Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Why was Edo renamed Tokyo during the Meiji Restoration?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Meiji Restoration
After the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Meiji emperor became the formal head of a new imperial government under whose reign Japan was transformed from an isolated feudal society into a modern, industrialized global power.
During the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the city of Edo was renamed Tokyo, which means "eastern capital."123
This renaming occurred as part of the transition from the Tokugawa shogunate—which had governed from Edo for over 250 years—to direct imperial rule. By relocating the imperial capital from Kyōto to the former shogunal seat of Edo, the new government sought to centralize political power and symbolize the beginning of a modernized, unified Japan under the Meiji emperor.234