Nipponica

The continuing development of Tokyo's railway infrastructure is fueling further growth of the capital's sprawling metropolitan area, solidifying its status as the world's largest with 37 million people -- about a third of Japan's total population.

The railway network growth has facilitated Tokyo's outward spread, attracting more people from rural regions to urban centers. The ongoing development includes investments in railways and redevelopment projects, with the future completion of the super fast Linear Chuo Shinkansen maglev line promising even faster commuting options, such as from Nagoya in central Japan to Tokyo.

Since the 2000s, redevelopment has led to a resurgence of migration to central Tokyo. The Greater Tokyo area, encompassing Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama, continues to expand both outward and inward.

Love the shoutout to Tsukuba and the Tsukuba Express commute as the example of urban growth in the Greater Tokyo region. TX forever!

The municipal government said Thursday that it was no longer able to secure a spectators' gallery for the fireworks because a related "open base" event at the Yokosuka base was called off amid the government shutdown.

The U.S. Navy base has been one of the venues for members of the public to see the annual fireworks display for years. The city was expecting that half of the roughly 190,000 spectators it had hoped to attract this year would view the event from the base.

The one kind of boom that will be cut by this government.