Kyoto

Kyoto ( or ; Japanese: 京都, Kyōto [kʲoꜜː.to] ), officially Kyoto City (京都市, Kyōto-shi; [kʲoː.toꜜ.ɕi] ), is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. As of 2020, the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth-most populous city in Japan. More than half (56.8%) of Kyoto Prefecture's population resides in the city. The city is the cultural anchor of the substantially larger Greater Kyoto, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.8 million people. It is also part of the even larger Keihanshin metropolitan area, along with Osaka and Kobe.

Kyoto is one of the oldest municipalities in Japan, having been chosen in 794 as the new seat of Japan's imperial court by Emperor Kanmu. The original city, named Heian-kyō, was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang. The emperors of Japan ruled from Kyoto in the following eleven centuries until 1869. It was the scene of several key events of the Muromachi period, Sengoku period, and the Boshin War, such as the Ōnin War, the Honnō-ji Incident, the Kinmon incident, and the Battle of Toba–Fushimi. The capital was relocated from Kyoto to Tokyo after the Meiji Restoration. The modern municipality of Kyoto was established in 1889. The city was spared from large-scale destruction during World War II and, as a result, its prewar cultural heritage has mostly been preserved.

Kyoto is considered the cultural capital of Japan and is a major tourist destination. The Agency for Cultural Affairs of the national government is headquartered in the city. It is home to numerous Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, palaces and gardens, some of which have been designated collectively as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Prominent landmarks include the Kyoto Imperial Palace, Kiyomizu-dera, Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji, and Kyoto Tower. The internationally renowned video game company Nintendo is based in Kyoto. Kyoto is also a center of higher learning in the country, and its institutions include Kyoto University, the second-oldest university in Japan.

Etymology

In Japanese, Kyoto was previously called Kyō (京), Miyako (都), Kyō no Miyako (京の都), and Keishi (京師). After becoming the capital of Japan at the start of the Heian period (794–1185), the city was often referred to as Heian-kyō (平安京, "Heian capital"), and late in the Heian period the city came to be widely referred to simply as "Kyōto" (京都, "capital city"). After the seat of the emperor was moved to the city of Edo and that city was renamed "Tōkyō" (東京, meaning "eastern capital"), Kyoto was briefly known as "Saikyō" (西京, meaning "western capital"). As the capital of Japan from 794 to 1868, Kyoto is sometimes called the thousand-year capital (千年の都).

Historically, foreign spellings for the city's name have included Kioto and Miaco or Meaco.

History

Origins

Ample archeological evidence suggests human settlement in the area of Kyoto began as early as the Paleolithic period, although not much published material is retained about human activity in the region before the 6th century, around which time the Shimogamo Shrine is believed to have been established. Before Kyoto became the imperial capital, immigrants from mainland Asia contributed to the development of the area.

During the 8th century, when powerful Buddhist clergy became involved in the affairs of the imperial government, Emperor Kanmu chose to relocate the capital in order to distance it from the clerical establishment in Nara. His last choice for the site was the village of Uda, in the Kadono district of Yamashiro Province.

The new city, Heian-kyō (平安京; "tranquility and peace capital"), modeled after Chinese Tang dynasty capital Chang'an, became the seat of Japan's imperial court in 794, beginning the Heian period of Japanese history. Although military rulers established their governments either in Kyoto (Muromachi shogunate) or in other cities such as Kamakura (Kamakura shogunate) and Edo (Tokugawa shogunate), Kyoto remained Japan's capital until the transfer of the imperial court to Tokyo in 1869 at the time of the Imperial Restoration.

Feudal period

In the Sengoku period, the city suffered extensive destruction in the Ōnin War of 1467–1477, and did not really recover until the mid-16th century. During the war, battles between samurai factions spilled into the streets, and came to involve court nobility (kuge) and religious factions as well. Nobles' mansions were transformed into fortresses, deep trenches dug throughout the city for defense and as firebreaks, and numerous buildings burned. The city has not seen such widespread destruction since.

In the late 16th century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi reconstructed the city by building new streets to double the number of north–south streets in central Kyoto, creating rectangle blocks superseding ancient square blocks. Toyotomi also built earthwork walls called odoi (御土居) encircling the city. Teramachi Street in central Kyoto is a Buddhist temple quarter where Toyotomi gathered temples in the city.

Early modern period

In 1603, the Tokugawa Shogunate was established at Edo (present-day Tokyo), marking the beginning of the Edo period. Nevertheless, Kyoto flourished as one of three major cities in Japan, the others being Osaka and Edo. At the end of the period, the Hamaguri rebellion of 1864 burned down 28,000 houses in the city, which showed the rebels' dissatisfaction towards the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Modern period

At the start of the Meiji period, the emperor's move from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1869 threatened Kyoto's economic and administrative standing, prompting the city government and local interests to undertake a coordinated plan to strengthen its industrial base and modernize.

Key industrial developments

• Lake Biwa Canal: Construction of the Lake Biwa Canal began in 1885 and was completed on 9 April 1890. The 20 km waterway linked Lake Biwa to Kyoto, supplying drinking water, irrigation, and, from 1895, hydroelectric power for factories and street lighting. It also enabled Japan's first electric tram line in Kyoto.
• Rail, Road and Feeder Canals: Branch rail lines connected Kyoto to the Tōkaidō Main Line, while expanded roadways and secondary canals improved the flow of goods and raw materials. In 1895, Kyoto introduced the country's first commercial electric railway, powered by Lake Biwa Canal hydroelectricity.
• Municipal Annexations: To secure land for factories, worker housing and public amenities, Kyoto expanded its boundaries in two stages. In 1918 and again in 1931, the city absorbed the neighboring towns of Fushimi, Kii, Kadono and Otagi, extending its jurisdiction beyond the medieval inner wards (rakuchū) into the outer suburbs (rakugai)

Adoption of western architectural style

Public buildings from the late Meiji era incorporated European and American design elements as symbols of modernity:

• Ryukoku University Main Hall: A brick-and-timber structure was closely influenced by British collegiate architecture and completed in 1879.
• Kyoto National Museum: It was completed in 1895 and was built in a French Second Empire style. At the time, this sparked criticism from local observers who saw the design as culturally discordant, particularly given Kyoto's historical role as the imperial capital.

The modern city of Kyoto was officially formed on April 1, 1889, and by 1932, the population of the city exceeded one million.