's first, which shows that there is hardly a big gap between the two.
At the time of Tokyo's largest financial industry, it even surpassed London and New York to become the largest in the world.
However, after the bursting of Japan's real estate bubble, Tokyo's financial industry also began to take a sharp turn, shrinking rapidly in size and sharply reducing earnings.
In its place, Japan's custom industry, anime and game industry have risen.
(Japan Kimono)
However, this situation did not last long, and after the new century, under the leadership of the Japan government, Tokyo's financial industry began to recover, and the financial industry is still one of the pillars of Tokyo today.
(Tokyo Real Estate Bubble)
However, it is impossible to restore the glory of Tokyo to the glory of the past, let alone to compare it with New York and London. Even in the Western Pacific, Tokyo's position is constantly being challenged by the three cities of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.
Although the real estate bubble in Japan has burst today, land prices in Tokyo remain high, which is determined by Tokyo's status. Even if Japan is doomed, Tokyo is definitely the last to fall.
Or maybe the future of Tokyo will continue to shine with the neon lights at night.
Resources
[1] Xu Dan. A brief analysis of the rise and decline of Tokyo International Financial Center[J].Caizhi,2013,(08):227.)
[2] Ni Quansheng. The rise and decline of Tokyo's status as an international financial center and its enlightenment[D].Shanghai Jiao Tong University,2009.
[3] From the wilderness to the world's largest metropolis: The Rise of Tokyo, Japan. Nanyue Planning.2022-08-20