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I wonder if the fact that it was not the historical capital of Japan has something to do with it. European and American cities (like London/Paris/NY) started from a center and moved outward by outside pressure for growth. Tokyo seems like a bunch of mini-cities around the bay; and then suddenly it became a capital city.

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It did start with a center. What is currently the imperial palace was originally Edo castle that Tokugawa built when he decided to move the capital there. But it was a castle city like any other once it was built.

But as people moved there and the daimyō’s money flowed in, it began growing outwards engulfing the surrounding towns and villages. The exact type of growth you ascribe to London and Paris.

And, while I'm less familiar with the historical growth of London and Paris, cities like New York and Boston definitely merged together previously separate communities. (And, in the case of Boston, at least two depending upon how you count are still separate cities but part of a single metropolis.)

I don’t think you’re very familiar with how NY was formed.

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