Region of Japan - Kanto

Day 1,545, 04:14 Published in Japan China by Chise E Tamai


This article is about the history of one of the regions of Japan, Kanto. In the eWorld, Kanto is where the capital of eJapan was. Has anybody ever looked at the map, and wondered why the capitals are located at where they are? You know, like, why was our capital Kanto, not somewhere else, like Kinki, Hokkaido, or Kyushu?

Well, for eJapan, the reason why our capital was at Kanto was probably because, Kanto is where the capital of RL Japan, Tokyo, is located at; the map above also demonstrated this, showing Tokyo in the Kanto region.

Now the next question: why is Tokyo the capital of RL Japan?

With a bit of research, I have identified this person as the one who, per say, was responsible for creating the historical reason that made Tokyo the capital of modern Japan:


Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川 家康, 1543 – 1616)

Tokugawa Ieyasu and his family line had ruled Japan for 264 years, throughout the years of 1603 to 1867, and Tokyo (called Edo at the time) was where Ieyasu established his government at. The 264 years of ruling of the Tokugawa family from Edo(=Tokyo) had made it the political and cultural center of Japan, and so the modern Japan pretty much just have Tokyo as the capital as the continuation of what Tokugawa Ieyasu have established of. (Side note: even through Edo(=Tokyo) was the political center, the emperor stayed in Kyoto, former capital of Japan before the Tokugawa family comes to rule, until 1869)

OK, so now we know that Tokyo is the capital of RL Japan because Tokugawa Ieyasu had made it the political center. The next question is, why?

Kanto comes into Tokugawa Ieyasu's ruling in 1590, the year in which he surrendered to Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉), a daimyo who was more powerful than him. Upon this surrendering, Hideyoshi gave Ieyasu Kanto as a gift, but took away the regions that Ieyasu used to rule. For Ieyasu, he had no choice but to try to establish a new foundation in Kanto, and he choose Edo(=Tokyo) to be that central base. As he wasn't the most powerful Daimyo, the previous capital of Japan (Kyoko) was naturally not in his hand, and so he had to establish his base somewhere else - which, when Ieyasu finally comes to ruling, caused the capital of Japan to change to Edo(=Tokyo).

So, basically - Hideyoshi kicked Ieyasu out of his old home, so Ieyasu needed a new place, and he picked Edo(=Tokyo). After that, Hideyoshi died and Ieyasu came to power, ruled Japan, and Edo(=Tokyo) stayed as the capital since then.

That is why Tokyo is the capital of RL Japan, and why Kanto was the capital of eJapan. The location of eJapan capital may change in the future, depending on where the first successful resistant war occur on the day in which eJapan finally gets back on the map.

Thank you for reading this history with me!