Industrialisation and militarisation accompanied Japan's entrance into the 20th century. Western-style construction was introduced and Japan had military victories over China and Russia. Furthermore, Taiwan, Korea and Micronesia were annexed. In Tokyo, the rush of industry brought people from all over Japan to the capital.

At noon on 1 September 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake struck Tokyo. For 40 hours, fires raged, laying waste to the expanding city. Although rebuilding began almost immediately, opportunities to improve and further transform old Tokyo were lost. A little over 20 years later - and also in tragic circumstances - Tokyo was to get a second 'chance' to rebuild.

Around 80,000 lives were lost in the Tokyo air raids during WWII, and about two-fifths of the city was flattened. The raids were at least as destructive as the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Following the Japanese surrender, Tokyo again rose quickly. Transformed into something of a honky-tonk town during the post-war occupation years, the capital thrived on profits from the Korean War and has not looked back since. Awarded the Olympic Games in 1964, Tokyo grew like never before, and firmly established itself as a real power player in the world economy. The 1980s saw Tokyo bask in the shine of the 'bubble economy', but its burst in 1989 hit the city hard - many say it still has not fully recovered.

It was further shaken in 1995 by the nerve gas attack on a crowded city commuter train, which killed 12 and injured 5000. In 2001 Japan's debt rating was downgraded from AAA to AA+, with the country's economy remaining rocky since then - a high rate of bankrupt golf courses stand as a potent sign of the economy's malaise. Despite the economic gloom, Tokyo remains a singular expression of Japanese modernity, with business diversity rarely seen anywhere else on earth.