Tokyo Fire Department

For a broader overview of fire services in Japan, see Firefighting in Japan.

Tokyo Fire Department

東京消防庁
The Tokyo Fire Mark, a unique mark used instead of the Firefighter's Emblem of Japan used in most municipal departments, and as the department's logo.
The flag of the TFD, consisting of the Tokyo Fire Mark defaced onto an Edo Purple base.
Operational area
Country	Japan
Prefecture	Tokyo Metropolis
Municipalities	All except Inagi City and the Tokyo Islands.
Address	1-3-5, Ōtemachi, Chiyoda-ku
Coordinates	35°41′19.8″N 139°45′41.6″E
Agency overview
Established	March 7, 1948 (1948-03-07)
Annual calls	1,095,531 (2024)
Employees	18,839 (2025)
Annual budget	¥266,217,155,000 (2023)
Staffing	Career
Fire chief	Hirozō Ichikawa (2025)
Facilities and equipmentㅤ(2024)
Districts	10
Stations	81 (+3 sub-stations)
Branch Stations	208
Fire Engines	673
Ladder Vehicles	91
Chemical Fire Engines	48
Ambulances	393
Rescue Vehicles	50
Command Vehicles	115
Watercraft	9
Aircraft	7
Website
https://www.tfd.metro.tokyo.lg.jp

The Tokyo Fire Department (Japanese: 東京消防庁, Hepburn: Tōkyō Shōbōchō) is the fire department of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Formed in 1948 during the post-war reorganisation of Japan's government, the TFD is today the largest fire department in Japan by number of firefighters, operating out of their headquarters in the Ōtemachi District of Chiyoda Ward and their 292 fire stations, sub-stations, and branch stations spread across the prefecture. The TFD is often cited as the largest fire department in the world by number of staff, outnumbering comparable departments such as the New York City Fire Department or the Paris Fire Brigade.

In the 2024 financial year, the TFD received 1,095,531 emergency 119 calls, and responded to 4,330 fires (a 9.5% increase on the previous year; 70% of these were building fires), 918,311 calls for emergency medical services, 28,155 technical rescue operations, and 6,418 other calls for assistance, including 2,162 hazardous materials incidents, 1,163 calls to assist police, and 584 animal rescue callouts. The year also saw the TFD process 43,033 building fire safety plan applications and 3,842 submissions related to hazardous materials licensing, as well as delivering 36,360 fire safety inspections and hosting 10,397 fire safety events with over 1 million participants.

Firefighting in Tokyo presents several unique challenges; demand for emergency medical services has been rising rapidly across the metropolis as a result of Japan's aging population, necessitating an increased focus on ambulance provision and the introduction of diversion services, such as consultation hotlines, to ease pressures on emergency medical systems. Climate change has also increased the work of the TFD, as hotter summers have led to an increase in medical emergencies, and more frequent severe weather events increase the demand for rescue work, both within Tokyo and across Japan (where the TFD is often dispatched to support smaller municipal fire departments due to its increased size and capabilities). Finally, the expected threat of a Nankai megathrust earthquake in the near-future necessitates intensive disaster preparedness work and the maintenance of surplus resources and staff to meet the anticipated damage of such an event.