Kyoto

Ample archaeological evidence suggests human settlement in the area of Kyoto began as early as the Paleolithic period,[8] 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.

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.[9]

The new city, Heian-kyō (平安京, "tranquility and peace capital"), a scaled replica of the then Chinese Tang dynasty capital Chang'an,[10] 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.

The city suffered extensive destruction in the Ōnin War of 1467–1477, and did not really recover until the mid-16th century. During the Ōnin War, the shugo collapsed, and power was divided among the military families.[11] Battles between samurai factions spilled into the streets, and came to involve the 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. Hideyoshi also built earthwork walls called odoi (御土居) encircling the city. Teramachi Street in central Kyoto is a Buddhist temple quarter where Hideyoshi gathered temples in the city. Throughout the Edo period, the economy of the city flourished as one of three major cities in Japan, the others being Osaka and Edo.

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  Map of Heian-kyō, 1696
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  Daidairi (palace in the center) and the cityscape of Heian-kyō
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  Perspective Pictures of Places in Japan: Sanjūsangen-dō in Kyoto
  Toyoharu, c. 1772–1781

The Hamaguri rebellion of 1864 burnt down 28,000 houses in the city which showed the rebels' dissatisfaction towards the Tokugawa Shogunate.[12] The subsequent move of the Emperor to Tokyo in 1869 weakened the economy. The modern city of Kyoto was formed on April 1, 1889. The construction of Lake Biwa Canal in 1890 was one measure taken to revive the city. The population of the city exceeded one million in 1932.[13]

There was some consideration by the United States of targeting Kyoto with an atomic bomb at the end of World War II because, as an intellectual center of Japan, it had a population large enough to possibly persuade the emperor to surrender.[14] In the end, at the insistence of Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, the city was removed from the list of targets and replaced by Nagasaki. The city was largely spared from conventional bombing as well, although small-scale air raids did result in casualties.

As a result, the Imperial City (Emeritus) of Kyoto is one of the few Japanese cities that still have an abundance of prewar buildings, such as the traditional townhouses known as machiya. However, modernization is continually breaking down the traditional Kyoto in favor of newer architecture, such as the Kyōto Station complex.

Kyoto became a city designated by government ordinance on September 1, 1956. In 1997, Kyoto hosted the conference that resulted in the protocol on greenhouse gas emissions.

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  View of Kyoto from beside the Hondō of Kiyomizudera. – 1879[15]
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  Nanzenji aqueduct
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  Downtown Kyoto
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  Kyōto Station
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  Kyoto skyline

• 2008 Kyoto mayoral election
• 2012 Kyoto mayoral election
• 2016 Kyoto mayoral election (ja:2016年京都市長選挙)

Kyoto has eleven wards (区, ku). Together, they make up the city of Kyoto. Like other cities in Japan, Kyoto has a single mayor and a city council.

Wards of Kyoto
	Place Name					Map of Kyoto
	Rōmaji	Kanji	Population	Land area in km2	Pop. density per km2
1	Fushimi-ku	伏見区	280,655	61.66	4,600	A map of Kyoto's Wards
2	Higashiyama-ku	東山区	39,044	7.48	5,200
3	Kamigyō-ku	上京区	85,113	7.03	12,000
4	Kita-ku	北区	119,474	94.88	1,300
5	Minami-ku	南区	99,927	15.81	6,300
6	Nakagyō-ku - (administrative center)	中京区	110,430	7.41	15,000
7	Nishikyō-ku	西京区	150,962	59.24	2,500
8	Sakyo-ku	左京区	168,266	246.77	680
9	Shimogyō-ku	下京区	82,668	6.78	12,000
10	Ukyō-ku	右京区	204,262	292.07	700
11	Yamashina-ku	山科区	135,471	28.7	4,700

Kansai Airport express Haruka at Kyoto Station

Although Kyoto does not have its own large commercial airport, travelers can get to the city via nearby Itami Airport, Kobe Airport or Kansai International Airport. The Haruka Express operated by JR West carries passengers from Kansai Airport to Kyoto Station in 73 minutes.[40]

Osaka Airport Transport buses connect Itami Airport and Kyoto Station Hachijo Gate in 50 minutes and cost 1,310 yen (as of 2017) for a one-way trip.[41] Some buses go further, make stops at major hotels and terminals in the downtown area.

Other airports located further from the city is Nagoya Airfield located 135.5 KM away from the city.

A typical Kyoto Municipal Bus

Kyoto's municipal bus network is extensive. Private carriers also operate within the city. Many tourists join commuters on the public buses, or take tour buses. Kyoto's buses have announcements in English and electronic signs with stops written in the Latin alphabet.

Most city buses have a fixed fare. A one-day bus pass and a combined unlimited train and bus pass are also available. These are especially useful for visiting many different points of interest within Kyoto. The bus information center just outside the central station handles tickets and passes. The municipal transport company publishes a very useful leaflet called "Bus Navi." It contains a route map for the bus lines to most sights and fare information. This too is available at the information center in front of the main station.

Buses operating on routes within the city, the region, and the nation stop at Kyoto Station. In addition to Kyoto Station, bus transfer is available at the intersections of Shijō Kawaramachi and Sanjō Keihan. The intersection of Karasuma Kitaōji to the north of downtown has a major bus terminal serving passengers who take the Karasuma Line running beneath Karasuma Street, Kyoto's main north–south street.

Cycling is a very important form of personal transportation in the city. The geography and scale of the city are such that the city may be easily navigated on a bicycle. There are five bicycle rental stations and 21 EcoStations in central Kyoto. Because of the large number of cyclists, permitted bicycle parking areas can be difficult to find.[42] Bicycles parked in non-permitted areas are impounded.

Within Kyoto's ancient lanes, one-way system is prevalent and necessary for preservation of its character. The city is connected with other parts of Japan by the Meishin Expressway, which has two interchanges in the city: Kyoto Higashi (Kyoto East) in Yamashina-ku and Kyoto Minami (Kyoto South) in Fushimi-ku. The Kyoto-Jukan Expressway connects the city to northern regions of Kyoto Prefecture. The Daini Keihan Road is a new bypass (completed in 2010) to Osaka.

Although Greater Kyoto has fewer toll-highways than other comparable Japanese cities, it is served with elevated dual and even triple-carriageway national roads. As of 2018, only 10.1 kilometres (6.3 miles) of the Hanshin Expressway Kyoto Route is in operation.[43]

There are nine national highways in the city of Kyoto: Route 1, Route 8, Route 9, Route 24, Route 162, Route 171, Route 367, Route 477 and Route 478.

Inside Kyōto Station

Just like other major cities in Japan, Kyoto is well served by rail transportation systems operated by several different companies and organizations. The city's main gateway terminal, Kyōto Station, which is one of the most popular stations in the country, connects The Tōkaidō Shinkansen bullet train Line (see below) with five JR West lines, a Kintetsu line and a municipal subway line.

The Keihan, the Hankyu, and other rail networks also offer frequent services within the city and to other cities and suburbs in the Kinki region.

There is a Railway Heritage site in Kyoto, where visitors can experience the range of Japanese railways in the JR Museum (formerly Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum, situated about the roundhouse.

The Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau operates the Kyoto Municipal Subway consisting of two lines: the Karasuma Line and the Tōzai Line.

An express service bound for Kokusaikaikan Station of the Karasuma Line is running on Kintetsu Kyoto Line

The Karasuma Line is coloured green, and its stations are given numbers following the letter "K".

The line has following stations, from north to south: Kokusaikaikan (terminal) and Matsugasaki in Sakyō-ku; Kitayama and Kitaōji in Kita-ku; Kuramaguchi and Imadegawa in Kamigyō-ku; Marutamachi and Karasuma Oike in Nakagyō-ku; Shijō, Gojō and Kyōto in Shimogyō-ku; Kujō and Jūjō in Minami-ku; and Kuinabashi and Takeda (terminal) in Fushimi-ku.

Between Kitaōji and Jūjō, trains run beneath the north-south Karasuma Street (烏丸通, Karasuma-dori), hence the name. They link to the other subway line, the Tōzai Line, at Karasuma Oike. They also connect to the JR lines at Kyoto Station and the Hankyu Kyoto Line running cross-town beneath Shijō Street at the intersection of Shijō Karasuma, Kyoto's central business district. At Shijō Karasuma, the subway station is named Shijō, whereas Hankyu's station is called Karasuma.

The Transportation Bureau and Kintetsu jointly operate through services, which continue to the Kintetsu Kyoto Line to Kintetsu Nara Station in Nara. The Karasuma Line and the Kintetsu Kyoto Line connect at Kyoto and Takeda. All the stations are located in the city proper.

Platform screen doors at Higashiyama Station of the Tōzai Line

The Tōzai Line is coloured vermilion, and its stations are given numbers following the letter "T". This line runs from the southeastern area of the city, then east to west (i.e. tōzai in Japanese) through the Kyoto downtown area where trains run beneath the three east-west streets: Sanjō Street (三条通, Sanjō-dori), Oike Street (御池通, Oike-dori) and Oshikōji Street (押小路通, Oshikōji-dori).

The line has following stations, from east to west: Rokujizō (terminal) in Uji; Ishida and Daigo in Fushimi-ku; Ono, Nagitsuji, Higashino, Yamashina and Misasagi in Yamashina-ku; Keage, Higashiyama and Sanjō Keihan in Higashiyama-ku; Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae, Karasuma Oike, Nijōjō-mae, Nijō and Nishiōji Oike in Nakagyō-ku; and Uzumasa Tenjingawa (terminal) in Ukyō-ku.

The Keihan Keishin Line has been integrated into this line, and thus Keihan provides through services from Hamaōtsu in the neighbouring city of Ōtsu, the capital of Shiga Prefecture.

The Tōzai Line connects to the Keihan lines at Rokujizō, Yamashina, Misasagi and Sanjō Keihan, to the JR lines at Nijō, Yamashina and Rokujizō, and to the Keifuku Electric Railroad at Uzumasa Tenjingawa. All the stations except Rokujizō are located in Kyoto.

Shinkansen at Kyoto Station

The Tōkaidō Shinkansen operated by JR Central provides high-speed rail service linking Kyoto with Nagoya, Yokohama and Tokyo to the east of Kyoto and with nearby Osaka and points west on the San'yō Shinkansen, such as Kobe, Okayama, Hiroshima, Kitakyushu, and Fukuoka. The trip from Tokyo takes about two hours and eighteen minutes. From Hakata in Fukuoka, Nozomi takes you to Kyoto in just over three hours. All trains including Nozomi stop at Kyoto Station, serving as a gateway to not only Kyoto Prefecture but also northeast Osaka, south Shiga and north Nara.

Japanese trade and haulage traditionally took place by waterways, minimally impacting the environment up until the highway-systems built by Shogunates. There are a number of rivers, canals and other navigable waterways in Kyoto. The Seta and Uji rivers, confluence into the (Yodo River), Kamogawa and Katsura river flow through Kyoto. Lake Biwa Canal was a significant infrastructural development. In present days, however, the waterways are no longer primarily used for passenger or goods transportation, other than limited sightseeing purpose such as Hozugawa Kudari boat on the Hozu River and Jukkoku bune sightseeing tour boat in Fushimi-ku area. Lake Biwa remains a popular place for recreational boating, also the site of a Birdman Rally where contraptions and contrivances are driven from land over the waterway.

About 20% of Japan's National Treasures and 14% of Important Cultural Properties exist in the city proper. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) includes 17 locations in Kyoto, Uji in Kyoto Prefecture, and Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture. The site was designated as World Heritage in 1994.

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  Kamigamo Shrine
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  Shimogamo Shrine
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  Tō-ji
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  Kiyomizu-dera
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  Saihō-ji
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  Tenryū-ji
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  Kinkaku-ji
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  Ryōan-ji
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  Nishi Honganji
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  Nijō Castle
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  Daigo-ji
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  Ginkaku-ji
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  Ninna-ji
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  Kōzan-ji

Kyoto is well known for its traditional festivals which have been held for over 1,000 years and are a major tourist attraction.[45] The first is the Aoi Matsuri on May 15. Two months later (July 1 to 31) is the Gion Matsuri known as one of the 3 great festivals of Japan, culminating in a massive parade on July 17. Kyoto marks the Bon Festival with the Gozan no Okuribi, lighting fires on mountains to guide the spirits home (August 16). The October 22 Jidai Matsuri, Festival of the Ages, celebrates Kyoto's illustrious past.

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  Gion Matsuri
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  Aoi Matsuri
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  Jidai Matsuri
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  Gozan Okuribi

In football, Kyoto is represented by Kyoto Sanga FC who won the Emperor's Cup in 2002, and rose to J. League's Division 1 in 2005. Kyoto Sanga has a long history as an amateur non-company club, although it was only with the advent of professionalization that it was able to compete in the Japanese top division. Sanga Stadium by Kyocera is its home stadium.

Amateur football clubs such as F.C. Kyoto BAMB 1993 and Kyoto Shiko Club (both breakaway factions of the original Kyoto Shiko club that became Kyoto Sanga) as well as unrelated AS Laranja Kyoto and Ococias Kyoto AC compete in the regional Kansai soccer league.

Between 1951 and 1952 the Central League team Shochiku Robins played their franchised games at Kinugasa Ballpark (ja:衣笠球場, Kinugasa Kyujo) in Kita-ku. In 2010, Nishikyogoku Stadium in Ukyo-ku became the home of a newly formed girls professional baseball team, the Kyoto Asto Dreams.

Additionally, Kyoto's high school baseball teams are strong, with Heian and Toba in particular making strong showings recently at the annual tournament held in Koshien Stadium, Nishinomiya, near Osaka.

Kyoto Racecourse in Fushimi-ku is one of ten racecourses operated by the Japan Racing Association. It hosts notable horse races including the Kikuka-shō, Spring Tenno Sho, and Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup.

The city of Kyoto has sister-city relationships with the following cities:[46]

In addition to its sister city arrangements which involve multi-faceted cooperation, Kyoto has created a system of "partner cities" which focus on cooperation based on a particular topic. At present, Kyoto has partner-city arrangements with the following cities:[49]

• Fiévé, Nicolas (ed.) (2008) Atlas historique de Kyôto. Analyse spatiale des systèmes de mémoire d’une ville, de son architecture et de ses paysages urbains. Foreword Kôichirô Matsuura, Preface Jacques Gernet, Paris, Éditions de l’UNESCO / Éditions de l’Amateur, 528 pages, 207 maps et 210 ill. ISBN 978-2-85917-486-6.
• Fiévé, Nicolas and Waley, Paul. (2003). Japanese Capitals in Historical Perspective: Place, Power and Memory in Kyoto, Edo and Tokyo. London: Routledge. 417 pages + 75 ill. ISBN 978-0-7007-1409-4
• Lone, John. (2000). Old Kyoto: A Short Social History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-590940-2.
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B. (1956). Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794–1869. Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society.
• Ropke, Ian Martin. Historical Dictionary of Osaka and Kyoto. 273pp Scarecrow Press (July 22, 1999) ISBN 978-0810836228.
• Stewart, Harold. (1981). By the Old Walls of Kyoto: A Year's Cycle of Landscape Poems with Prose Commentaries. New York: Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0154-X.
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. ...Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)
• Wyden, Peter. (1984). Day One: Before Hiroshima and After. Simon & Schuster, Inc. ISBN 0-671-46142-7.