都庁

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The spelling is 都庁, read とちょう, and it combines 都, referring to Tokyo Metropolis, with 庁, meaning government office.
• Basic usage: 都庁 refers to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as an administrative body or to the building that houses it.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• An administrative institution and a building destination
  • Both examples use the form 都庁. It can be the institution with a counter receiving documents or the physical government building reached from a station.
• Submitting documents and checking a route from the station
  • 都庁の窓口へ書類を提出した。 — I submitted the documents at a counter in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building.
  • 地図で駅から都庁までの道を確認した。 — I checked the route from the station to the government building on a map.