Kyōto
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Where is Kyōto located in Japan?
Kyōto is a city located on the island of Honshu in west-central Japan, approximately 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Ōsaka. It lies in the Kyōto urban prefecture, which is part of the Kinki region. The city is situated in a saucer of hills that opens to the southwest toward Ōsaka.
Kyōto was designed in 794 on the model of Chang’an (modern Xi’an), the capital of China’s Tang dynasty. The city has a grid street pattern within a rectangular enclosure.
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Why is Kyōto an important city in Japanese history?
Kyōto is historically significant as the national capital of Japan from 794 to 1868. During this millennium, it became the heart of Japanese culture.
Key points:
* Political center From 794, when the government was moved to Kyōto, to 1867, when the last Tokugawa shogun returned his mandate to rule the nation to the Imperial court, Kyōto was the national capital.
* Cultural preservation Kyōto is known as the preserver of the Japanese spirit, housing varied cultural institutions such as tea ceremonies, flower arranging, Noh, Kabuki, and traditional dance schools.
* Historical treasures The city is home to numerous national treasures and important cultural objects, including temples and shrines. U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson removed Kyōto from the list of targets for aerial bombing during World War II, helping to preserve its cultural treasures.2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are some famous landmarks or temples in Kyōto?
Kyōto, a city steeped in history and tradition, boasts numerous famous landmarks and temples. Kinkaku-ji, also known as the Golden Pavilion, is a Zen Buddhist temple renowned for its stunning gold-leaf-covered structure. Kiyomizu-dera Temple, built on stilts on the side of the eastern hills, offers breathtaking views. Other major Buddhist institutions include East Hongan Temple and West Hongan Temple. The Fushimi Inari Shrine, with its thousands of vermilion torii gates, is another popular destination. These landmarks reflect Kyōto's rich cultural heritage, attracting visitors from around the world.
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How was Kyōto involved in Japanese culture and traditions?
Kyōto, the capital of Japan for over a millennium (794-1868), is the heart of Japanese culture and Buddhism. It is home to varied cultural institutions, such as tea ceremonies and flower arranging, as well as dramatic arts like Noh and Kabuki.
Serving as the nation's capital and the residence of the imperial family, Kyōto became the preserver of the Japanese spirit. The city is filled with designated national treasures and important cultural objects, crafted by skilled artisans recognized as "living national treasures".
Major festivals like Aoi, Gion, and Jidai are national events, with the Jidai Festival showcasing Japan's history through period costumes. The deep connection Japanese people feel toward their culture is shown in their special relationship with Kyōto, where almost a third of the country's population visits annually.
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What role did Kyōto play as Japan's capital for over a thousand years?
Kyōto served as Japan's capital from 794 to 1868. Emperor Kammu designated Kyōto as the new capital and modeled it after Chang'an, the capital of China's Tang dynasty.
During its time as the nation’s capital and the residence of the imperial family, Kyōto became the preserver of the Japanese spirit, which is shown in its unique cultural institutions.
In 1867, at the Nijō-jo, the last Tokugawa shogun gave the mandate to rule the nation back to the Imperial court, which marked the first time in more than 200 years that a ruling Tokugawa had set foot in Kyōto. Shortly after the proclamation of the Meiji Restoration, the capital moved to Tokyo.
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How is Kyōto preserved today, and why do people visit it from around the world?
Kyōto has preserved its cultural heritage over the centuries through varied cultural institutions, traditional arts and crafts, and historical sites. The city is home to numerous national treasures and important cultural objects housed in its temples, shrines, and museums such as the Kyōto National Museum. Stringent building codes limit the height of buildings in order to preserve the overall look of the historic city.
Kyōto attracts visitors worldwide due to its cultural significance and historical importance as the nation’s capital for over a millennium. People visit the city to experience its unique cultural institutions, theatrical arts, and major festivals.
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News •
Kyōto, city, seat of Kyōto fu (urban prefecture), west-central Honshu island, Japan. It is located some 30 miles (50 km) northeast of the industrial city of Ōsaka and about the same distance from Nara, another ancient centre of Japanese culture. Gently sloping downward from north to south, the city averages 180 feet (55 metres) above sea level. Kyōto fu is at the centre of Kinki chihō (region). The city is one of the centres (with nearby Ōsaka and Kōbe) of the Keihanshin Industrial Zone, the second largest urban and industrial agglomeration in Japan.
The capital of Japan for more than 1,000 years (from 794 to 1868), Kyōto (literally, “Capital City”) has been called a variety of names through the centuries—Heian-kyō (“Capital of Peace and Tranquillity”), Miyako (“The Capital”), and Saikyō (“Western Capital”), its name after the Meiji Restoration (1868) when the imperial household moved to Tokyo. The contemporary phrase sekai no Kyōto (“the world’s Kyōto”) reflects the reception of Japanese culture abroad and Kyōto’s own attempt to keep up with the times. Nevertheless, Kyōto is the centre of traditional Japanese culture and of Buddhism, as well as of fine textiles and other Japanese products. The deep feeling of the Japanese people for their culture and heritage is represented in their special relationship with Kyōto—all Japanese try to go there at least once in their lives, with almost a third of the country’s population visiting the city annually. Several of the historic temples and gardens of Kyōto were collectively added as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994. Area 320 square miles (828 square km). Pop. (2020) 1,463,723.
Physical and human geography
The landscape
The city site
Designated the site of a new capital by the emperor Kammu, Kyōto was laid out in 794 on the model of Chang’an (modern Xi’an), the capital of China’s Tang dynasty. The plan called for a rectangular enclosure with a grid street pattern, 3.2 miles (5.1 km) north to south and 2.8 miles (4.5 km) east to west. The Imperial Palace, surrounded by government buildings, was in the city’s north-central section. Following Chinese precedent, care was taken when the site was selected to protect the northern corners, from which, it was believed, evil spirits could gain access. Thus, Hiei-zan (Mount Hiei; 2,782 feet [848 metres]) to the northeast and Atago-yama (Mount Atago; 3,031 feet [924 metres]) to the northwest were considered natural guardians. Hiei-zan especially came to figure prominently between the 11th and 16th centuries, when warrior-monks from its Tendai Buddhist monastery complex frequently raided the city and influenced politics. The Kamo and Katsura rivers—before joining the Yodo-gawa (Yodo River) to the south—were, respectively, the original eastern and western boundaries. But the attraction of the eastern hills kept the city from filling out to its original western border until after World War II. Kyōto is actually cradled in a saucer of hills on three sides that opens to the southwest toward Ōsaka.
Climate
Kyōto is most beautiful in spring and fall. The rainy season (June–July) lasts three to four weeks; summers are hot and humid. Winter brings two or three light snows and a penetrating “chilling from below” (sokobie). The yearly mean temperature of Kyōto is about 59 °F (15 °C); the highest monthly mean, 80 °F (27 °C), is in August, and the lowest, 38 °F (3 °C), is in January. The average yearly rainfall is about 62 inches (1,574 millimetres).
The city layout
The original grid pattern of the streets has been retained. Numbered avenues run east and west, Shijō-dōri (“Fourth Street”) being the busiest. Karasuma-dōri, running north from the Japanese National Railways station, divides the city roughly into halves. Under it is one of the two lines of the municipal subway. The other, newer line, completed in 1997, runs from the JR Nijō station in the west across the city to the east and then to Daigo, southeast of the city. Kyōto was the first city in Japan to have electric streetcars (starting in 1895), which eventually made it necessary to widen the major thoroughfares to allow for citywide service.
The historic area of Kyōto has few large factories or businesses, a fact reflected in the look of the inner city—shops and workshops, residences, and offices all standing side by side. Stringent building codes limit the height of buildings in order to preserve the overall look of the historic city. Characteristic of the architecture are tiled roofs and wood weathered to dark brown, but telephone poles (now made of concrete) and a forest of television antennas protrude at every turn. A typical Kyōto house presents a narrow and low front to the street, but as it recedes it gains in height and embellishment—all this a reflection of its past history and character: wariness of the marauding monk, the zealous revenue collector, or the curious neighbour. Rarely does one enter a home beyond the front vestibule; if one is invited in, it is good form to demur.
Because of earthquakes and conflagrations, the attacks of monks from Mount Hiei, and the Ōnin War (1467–77), which utterly destroyed the city, little of Kyōto’s historical architecture predates the 17th century. Replacements and renovations, of course, followed previous plans, but the single shining example of Heian-period architecture remaining is the soaring Hōō-dō (“Phoenix Hall”) of the Byōdō-in (Byōdō Temple), located a few miles southeast of the city on the banks of Uji River (Uji-gawa).
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Buddhist temples and Shintō shrines abound. Their grounds and those of the Kyōto Imperial Palace (Kyōto Gosho) and Nijō Castle (Nijō-jo) give Kyōto more green areas than most Japanese cities. Kyōto claims some 1,660 Buddhist temples, more than 400 Shintō shrines, and even some 90 Christian churches. Major Buddhist institutions include East Hongan Temple (Higashi Hongan-ji) and West Hongan Temple (Nishi Hongan-ji), the former with the world’s largest wooden roof of its kind and the latter containing some of the best examples of architectural and artistic expression of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1574–1600); Ryōan Temple (Ryōan-ji), with its famous rock-and-sand garden; Tenryū Temple (Tenryū-ji), in the Arashiyama district to the west; Kiyomizu Temple (Kiyomizu-dera), built on stilts on the side of the eastern hills; and Kinkaku Temple (Kinkaku-ji), the Golden Pavilion, burned down by a deranged student in 1950 but rebuilt exactly, and Ginkaku Temple (Ginkaku-ji), the Silver Pavilion, both of which were products of the Ashikaga shoguns’ attraction to Zen. The great Shintō shrines are Kitano, Yasaka, and Heian, the last built in 1894 to commemorate the 1,100th anniversary of Kyōto’s founding.
The buildings of the Kyōto Imperial Palace, originally located farther west, date from 1855 and are re-creations, in the same monumental Japanese style, of earlier structures that were destroyed by fire. Nijō-jo, built by the Tokugawa shogunate, is a “token” castle, but it contains many cultural treasures; it is known for its “chirping floors” (to signal the approach of an intruder) and elaborate wall paintings of the Kanō school. The two foremost examples of traditional Japanese landscape architecture are the Katsura Imperial Villa (Katsura Rikyū) in the southwest corner of the city and the Shūgakuin Rikyū set in the northeast hills. Katsura underwent a complete renovation using perfectly matched modern materials; its buildings are models of Japanese architectural aesthetic expression. Shūgakuin contains three gardens, the third with an artificial lake. From there one can view the entire expanse of the city stretching out to the south.