Is Tokyo a city or a state?

Technically it is a prefecture, which you could think of as being like a county in the UK or a state in America (though with considerably less autonomy than an American state). People's image of Tokyo is largely formed by the 23 "ku", or wards, which comprise the centre or hub of the city. read more

Tokyo, by definition, is a prefecture/state only. There is no such a thing called Tokyo City, although its metropolitan nature makes it look like one. Tokyo prefecture itself comprises 23 wards, 26 cities, 1 commandery, 3 towns, and 1 village, non of them is called"Tokyo". read more

Officially Tokyo is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. A prefecture is roughly similar to a state or province.Tokyo is divided into 23 special wards, 26 cities, five towns and eight villages. Each of these will have it's own city hall. Services such as police are handled at the prefecture level. read more

In 1943, the city of Tokyo merged with the prefecture of Tokyo to form the"Metropolitan Prefecture" of Tokyo. Since then, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government served as both the prefecture government for Tokyo, as well as administering the special wards of Tokyo, for what had previously been Tokyo City. read more