Tōbe (東戸 Tōbe, litt. « The East Gate »), officially the City of Tōbe, is the capital city of Sector Earth. Land of all possibilities, bathed in an infinite sea of technologies and wealth, the City of Tōbe is the historical capital of the Empire. With its limited area, the monstruous population of 500 million citizens live in tall skycrapers and underground facilities. Tōbe is a pole of national and world influence, just like Shinkyō and Urita. Before its creation, Tōbe was known as the Union of Tōkyō-Kōbe, a gathering of former Chūbū, Kantō, and Kansai regions. The City of Tōbe was created on January, 27th 2078 by the Government of Werreales to strengthen the power of Sector Earth in the country, and to compete with major areas such as Liberty City or New York. Since April 2078, the General Governor of Tobe is KOIKE Masatoshi [高国党].
Tōbe is an orderly metropolis that is well integrated with globalization. With a permanent population of over 500 million people, it is the third largest city of the Empire, and the third most populous area in the world. Tōbe’s economy is dynamic, diverse and heavily industrialized; it is powered by an automated industrial force that produces each year 10% of New World Union’s products. Its Gross Metropolitan Product is the second highest in the universe; it is three times bigger than New York’s, and two times bigger than Liberty’s. Information technology and research produce high added value products, such as artificial intelligence, business software, electronics, health equipment, finances and automated tourism. Tōbe hosts Sector Earth’s branch of the Galactic Stock Exchange Framework (GSEF). The city is home to a major cultural, urban, economic and scientific revolution called the Supervirtual Revolution (超空想革命 in Japanese). This movment is powered by a burgeoning high technology sector, cutting-edge infrastructure and voluntarist policies. Tōbe is accessible through its network of international airports, each district having its own international airport. The city also has highways, hyperways, ports, spaceports, quantuum tunnels, hyperloops and space elevators to different parts of the Federation.
Etymology
Tōbe was originally known as Tōkyō-Kōbe. By a decision of the former local government taken on April 2078 the 14th, the city changed its name to Tōbe (東戸), meaning East Gate Metropolis. This name was created by General Governor KOIKE Masahito from the first kanji of Tōkyō and the last kanji of Kōbe.
Local Government
The City of Tōbe is governed by the Local Government of Tobe. It is a collegiate institution composed of the General Governor and Area Governors, assigned to different districts. The Local Government exercises authority over twenty-three districts.