A Tokugawa shogunate was established in 1603 with Edo as its seat of government (de facto capital). A emperor's home, & formal capital, remained inside Kyoto; that city had been a actual capital of Japan until that period.

Edo was devastated repeatedly by fires, a Meireki there is no Taika of 1657 perhaps having been a severest of these: an judged 100,000 humans perished in the flaming. In a period of the Edo period, there were about 1 hundred fires, often from either accidents whilst a mostly wooden townhouses (Machiya) were heated with charcoal fires in wintertime.

Within 1868, when a authoritarianism come to an prevent, a city was renamed "Tokyo" which means "Eastern Capital"; when you took a restoration, a emperor moved to Tokyo, making a city a formal besides when de facto capital of Japan.

When you took a Edo period, the Shogunate appointed administrators (machi bugyo) to oversee the food and drug administration of Edo. It oversaw a police force & (from either a instance of Yoshimune onward) the commoner fire department (machibikeshi), heard crook & civil lawsuits, & performed more administrative functions necessary inside the city of the million habitant.