Editing Edo (section)

==History==

=== Before Tokugawa ===
Before the 10th century, there is no mention of Edo in historical records, but for a few settlements in the area. That name for the area first appears in the [[Azuma Kagami]] chronicles, which have probably been used since the second half of the [[Heian period]]. Edo's development started in the late 11th century with a branch of the {{Nihongo|2=桓武平氏|Kanmu-[[Taira]] clan}} called the {{Nihongo|Chichibu clan|秩父氏}} coming from the banks of the then-[[Iruma River]], present-day upstream of the Arakawa river. A descendant of the head of the Chichibu clan settled in the area and took the name {{Nihongo|Edo Shigetsugu|江戸重継}}, likely based on the name used for the place, and founded the [[Edo clan]]. Shigetsugu built a fortified residence, probably around the edge of the [[Musashino Plateau|Musashino Terrace]], that would become Edo castle. Shigetsugu's son, {{Nihongo|[[Edo Shigenaga]]|江戸重長}}, took the Taira's side against [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] in 1180 but eventually surrendered to Minamoto and became a [[gokenin]] for the [[Kamakura shogunate]]. At the fall of the shogunate in the 14th century, the Edo clan took the side of the [[Southern Court]], and its influence declined during the [[Muromachi period]].

In 1456, a vassal of the Ōgigayatsu branch of the [[Uesugi clan]] started to build a castle on the former fortified residence of the Edo clan and took the name [[Ōta Dōkan]]. Dōkan lived in the castle until his assassination in 1486. Under Dōkan, with good water connections to Kamakura, Odawara and other parts of [[Kantō region|Kanto]] and the country, Edo expanded as a ''[[jōkamachi]]'', with the castle bordering a cove (now [[Hibiya Park]]) opening into [[Tokyo Bay|Edo Bay]], and the town developing along the Hirakawa River running into the cove, and on {{Nihongo|''Edomaeto''|江戸前島}}, the stretch of land on the eastern side of the cove (now roughly where [[Tokyo Station]] is). Some priests and scholars fleeing Kyoto after the [[Ōnin War]] came to Edo during that period.

After the death of Dōkan, the castle became one of strongholds of the Uesugi clan, which fell to the [[Later Hōjō clan]] at the [[Siege of Edo|battle of Takanawahara]] in 1524, during the expansion of their rule over the Kantō area. When the Hōjō clan was finally defeated by [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] in 1590, the Kanto area was given to rule to Toyotomi's senior officer [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], who took his residence in Edo.

=== Tokugawa shogunate ===
{{See also|Edo period}}
[[File:Famous-Places-of-Edo-1803-Kuwagata-Shoshin.jpg|thumb|Famous places of Edo in 1803]]
[[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] emerged as the paramount warlord of the [[Sengoku period]] following his victory at the [[Battle of Sekigahara]] in October 1600. He formally founded the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603 and established his headquarters at [[Edo Castle]]. Edo became the center of political power and the ''de facto'' capital of Japan, although the historic capital of [[Kyoto]] remained the ''[[de jure]]'' capital as the seat of the emperor. Edo grew from a fishing village in [[Musashi Province]] in 1457 into the largest [[metropolis]] in the world, with an estimated population of 1 million by 1721.<ref name="Sansom">Sansom, George. ''A History of Japan: 1615–1867'', p. 114.</ref><ref>Gordon, Andrew. (2003). ''A Modern History of Japan from Tokugawa Times to the Present'', p. 23.</ref>

[[File:Meireki fire.JPG|thumb|left|Scroll depicting the Great Fire of Meireki|alt=Painted scroll of a great fire, with people trying to escape]]

Edo was repeatedly devastated by fires, the [[Great Fire of Meireki]] in 1657 being the most disastrous, with an estimated 100,000 victims and a vast portion of the city completely burnt. The population of Edo was around 300,000,{{citation needed|date=May 2024|reason=Some sources say 400,000 or 500,000.}} and the impact of the fire was tremendous. The fire destroyed the central keep of Edo Castle, which was never rebuilt, and it influenced the urban planning afterwards to make the city more resilient, with many empty areas to break spreading fires, and wider streets. Reconstruction efforts expanded the city east of the Sumida River, and some ''[[daimyo|daimyō]]'' residences were relocated to give more space to the city, especially in the immediate vicinity of the shogun's residence, creating a large green space beside the castle, now the Fukiage gardens of the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace|Imperial Palace]]. During the Edo period, there were about 100 major fires, mostly begun by accident and often quickly escalating and spreading through neighborhoods of wooden ''[[Nagaya (architecture)|nagaya]]'' that were heated with charcoal fires.

[[File:Edo 1844-1848 Map.jpg|thumb|left|Map of Edo in the 1840s|alt=Small, sepia-colored map of Edo in the 1840s]]
In 1868, the Tokugawa shogunate was overthrown in the [[Meiji Restoration]] by supporters of [[Emperor Meiji]] and his [[Imperial Court in Kyoto]], ending Edo's status as the ''de facto'' capital of Japan. However, the new Meiji government soon renamed Edo to ''[[Tōkyō]]'' (東京, "Eastern Capital") and the city became the formal capital of Japan when the emperor moved his residence to the city.