Kōtō occupies a position on the waterfront of Tokyo Bay sandwiched between the wards of Chūō and Edogawa.

It suffered severe damage in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, and was heavily bombed during World War II.

Companies with headquarters in Koto include Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores,[3] Ibex Airlines,[4] Fujikura,[5] and Maruha Nichiro.

There are branch offices located in Shirakawa, Tomioka, Toyosu, Komatsubashi, Kameido, Ojima, Sunamachi and Minamisuna.

[11] Public high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education.