Shuto

Shuto 首都
Capital City
Shuto Metropolitan District
Clockwise from top: Shibuya Skyline, Shibuya Square at Night, Imperial Park Main Gate, Daido Tower, Tayichian Imperial Diet, Shogungosho Obelisk
Country	Tayichi
Province	Shuto Metropolitan District
Establishment	1127
Government
• Type	Executive Mayoralty & Deliberative Assembly
• Body	Shuto Metropolitan Council
• Mayor	Masahiro Okawa (LDP-R)
Area
• Capital City	2,033.0 km2 (784.96 sq mi)
• Urban	2,143 km2 (827.3 sq mi)
• Metro	5,260 km2 (2,032 sq mi)
Population  (2020)
• Capital City	12,712,923
• Rank	1st in Tayichi
• Density	6,253/km2 (16,200/sq mi)
• Metro	15,300,000
• Metro density	2,910/km2 (7,530/sq mi)
Postal Code	29 areas
Vehicle registration	首都(SHU)
GDP (SMD)	金1.5 Trillion ($926.1 Billion)
Per Capita	金118,014 ($72,847)
GDP (Metropolitan)	金1.8 Trillion ($1.1 Trillion)
Per Capita	金116,450 ($71,895)

Shuto is the capital and most populous city of Tayichi, located at the mouth of the Taīga river, one the western coast of the nation's largest island - Hashita. Most of the city is part of the Shuto Metropolitan District, a provincial-level authority. Its inner core, which is considered to be one of the world's leading centers of finance, commerce, culture, technology, entertainment, media, academics, art and fashion, is stretched out over numerous islands that make up the Taīga River Delta. Shuto is the center of one of the world's principal metropolitan economies.

With a population of around 12.7 million people, distributed over 785 square miles (2,033 km²), the city is the most densely populated major city in Tayichi. Shuto has more than double the population of Idaina, the nation's second-most populous city. Shuto is the demographic and economic center of the Taīga-Kaidō Megalopolis and the Shuto Metropolitan Area, the largest metropolitan area in Tayichi by both population and urban area. The city has long been the premier gateway for immigration to Tayichi, making it the most ethnically and linguistically diverse city in the country.

Whilst the current city was founded following its castle's construction in 1127, numerous former settlements predate Shuto due to the region's strategic position at the tip of the longest and most important river in Hashita. The city rapidly grew in the 18th and early 19th century following the end of Tayichian isolation, and became the largest in 1809, but was ravaged by a destructive earthquake in 1821. Following the earthquake the city was reconstructed in the Totariku architectural style, which is mostly based on Northern and Western Amnisian architecture. A large network of wide boulevards and grand monuments spanned the new city, converging at Shogungosho, while it also became the nation's new capital in 1837. In the early 20th century Shibuya, the new financial center of the city, became the center of a skyscraper construction boom, firstly in an art-deco style. Its skyline is still one of the most defining characteristics of Shuto today.

Shibuya, the Central Business District of Shuto, has long been called the main financial center of Borealia and one of the largest in the world. As of 2023, Shuto is one of the economically most powerful cities in Borealia, with a metropolitan GDP surpassing $1 trillion. If the Shuto Metropolitan Area were its own country, it would have one of the largest economies in the world. The city is home to the Shuto Imperial Exchange, one of the leading in terms of market capitalization, and is an established safe haven for global investors. Numerous billionaires, individuals of ultra-high net worth and millionaires reside within the city.

Geography

Shuto is situated on the western coast of Hashita, the largest island in the Tayichian Archipelago. Its location at the mouth of the Taīga River, which feeds into the Inner Sea, has historically helped the city in significance as a major trade port. Most of the Inner City is built on numerous islands within the delta, while the outskirts and suburbs are mostly situated on the mainland. The five most prominent islands that make up most of the city's central core are Meguro, Shibuya, Taito, Minato and Nerima.

During the latest glacial period, the area that today makes up Shuto was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet. The erosive movement of the ice led to the creation of a shallow bay which would later make up the majority of the Taīga River Delta. Additionally, that action left bedrock at a relatively shallow depth, providing a strong foundation for most of Shibuya's skyscrapers, as well as aiding in their earthquake resistance.

While the Taīga and its many distributaries are the primary freshwater waterways within the city, numerous smaller rivers and streams feed into them inside the city limits as well. The most notable is the Arakawa River, the second longest river in the Fachi region, which flows from the northeast into the Taīga in the Koto city district. Historically the most important of Taīga's distributaries was the Sumida, which seperates the Meguro, Shibuya, Nerima and Taito islands, as it was a major extension of the Port of Shuto.

The city's land has been altered substantially by human intervention, with considerable land reclamation and river engineering projects. The Taīga River Delta has been entirely channelized, stopping its natural change in shape and flow. Land reclamation is the most prominent along its coast, which has been mostly evened out, especially around the Port of Shuto. Some of the natural relief in topography has been evened out, especially in the inner islands.

The highest point within the limits of the Shuto Metropolitan District is Okutama near its southeastern end, at 232 meters.

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Shuto has a humid continental climate (Dfa). with a wide range of temperature between the summer and winter. Summers are generally warm and humid, but not oppressively hot, and winters are cold and very snowy, with an average snowfall of 4.79 m (15 ft 9 in) per year, mainly due to the mixing of the cold dry air from Northern Borealia flowing southwards. The city receives an average of 1,220 mm (48 inches) of precipitation annually, making it one of the wetter Tayichian cities. Shuto averages just below 2,000 sunshine hours annually. The mean annual temperature is 8.1°C (46.6 °F)

The highest temperature ever recorded in Shuto was 35.9°C (96.6°F) on August 21, 1997. The coldest temperature ever recorded was -27.7°C (-17.9°F) on January 29 1922.

Shuto
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     168     0 −5     105     1 −4     114     5 −2     89     12 3     65     17 9     54     21 13     52     24 18     43     24 19     51     21 15     121     16 8     189     9 −2     162     2 −3 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     6.6     32 23     4.1     34 25     4.5     41 28     3.5     54 37     2.6     63 48     2.1     70 55     2     75 64     1.7     75 66     2     70 59     4.8     61 46     7.4     48 28     6.4     36 27 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Natural Disasters

Earthquakes

Shuto is near the boundary between two tectonic plates, making it an extremely active region for smaller quakes and slippage which frequently affect the urban area with swaying as if in a boat, although epicenters within mainland Shuto are very rare. It is not uncommon in the metro area to have hundreds of these minor quakes (magnitudes 3–6) that can be felt in a single year, something local residents merely brush off but can be a source of anxiety for foreign visitors. They rarely cause much damage (sometimes a few injuries) as they are either too small or far away as quakes tend to dance around the region.

The frequency of large megathrust earthquakes hitting the city is a relative rarity, with only two records of an 8+ magnitude earthquake close by in 1598 and in 1821, although there are indirect effects from the much more seismically active eastern coast of Hashita. The 1821 earthquake, with an estimated magnitude of 8.3 caused great damage to the city, which would lead to its eventual reconstruction in the Totariku architectural style it is recognizable by today.

Volcanic Eruptions

Mount Hōei is located some 95 km (60 mi) southeast of Central Shuto, although there is a very low chance of eruption, with the last recorded starting on November 30 1688 and ended on December 17 1688 (18 days). During the eruption, the amount of ash did not exceed 2 cm in the inner Shuto area, however there are no records of wind direction during that period. If the wind were to blow north-west it could send volcanic ash towards Shuto.

According to the government, less than a millimeter of the volcanic ash from a Mount Hōei eruption could cause power grid problems such as blackouts and stop trains in the Shuto metropolitan area. A mixture of ash with rain could stick to cellphone antennas, power lines and cause temporary power outages, while the affected area would need to be evacuated.

Areas

Whilst the Shuto Metropolitan District itself is divided into 40 Metropolitan Boroughs, many places within Shuto, especially its inner core, are identified using traditional and historic area names, such as Nippori, Kasai, Yahiro and Komaba, which often reflect the names of villages that have been absorbed by urban sprawl.

Such names have remained in use through tradition, each referring to a local area with its own distinctive character, but without official boundaries, although some, such as Shibuya and Taito, share their borders to some extent with their respective boroughs.

Minakashi and Naka-Meguro are Shuto's main entertainment and shopping districts, attracting numerous tourists. East and Southeast Shuto includes expensive residential areas where properties can sell for tens of millions of dollars. The average price for properties in Kitazawa is over 金4 million with a similarly high outlay in most of inner Shuto. Shirokane is the area closest to the Port of Shuto, known for its high immigrant population, including the picturesque Hoosier Quarter, as well as being one of the poorer areas in inner Shuto. The surrounding area to the north saw much of Shuto's early industrial development, but now, former brownfield sites are being redeveloped into modern high-end residential and commercial space.

Architecture

The Millennial Monument, opened in 1862 but fully completed 10 years later, is considered to be Kobayashi's masterpiece during the Reconstruction of Shuto. It stands at the end of Yōdō (陽道) Avenue as a commemoration for the Millennial Anniversary of the Tayichian Empire .

Architecture in Shuto has been primarily shaped by the city's turbulent past. Few structures in inner Shuto pre-date the 1821 Great Shuto Earthquake and Fire, with the 12th century Imperial Retreat in the Imperial Palace Gardens being one of the rare ones which did.

Modern inner Shuto as reconstructed starting in the 1820s saw the heavy use of the Totariku architectural style, pioneered by Seiji Kobayashi, which is mostly based on motifs of Northern and Western Amnisian architecture, and is closely related to Neoclassical, Edwardian, Beaux-Arts and Gothic Revival movements. The Shogungosho Obelisk, commemorating the Tayichian victory over Hansa in the Third Trans Mediriman War was chosen as the new central point of the city, with eight large boulevards radiating out from it in all directions in the shape of one of Tayichi's national symbols - a Rising Sun. The boulevards are lined with large, grandiose buildings and monuments in traditional Totariku fashion, including Kobayashi's masterpiece - The Millenial Monument.

Shibuya is characterized by its iconic skyline, featuring a large cluster of skyscrapers constructed over a course of more than 100 years. Construction of skyscrapers began in the first years of the 20th century, mainly in an art deco style which originated in Northern Amnis but quickly spread over to Tayichi, with elements of Neoclassicism and Beaux-Arts as well, such as in the case of the Shuto Palace Hotel. Initial skyscrapers were dotted all over inner Shuto, but following a height restriction ban in 1919 they almost exclusively moved to Shibuya, where they continued being constructed mainly under the Art Deco but also neo-Gothic style. Following its construction in 1925, the Shuto Imperial Exchange Tower in Shibuya became the tallest building in the world (possibly? would be fun), at 285 m of height (935 f). In the latter half of the 20th century, other architectural styles became more prevalent, such as Modernist, Internationalist, Postmodernist and New Urbanist styles.

Historical residential areas on the periphery of inner Shuto are mainly characterized by elegant brownstone rowhouses and townhouses and shabby tenements that were built during a period of rapid expansion from 1870 to 1930. Stone and brick became the city's building materials of choice after the construction of wood-frame houses was limited in the aftermath of the 1821 Fire.

In contrast, Shuto also has neighborhoods that are less densely populated and feature free-standing dwellings, further outside the city center. These often feature large single-family homes which are common in various architectural styles such as Tudor Revival and Victorian.

Natural History

Shuto has a complex park system, with various lands operated by the Imperial Palace Authority, the Metropolitan Parks Division and the National Parks Service. Parks in Shuto are widespread, with over 98% of the population living within 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) of a public park. The Shuto Metropolitan Area is additionally home to two national nature reserves and 59 local nature reserves.

The most prominent park collection in Shuto are the Imperial Palace Gardens, located on the western shore of Meguro island along the Sumida river, which host the Shuto Imperial Palace, while the southwestern sections of the park, seperated by Ueno Avenue, are operated by the Shuto Zoo. The Imperial Palace Gardens were renovated in the early 19th century, now featuring an array of classical Tayichian and Amnisian landscape designs and motifs, including an artificial lake and island, on which the Imperial Retreat stands.

The Shuto Imperial Natural History Museum suggests that over 60 species of birds nest in inner Shuto and that their members have recorded 47 species of butterfly, 1173 moths and more than 270 kinds of spiders around Shuto. Southern Taīga River Delta wetlands support nationally important populations of many water birds.

Red foxes are a common occurance, with INHM suggesting over 15,000 reside inside the Shuto Metropolitan District, and they can often be seen along residential streets and near dumpsters. Other notable mammals in Shuto include the grey squirrel, hedgehog, brown rat, mice, rabbit, otter and weasel, while brown hare and red deer could be found on the city's outskirts, as well as several species of bats. While Shutoites are accustomed to wildlife such as birds and foxes sharing the city, more recently urban deer have started becoming a regular feature, and whole herds of fallow and red deer come into residential areas at night to take advantage of Shuto's green spaces.