Amazing images of Tokyo before it became a city

Before Tokyo matured into the gleaming, dense city it is today, it was a small fishing village called Edo.

Now home to over 13 million people, the Japanese capital has changed dramatically since the 12th century.

These maps, woodcuts, and old-time photographs show the journey of Tokyo from a small village.

Tokyo was originally known as Edo, which means “estuary”. In the late 12th century, Edo was fortified by the Edo clan, which built a castle and military capital (pictured below). Some of the estate’s moats and walls still survive to this day.

By the 1630s, Edo had a population of 150,000.

Over the next century, the small fishing village grew into the largest metropolis in the world, with a million residents by 1721.

In the 18th century, Edo became the capital of Japan. During this time, it enjoyed a long period of peace, called the Pax Tokugawa.