Tokyo is world’s third largest city, seat of empire
Washington (UP) –
Tokyo, bombed today by B-29 Superfortresses, is the heart of Japan’s vast conquered empire and the seat of her imperial government.
It is the world’s third largest city, having a population in 1940 of 6,580,000.
It is also the center of Japan’s most heavily-producing industrial area, and its 40,000 factories of all sizes include huge shipbuilding works, airplane and engine factories, oil refineries, chemical works and plants producing radio and electrical equipment, explosives and precision instruments.
There are no skyscrapers in Tokyo, but many modern steel and concrete buildings were built after the disastrous earthquake in 1923.
This modern business area borders on vast “matchbox” sections of unpainted wooden and bamboo dwellings. More than half the homes are one-story and most are highly inflammable.
Transportation consists of subways, buses, trolleys and bicycles. A network of canal and rivers is crossed by some 5,000 bridges.