In 1868, the city of
Edo, seat of the
Tokugawa government, was renamed Tokyo, and the offices of
Tokyo Prefecture (
-fu) were opened. In 1888, the central government created the legal framework for the current system of
cities (
shi) that granted some basic local autonomy rights – with some similarities to
Prussia's system of local self-government as Meiji government advisor
Albert Mosse heavily influenced the organization of local government. But under a special imperial regulation, Tokyo City, like Kyoto City and Osaka City, initially did not maintain a separate mayor; instead, the (appointed) governor of Tokyo Prefecture served as mayor of Tokyo City. The Tokyo
city council/assembly (
Tōkyō-shikai) was first elected in May 1889. Tokyo became the second-largest city in the world (population 4.9 million) upon absorbing several outlying districts in July 1932, giving the city a total of 35 wards. In 1943, the city was abolished along with Tokyo Prefecture to form Tokyo Metropolis and
Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which was functionally a part of the central government of Japan: the governor of Tokyo became a
Cabinet minister reporting directly to the
Prime Minister. This system remained in place until 1947 when the current structure of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government was formed. ==Wards==