With almost 13 million residents, Tokyo is now as much an icon of modernity as it is a city, with its neon-lit billboards, futuristic technology, and avant-garde fashion scene. But the long and fascinating history of Japan's modern capital encompasses much, much more, and here Jonathan Clements recounts the city's amazing trajectory from its humble beginnings as a group of clearings in a forest on the Kanto plain all the way to its role as host of the 2020 Olympic Games.