Tokyo Bay

Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo

Tokyo Bay, Japanese Tōkyō-wan, inlet of the Pacific Ocean on the east-central coast of east-central Honshu, Japan. The bay lies at the heart of the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area, with the major cities of Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Yokohama situated along its northwestern and western shore. The city of Yokosuka lies along the bay’s southwestern end, while Chiba lies along its northeastern shore. The bay is almost enclosed at its southern opening by the Miura (west) and Bōsō (east) peninsulas. The bay is linked with the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel, which lies between these two peninsulas. Much land has been reclaimed along the bay’s shoreline, and most of this is now used for industrial sites and port facilities that are part of the Keihin Industrial Zone. The bay averages only about 40 feet (12 metres) in depth. In 1986 construction began on the Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway (or Tokyo Bay Aqualine). Opened in 1997, the highway crosses the bay from Kawasaki on its western shore to Kisarazu on its eastern shore. The route includes a 5.9-mile (9.5 -km) undersea tunnel and a 2.7-mile (4.4-km) bridge, in addition to an artificial island built in the bay.