Tokyo was a rural area until the 16th century, Kyoto/Nara/Osaka were old capital cities before Tokyo.
Tokugawa Ieyasu unified the nation 1603.
He moved the government from Kyoto to Tokyo ( Tokyo was called Edo at that time).
Edo castle was built in the early 17th century, however it was burnt out a few times.
In 1867 there was a civil war headed by rural area feudal lords against the Tokugawa government (Shogunate).
The feudal loads had less prestige so that they made the emperor Meiji to be the head of the new government.
The Emperor forces won the civil war in 1868.
Then Emperor Meiji moved from Kyoto to Edo and changed the name to Tokyo (literally means East Kyoto).
Edo castle was changed to the Imperial Palace.
The imperial palace was damaged by huge earthquakes in 1923, and burnt out during World War 2.
The Imperial Place we can see today are ruins of Edo castle, stone walls and moats.
The foreign tourists sometimes expect a great castle building, however it does not exist.
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