Kyoto (;

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Located in the

Kansai region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolita ...

on the island of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

and

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

. , the city had a population of 1.46 million. The city is the cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as

Greater Kyoto Greater Kyoto is a metropolitan area in Japan encompassing Kyoto City, the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as its surrounding areas including Ōtsu, the capital of Shiga Prefecture. The metropolitan area is also referred to as Keiji (京滋 ...

, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.8 million people. 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 , or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kanmu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the sco ...

. The original city, named

Heian-kyō Heian-kyō was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180. Emperor Kanmu established it as the capital in 794, mov ...

, was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capital of

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

. 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 The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, and the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

, such as the

Ōnin War The , also known as the Upheaval of Ōnin and Ōnin-Bunmei war, was a civil war that lasted from 1467 to 1477, during the Muromachi period in Japan. ''Ōnin'' refers to the Japanese era during which the war started; the war ended during the Bunmei ...

, the

Honnō-ji Incident The was an attempt to assassinate Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga at the Honnō-ji temple in Kyoto on 21 June 1582, resulting in the suicide by '' seppuku'' of both Nobunaga and his son Oda Nobutada. The unprotected Nobunaga was ambushed by his ...

, the

Kinmon incident The , also known as the , was a rebellion against the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan that took place on August 20 unar calendar: 19th day, 7th month 1864, near the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. History Starting with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1 ...

and the

Battle of Toba–Fushimi The occurred between pro-Imperial and Tokugawa shogunate forces during the Boshin War in Japan. The battle started on 27 January 1868 (or fourth year of Keiō, first month, 3rd day, according to the lunar calendar), when the forces of the shog ...

. The capital was relocated from Kyoto to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. The modern municipality of Kyoto was established in 1889. The city was spared from large-scale destruction during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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. It is home to numerous

Buddhist temples A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represent ...

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

s, palaces and gardens, some of which have been designated collectively as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. Prominent landmarks include the

Kyoto Imperial Palace The is the former palace of the Emperor of Japan. Since the Meiji Restoration in 1869, the Emperors have resided at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, while the preservation of the Kyoto Imperial Palace was ordered in 1877. Today, the grounds are open t ...

Kiyomizu-dera is a Buddhist temple located in eastern Kyoto, Japan. The temple is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) UNESCO World Heritage site. History Kiyomizu-dera was founded in the early Heian period. By 77 ...

Kinkaku-ji , officially named , is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the most popular buildings in Kyoto, attracting many visitors annually.Bornoff, Nicholas (2000). ''The National Geographic Traveler: Japan''. National Geographic Socie ...

Ginkaku-ji __NOTOC__ , officially named , is a Zen temple in the Sakyo ward of Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the constructions that represents the Higashiyama Culture of the Muromachi period. History Ashikaga Yoshimasa initiated plans for creating a retirem ...

, and

Kyoto Tower is an observation tower located in Kyoto, Japan. The steel tower is the tallest structure in Kyoto with its observation deck at 100 metres (328 ft) and its spire at 131 metres (430 ft). The 800-ton tower stands atop a 9-story ...

. The internationally renowned video game company

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

is based in Kyoto. Kyoto is also a center of higher learning in the country, and its institutions include

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

, the second oldest university in Japan.

Name

In Japanese, Kyoto was previously called Kyō (), Miyako (), Kyō no Miyako (), and . In the 11th century, the city was officially named "Kyōto" (, "capital city"), from the

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...

' (cf.

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

''jīngdū''). After the seat of the emperor was moved to the city of Edo and that city was renamed "

Tōkyō Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

" (, meaning "eastern capital"), Kyoto was briefly known as "Saikyō" (, meaning "western capital"). As the capital of Japan from 794 to 1868, Kyoto is sometimes called the thousand-year capital (). Historically, foreign spellings for the city's name have included Kioto and Miaco or Meaco.

History

Origins

Ample

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

evidence suggests human settlement in the area of Kyoto began as early as the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

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 an important Shinto sanctuary in the Shimogamo district of Kyoto city's Sakyō ward. Its formal name is . It is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan and is one of the seventeen Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto which have been designat ...

is believed to have been established. During the 8th century, when powerful

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

clergy became involved in the affairs of the imperial government,

chose to relocate the capital in order to distance it from the clerical establishment in

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

. His last choice for the site was the village of Uda, in the Kadono district of

Yamashiro Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai. It overlaps the southern part of modern Kyoto Prefecture on Honshū. Aliases include , the rare , and . It is classified as an upper province in the ''Engishiki''. Yamashiro Province included Kyoto its ...

.Kyoto Exhibitors' Association (1910) ''Kyoto'' Kyoto Exhibitors' Association of the Japan-British exhibition, Kyoto, p. 3 The new city, , modeled after Chinese

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

capital

,. became the seat of Japan's imperial court in 794, beginning the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

Japanese history The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new invent ...

. Although military rulers established their governments either in Kyoto (

Muromachi shogunate The , also known as the , was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Muromachi-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 669. The Ashikaga shogunate was establis ...

) or in other cities such as

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

(

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Y ...

) and Edo (

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

), Kyoto remained Japan's capital until the transfer of the imperial court to

in 1869 at the time of the Imperial Restoration.

Middle Ages

In the

, the city suffered extensive destruction in the

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 The was a Japanese aristocratic class that dominated the Japanese Imperial Court in Kyoto. The ''kuge'' were important from the establishment of Kyoto as the capital during the Heian period in the late 8th century until the rise of the Kamakur ...

'') 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 , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

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 encircling the city.

Teramachi Street is a historical street in Kyoto, Japan, running north–south from Kuramaguchi Street to Gojō Street, for about 4.6 km. History Present day Teramachi Street corresponds to the Higashi Kyōgoku Ōji of the Heian-kyō. At the time the Street ...

in central Kyoto is a Buddhist temple quarter where Hideyoshi gathered temples in the city. File:Kanō Eitoku - Rakuchū rakugai zu (Uesugi) - right screen.jpg, ''Rakuchū rakugai zu'', a 16th century depiction of central Kyoto including Gion Matsuri floats (center) and

(upper right)

Early modern period

Throughout the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, the economy of the city flourished as one of three major cities in

, the others being

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. File:Scenes_in_and_around_Kyoto_Funaki_1.jpg, Scenes in and around Kyoto (circa 1615) File:1696_Genroku_9_%28early_Edo%29_Japanese_Map_of_Kyoto%2C_Japan_-_Geographicus_-_Kyoto-genroku9-1696.jpg, Map of Heian-kyō, 1696 File:伏見桃山城06.jpg, Fushimi Castle

Modern period

At the start of the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the emperor's move from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1869 weakened the economy of Kyoto. The modern city of Kyoto was formed on April 1, 1889. The construction of

Lake Biwa Canal is a historic waterway in Japan connecting Lake Biwa to the nearby City of Kyoto. Constructed during the Meiji Period the canal was originally designed for the transportation of lake water for drinking, irrigation and industrial purposes, but ...

in 1890 was one measure taken to revive the city. The population of the city exceeded one million in 1932. File:Kyoto View from Kiyomizudera 1870s.jpg, alt=View of Kyoto from beside the Hondō of Kiyomizudera. – 1870s, View of Kyoto from beside the Hondō of Kiyomizudera – 1870s File:Nanzen-ji, Suirokaku (Lake Biwa Canal) -1 (November 2008) - panoramio.jpg, Nanzenji aqueduct

Contemporary history

Kyoto International Conference Center Garden 20190330 03

There was some consideration by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

of targeting Kyoto with an

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

at the end of

because of the possibility that the city's importance was great enough that its loss might persuade Japan to surrender. In the end, at the insistence of

Henry L. Stimson Henry Lewis Stimson (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) was an American statesman, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. Over his long career, he emerged as a leading figure in U.S. foreign policy by serving in both Republican and D ...

, Secretary of War in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, the city was removed from the list of targets and replaced by

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

. The city was largely spared from conventional bombing as well, although small-scale air raids did result in casualties. During the occupation, the

U.S. Sixth Army Sixth Army is a theater army of the United States Army. The Army service component command of United States Southern Command, its area of responsibility includes 31 countries and 15 areas of special sovereignty in Central and South America and ...

and

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

were headquartered in Kyoto. As a result, Kyoto is one of the few Japanese cities that still have an abundance of prewar buildings, such as the traditional townhouses known as ''

machiya are traditional wooden townhouses found throughout Japan and typified in the historical capital of Kyoto. (townhouses) and (farm dwellings) constitute the two categories of Japanese vernacular architecture known as (folk dwellings). orig ...

''. However, modernization is continually breaking down traditional Kyoto in favor of newer architecture, such as the

Kyōto Station is a major railway station and transportation hub in Kyōto, Japan. It has Japan's second-largest station building (after Nagoya Station) and is one of the country's largest buildings, incorporating a shopping mall, hotel, movie theater, Isetan ...

complex. Kyoto became a

city designated by government ordinance A , also known as a or , is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000 and has been designated as such by order of the Cabinet of Japan under Article 252, Section 19, of the Local Autonomy Law. Designated cities are delegate ...

on September 1, 1956. In 1997, Kyoto hosted the conference that resulted in the protocol on greenhouse gas emissions (

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...

Geography

Terrain

Kyoto is located in a valley, part of the Yamashiro (or Kyoto) Basin, in the eastern part of the mountainous region known as the Tamba highlands. The Yamashiro Basin is surrounded on three sides by mountains known as Higashiyama, Kitayama and Nishiyama, with a maximum height of approximately

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. This interior positioning results in hot summers and cold winters. There are three rivers in the basin, the

Uji River The , also called the Seta River (瀬田川 ''Seta-gawa'') and the Uji River (宇治川 ''Uji-gawa'') at portions of its route, is the principal river in Osaka Prefecture on Honshu, Japan. The source of the river is Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefectur ...

to the south, the

Katsura River The is a continuation of two other rivers, the Hozu River, a small, speedy river which begins in the mountains near Kameoka and then slithers through the mountains separating Kameoka and Kyoto; and the Ōi River (大堰川 ''Ōi-gawa''), whi ...

to the west, and the

Kamo River The is located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The riverbanks are popular walking spots for residents and tourists. In summer, restaurants open balconies looking out to the river. There are walkways running alongside the river, and some stepping ...

to the east. Kyoto City takes up 17.9% of the land in Kyoto Prefecture and has a total area of . Kyoto sits atop a large natural water table that provides the city with ample freshwater wells. Due to large-scale urbanization, the amount of rain draining into the table is dwindling and wells across the area are drying at an increasing rate.

Climate

Kyoto has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Cfa''), featuring a marked seasonal variation in temperature and precipitation. Summers are hot and humid, but winters are relatively cold with occasional snowfall. Kyoto's

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * ''T ...

begins around the middle of June and lasts until the end of July, yielding to a hot and sunny latter half of the summer. Kyoto, like most of the Pacific coast and central areas of Japan, is prone to typhoons during the summer and autumn.

Cityscape

Kyoto contains roughly 2,000 temples and shrines.Scott, David (1996). ''Exploring Japan''. Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. . The main business district is located to the south of the

. In the center of the city, there are several covered shopping arcades only open to pedestrian traffic, such as

and

Shinkyōgoku Street Shinkyōgoku Street (新京極通しんきょうごくどおり ''Shinkyōgoku Dōri'') is a shopping street that runs from north to south in the center of the city of Kyoto. The street extends for approximately 500 m from Sanjō Street on its no ...

. The original city was arranged in accordance with traditional

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capital of

. The Imperial Palace faced south, resulting in Ukyō (the right sector of the capital) being on the west, while Sakyō (the left sector) is on the east. The streets in the modern-day wards of Kamigyō-ku, Nakagyō-ku, and Shimogyō-ku still follow a grid pattern. Areas outside of the city center do not follow the same grid pattern, though streets throughout Kyoto are referred to by name, a practice that is rare in most regions of Japan.

Administrative divisions

In the 1870s, the city was divided into a northern ward (Kamigyō-ku) and a southern ward (Shimogyō-ku), each working as individual administrative divisions of Kyoto Prefecture. The modern municipality was created by the unification of these wards into the city of Kyoto in 1889. Due to the creation of new administrative districts and a number of municipal mergers that took place between the 1920s and the 1970s, the contemporary city of Kyoto is divided into eleven . The central wards, located to the west of the Kamo River, are small and densely populated. The city hall is located in Nakagyō-ku, and the Kyoto prefectural offices are located in present-day Kamigyō-ku.

Demographics

Kyoto was the largest city in Japan until the late 16th century, when its population was surpassed by those of

and Edo. Before World War II, Kyoto vied with

and

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

to rank as the fourth or fifth largest city in Japan. Having avoided most wartime destruction, it was again the third largest city in 1947. By 1960 it had fallen to fifth again, and by 1990 it had fallen to seventh. , it was the ninth largest city in Japan by population and had led the country in population decrease for two consecutive years. However, the population of the city rises during standard working hours, and Kyoto ranks seventh in Japan in terms of

daytime population Daytime population, also known as commuter-adjusted population, is a demographic concept used in sociology referring to the number of people who are present in an area, typically a city or urban area, during normal business hours (daytime), inc ...

. Approximately 55% of the total population of Kyoto Prefecture is concentrated in the city of Kyoto, which is the highest ratio among the prefectures of Japan.

Government

The city of Kyoto is governed by the mayor of Kyoto and the Kyoto City Assembly, a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

Kyoto City Assembly

The legislative city assembly has 67 elected members, and terms are four years in length. As of 2022, the assembly is controlled by a coalition of members affiliated with the Liberal Democratic Party,

Komeito , formerly New Komeito and abbreviated NKP, is a conservative political party in Japan founded by lay members of the Buddhist Japanese new religious movement Soka Gakkai in 1964. Since 2012, it has served in government as the junior coalitio ...

, and the Democratic Civic Forum.

List of mayors

Between the founding of the modern city and 1898, the

governor of Kyoto Prefecture The governor of Kyoto, officially Governor of Kyoto Prefecture, is the chief executive of Kyoto, a prefecture in Japan. It serves from 1868 and comes from Kyoto machi-bugyō. The governors were appointed by the Home Ministry until 1947. The cu ...

also acted as the mayor of the city of Kyoto. From 1898 through the Second World War, mayors were nominated by the Kyoto City Assembly and appointed by the

Minister of Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. Since 1947, mayors of Kyoto have been chosen by

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

to four-year terms. As of 2022, there have been nine mayors elected using this system. While some mayors have resigned or died in office, no mayor has lost a reelection bid in the postwar period. In the 2020 Kyoto mayoral election, independent candidate

Daisaku Kadokawa is a Japanese politician and the current mayor of Kyoto, the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture. Person In June 2019, he sent Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, m ...

was re-elected for the third time, supported by the Liberal Democratic Party,

, the

Constitutional Democratic Party ) , newspaper = ''Rech'' , ideology = ConstitutionalismConstitutional monarchismLiberal democracyParliamentarism Political pluralismSocial liberalism , position = Centre to centre-left , international = , colours ...

, the

Democratic Party for the People The , abbreviated to DPP or DPFP, is a centre to centre-right political party in Japan. The party was formed on 7 May 2018 from the merger of the Democratic Party and Kibō no Tō (''Party of Hope''). In September 2020 a majority of the par ...

, and the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

The city of Kyoto has

sister-city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

relationships with the following cities: *

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, United States (since June 1959) *

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany (since May 1963) *

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Italy (since September 1965) *

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, Mexico (since October 1980) *

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, Ukraine (since September 1971) *

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Czech Republic (since April 1996) *

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

, China (since May 1974, friendship city) *

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, Croatia (since October 1981)

Partner cities

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: *

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium (since April 2006) *

Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...

, Vietnam (since February 2013) *

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey (since June 2013) * Jinju, South Korea (since March 1999) *

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

, Turkey (since December 2009) *

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France (since June 1958) *

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

, China (since August 2012) *

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

, Canada (since May 2016) *

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" ...

, Taiwan (since June 2021) *

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

, India (since August 2014) *

Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...

, Laos (since November 2015) *

Yilan City Yilan City ( Mandarin pinyin: ''Yílán Shì''; Hokkien POJ: ''Gî-lân-chhī'') is a county-administered city and the county seat of Yilan County, Taiwan Province, Republic of China. The city lies on the north side of the Lanyang River. H ...

, Taiwan (since August 2018)

Economy

Information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

and electronics are key industries in Kyoto. The city is home to the headquarters of

Intelligent Systems is a Japanese video game developer best known for developing games with Nintendo and the ''Fire Emblem'', ''Paper Mario (series), Paper Mario'', ''WarioWare'', and ''Wars (series), Wars'' video game series. Originally, the company was headqua ...

SCREEN Holdings is a Japanese Semiconductor industry, semiconductor and electronics company, headquartered in Kyoto, engaged in the manufacture and sale of equipment for the manufacturing of semiconductors, flat panel displays, storage media (such as optical dis ...

Tose () (also called Tose Software) is a Japanese video game development company based in Kyoto. It is mostly known for developing Nintendo's Game & Watch ports and remakes#Game & Watch Gallery series, ''Game & Watch Gallery'' series, various ''Drago ...

, Hatena,

Omron , styled as OMRON, is a Japanese electronics company based in Kyoto, Japan. Omron was established by in 1933 (as the ''Tateishi Electric Manufacturing Company'') and incorporated in 1948. The company originated in an area of Kyoto called ""( ja ...

Kyocera is a Japanese multinational ceramics and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. It manufactures industrial ceramics, solar power generating systems, telecommuni ...

Shimadzu is a Japanese public KK company, manufacturing precision instruments, measuring instruments and medical equipment, based in Kyoto, Japan. It was established in 1875. The American arm of the company, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, was founde ...

Rohm (styled as ROHM) is a Japanese electronic parts manufacturer based in Kyoto, Japan. Rohm was incorporated as Toyo Electronics Industry Corporation by Kenichiro Sato (佐藤研一郎) on September 17, 1958. The company was originally called ...

Horiba is a Japanese manufacturer of precision instruments for measurement and analysis. They make instruments that measure and analyze automobile exhaust gas (80% share of the world market), and environmental, medical and scientific applications. Ho ...

Nidec Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer and distributor of electric motors. Their products are found in hard-disk drives, electric appliances, automobiles and commercial and manufacturing equipment. The company has the largest global market share for the tin ...

Nichicon is a manufacturer of capacitors of various types, and is one of the largest manufacturers of capacitors in the world, headquartered in Karasuma Oike, Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. In 1950, it separated from the Nii Works Co., established itself a ...

Nissin Electric is a Japanese, Kyoto-based electrical equipment company. The company is a member of the Sumitomo Group and a partner of Sumitomo Electric Industries. As of 2015, Nissin Electric has 24 subsidiaries located in Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Thaila ...

, and

GS Yuasa is a Kyoto-based Japanese company specializing in the development and production of lead acid and lithium-ion batteries, used in automobiles, motorcycles and other areas including aerospace and defense applications. History Yuasa In 1909, ...

. Domestic and international

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

contributes significantly to Kyoto's economy. In 2014, the city government announced that a record number of tourists had visited Kyoto. As a result of a sharp decline in tourism during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the mayor acknowledged in 2021 "the possibility of bankruptcy in the next decade" and announced job cuts in the administration and cuts in social assistance, including reductions in funding for home care. Traditional

Japanese craft Traditional in Japan have a long tradition and history. Included in the category of traditional crafts are handicrafts produced by an individual or a group, as well as work produced by independent studio artists working with traditional craft m ...

s are also a major industry of Kyoto; Kyoto's

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

weavers are particularly renowned, and the city remains the premier center of kimono manufacturing.

Sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

brewing is another prominent traditional industry in Kyoto, and the headquarters of major sake brewers Gekkeikan and

Takara Holdings is a Japanese company based in Kyoto. The company is mainly involved in the production of beverages, food, printing and medical supplies. Divisions Takara Bio Clontech Laboratories was acquired from BD Biosciences in 2005. In 2007, Clontech wa ...

are found in Kyoto. Other notable businesses headquartered in Kyoto include

Aiful ({{tyo, 8515) is one of the largest Japanese consumer finance companies. The company is based in Kyoto and has annual profits of close to ¥100 billion on over ¥2 trillion worth of loans (2005). The company had to restructure its debt after fa ...

, Ishida, Nissen Holdings,

Gyoza no Ohsho is a Japanese restaurant chain serving gyōza and other food from Japanese Chinese cuisine. There are over 700 Ohsho restaurants in Japan. Ohsho restaurants may be either owned and operated by the parent company or franchises operated by indepen ...

, Sagawa Express,

Volks is a Japan-based corporation that produces garage kits and mecha kits as well as the Dollfie, Super Dollfie and Dollfie Dream lines of dolls. The company's headquarters is in Kyoto, with some 30 shops worldwide, and annual sales of about $50 mi ...

, and

Wacoal is a manufacturer of women's lingerie and underwear, founded in 1949 in Japan by Koichi Tsukamoto. The company has divisions in North America and Europe, and manufactures the brands Wacoal, b.tempt'd, Elomi, Eveden, Fantasie, Freya, Lively, and ...

Education

Colleges and universities

Home to 40 institutions of

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

, Kyoto is one of the academic centers in Japan.

is often ranked first or second among

national universities A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...

nationwide. The

Kyoto Institute of Technology Kyoto Institute of Technology (京都工芸繊維大学, Kyōto Kōgei Sen'i Daigaku) in Kyoto, Japan is a Japanese national university established in 1949. The Institute's history extends back to two schools, Kyoto Craft High School (established i ...

is considered to be among best universities for architecture and design in the country. Influential private universities such as

Doshisha University , mottoeng = Truth shall make you free , tagline = , established = Founded 1875,Chartered 1920 , vision = , type = Private , affiliation = , calendar = , endowment = €1 ...

and

Ritsumeikan University is a private university in Kyoto, Japan, that traces its origin to 1869. With the Kinugasa Campus (KIC) in Kyoto, and Kyoto Prefecture, the university also has a satellite called Biwako-Kusatsu Campus (BKC) and Osaka-Ibaraki Campus (OIC). Tod ...

are also located in the city. The Consortium of Universities in Kyoto is a Kyoto-based higher education network consisting of three national universities, three public (prefectural and municipal) universities, 45 private universities, five other organizations, and representatives from the city government. The Consortium does not offer its own degree, but allows students to take courses at other participating universities. In addition to Japanese universities and colleges, educational institutions from other countries operate programs in the city. The Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (KCJS) is a group of 14 American universities that runs overseas academic programs in Japanese language and cultural studies for university students.

Transportation

Railways

Kyoto is served by

rail transportation Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

systems operated by several different companies and organizations. The city's main gateway terminal,

, connects the

Tokaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 1964, ...

bullet train Line with five

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

lines, a

Kintetsu ''Kintetsu'' is the abbreviation of , or Kintetsu Railway, a Japanese railway corporation. It may also refer to: Companies * Kintetsu Group Holdings, the holding corporation of the Kintetsu Railway ** Kintetsu Bus, a bus company and a subsidiary ...

line, and a municipal subway line. The

Keihan Electric Railway , known colloquially as the , , or simply , is a major Japanese private railway operator in Osaka, Kyoto, and Shiga Prefectures. The transit network includes seven lines; four main lines with heavy rolling stock, two interurban lines, and a funic ...

, the

Hankyu Railway , trading as , is a Japanese private railway company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region and is one of the flagship properties of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., in turn part of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group ...

, and other rail networks also offer frequent services within the city and to other cities and suburbs in the

Kinki The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

region. Although Kyoto does not have its own commercial airport, the Haruka Express operated by

carries passengers from

Kansai International Airport Kansai International Airport ( ja, 関西国際空港, Kansai Kokusai Kūkō) commonly known as is the primary international airport in the Greater Osaka Area of Japan and the closest international airport to the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and K ...

to Kyōto Station in 73 minutes. The

Kyoto Railway Museum The (formerly the until 2016) is a railway museum in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The original Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum opened in 1972, but was expanded and modernized in 2016, becoming the Kyoto Railway Museum. The museum is owned by We ...

in Shimogyō-ku, operated by JR West, displays many steam, diesel, and electric locomotives used in Japan between the 1880s and the present.

High-speed rail

The Tokaidō Shinkansen, operated by

JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...

, provides high-speed rail service linking Kyoto with

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, and

to the east and with nearby

to the west. Beyond Osaka, many trains boarding at Kyoto continue on the

San'yō Shinkansen The is a line of the Japanese Shinkansen high-speed rail network, connecting Shin-Osaka in Osaka with Hakata Station in Fukuoka, the two largest cities in western Japan. Operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West), it is a westward cont ...

route managed by JR West, providing access to cities including

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

, and

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

. The trip from Tokyo to Kyoto takes around 2.5 hours, and the trip from

Hakata Station is a major railway station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. It is the largest and busiest railway terminal in Kyushu, and is a gateway to other cities in Kyushu for travelers coming from Honshu by rail travel. The San'yō Shinkansen from Osaka end ...

in Fukuoka to Kyoto takes just over three hours by Nozomi train service. All Shinkansen trains stop at Kyōto Station, including

Hikari may refer to: Places *Hikari Station, a station on Sanyō Main Line in Hikari, Yamaguchi * Hikari, Chiba, a former town in Sousa District, Chiba, Japan *Hikari, Yamaguchi, a city in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan People *Hikari (name), people and ...

and Kodama trains.

Conventional lines

;

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

（JR West） *

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

(

JR Kyoto Line The is a commuter rail line in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area owned and operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The name applies to the section of the Tōkaidō Main Line between Kyōto Station and Ōsaka Station. The Kyot ...

Biwako Line The is the nickname used by the operator of the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) to refer to the portion of the Tōkaidō Main Line (between Maibara Station and Kyoto Station) and the Hokuriku Main Line (between Maibara Station and Nagahama ...

) *

San'in Main Line The is a railway line in western Japan, which connects Kyoto and Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It is the major railway line of the San'in region, approximately paralleling the Japan Sea, crossing Kyot ...

(

Sagano Line The is the popular name for a portion of the Sanin Main Line in the suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. The electrified and double-tracked railway is a commuter rail line in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, owned and operated by West Japan Railway ...

) *

Kosei Line The is a commuter rail line in Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line was completed in 1974 by the former Japanese National Railways (JNR) to provide faster access from the Kansai region t ...

Nara Line The is a commuter rail line in the Osaka–Kobe–Kyoto metropolitan area, operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Its official termini are Kizu Station in Kizugawa and Kyōto Station in Kyoto, within Kyoto Prefecture; however ...

;

Hankyu , trading as , is a Japanese private railway company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region and is one of the flagship properties of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., in turn part of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group ...

Hankyu Kyoto Main Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the private railway operator Hankyu Railway. It connects Osaka-umeda Station in Osaka and Kyoto-kawaramachi Station in Kyoto. Definition The Kyoto Main Line is often called the for short, and in a broa ...

Hankyu Arashiyama Line The is a railway line in Kyoto, Japan, operated by private railway operator Hankyu Railway. It connects Katsura and Arashiyama on the west side of the city, linking the area along the line to the Hankyu Kyoto Main Line that extends east to cent ...

;

(Keihan) *

Keihan Main Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by Keihan Electric Railway. The line runs between Sanjō Station in Kyoto and Yodoyabashi Station in Osaka. There are through services to the Keihan Ōtō Line and the Keihan Nakanoshima Line. Trains from ...

Keihan Ōtō Line The is a railway line in Kyoto that was opened on 5 October 1989 by the Keihan Electric Railway. The Ōtō Line re-established a rail connection between the Keihan Main Line and the Eizan Electric Railway, which had been severed when the Kyoto ...

Keihan Uji Line The is a 7.6-km long commuter rail line in Kyoto, Japan, operated by the Keihan Electric Railway. It connects Chushojima Station on the Keihan Main Line in Fushimi, Kyoto and Uji Station in Uji, Kyoto, forming an alternative route to JR West's ...

Keihan Keishin Line The is an interurban railway line in Japan operated by the private railway operator Keihan Electric Railway. The 7.5 km line connects Misasagi Station in Kyoto and Biwako-Hamaōtsu Station in the neighbouring city of Ōtsu. Train servi ...

;

Kintetsu Railway , referred to as , is a Japanese passenger railway company, managing infrastructure and operating passenger train service. Its railway system is the largest in Japan, excluding Japan Railways Group. The railway network connects Osaka, Nara, Kyot ...

(Kintetsu) *

Kintetsu Kyoto Line The is a Japanese railway line owned and operated by the Kintetsu Railway, a private railway operator. It connects the cities of Kyoto, Uji, and Nara, and competes with the Nara Line of West Japan Railway Company (JR-West), which also connects ...

;

Sagano Scenic Railway The or Sagano Sightseeing Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of West Japan Railway Company (JR West) that operates the , Sagano Sight-seeing Line, or in Kyoto. The line uses superseded tracks of the Sagano Line (officially a portion of the ...

*Sagano Scenic Line

Subways

Platform of the Higashiyama Station Kyoto City Subway01

The

Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau is an agency of the city government of Kyoto, Japan that operates municipal subways and city buses within the city. Previously, it also operated trams and trolley buses. Subway The Kyoto Municipal Subway operates the following two lines: *Karas ...

operates the

Kyoto Municipal Subway The , also known as Kyoto City Subway, is the rapid transit network in the city of Kyoto, Japan. Operated by the Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau, it has two lines. Lines The Kyoto Municipal Subway is made up of two lines: the long, 15 ...

consisting of two lines: the

Karasuma Line The is one of the two lines of the Kyoto Municipal Subway operated by Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau in Kyoto, Japan. On maps, diagrams and signboards, the line is colored green, and its stations are given numbers following the letter " ...

and the Tōzai Line. The two lines are linked at

Karasuma Oike Station is a train station on the Kyoto Municipal Subway Karasuma Line and Tōzai Line in Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Lines * ** (Station Number: K08) ** (Station Number: T13) Layout The station is the transferring station operated by Kyoto Municipal ...

near the center of the economic district. The Karasuma Line runs primarily north to south between the terminal of

Kokusaikaikan Station is a train station on the Kyoto Municipal Subway Karasuma Line in Sakyō-ku, Kyoto, Sakyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. It is the beginning of the line, and was opened on 3 June 1997. Lines * ** (Station Number: K01) Layout The station has an island platf ...

and Takeda Station, and takes its name from the fact that trains run beneath

Karasuma Street is a major south-north street in central Kyoto, Japan. It is part of National Route 24 and National Route 367. The Karasuma Line The is one of the two lines of the Kyoto Municipal Subway operated by Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau i ...

between

Kitaōji Station is a railway station on the Kyoto Municipal Subway Karasuma Line in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. History The station opened on May 29, 1981 when the Karasuma Line started operation between Kitaōji and Kyoto. Until October 24, 1990, the station was t ...

in Kita-ku and Jūjō Station in Minami-ku. The Karasuma Line connects to the

at the intersection of Shijō Karasuma in Kyoto's

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

and to JR lines and the Kyoto Kintetsu Line at Kyōto Station. In addition, the Transportation Bureau and

jointly operate through services which continue to

Kintetsu Nara Station is a railway station on the Nara Line in Nara, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Kintetsu Railway. Lines The station is the terminal station on the Nara Line. Kintetsu operates through expresses and limited expresses from Ky ...

. The Tōzai Line runs from the southeastern area of the city towards the center, then east to west (''tōzai'' in Japanese) through the Kyoto downtown area where trains run beneath the east–west streets of

Sanjō Street Sanjō Street（三条通さんじょうどおり ''sanjō dōri''）is a major street that crosses the center of the city of Kyoto from east to west, running from Shinomiya in the Yamashina-ku ward (east) to the vicinity of the Tenryū-ji in Ar ...

Oike Street Oike Street (御池通おいけどおり ''Oike Dōri'') is a mayor street that crosses the center of the city of Kyoto from east to west, running approximately 4.9 km from Kawabata Street (east) to Tenjingawa Street (west). History Durin ...

, and Oshikōji Street. The

has been integrated into this line, and thus Keihan provides through services to in the neighboring city of

Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Ōtsu is ...

, the capital of

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the nort ...

. Within the city of Kyoto, the Tōzai Line also connects to Keihan lines at

Yamashina Station is a train station in Yamashina-ku ward, city of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The station has two separated sections: underground subway section and above-ground JR section. In addition, on the Keishin Line of Keihan Electric Railway is l ...

Misasagi Station is a train station in Yamashina-ku ward, city of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Lines * ** (Station Number: T08) * Keihan Electric Railway ** Keishin Line - Misasagi is the terminus of the line. Layout The station is a cross-platfor ...

, and

Sanjō Keihan Station Sanjō Keihan Station (三条京阪駅 ''Sanjō Keihan Eki'') is a subway station in Higashiyama ward, city of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. General information Sanjō Keihan Station intersects with the Keihan Electric Railway's Keihan Mai ...

, and to the

Keifuku Electric Railroad is a railroad company based in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan (but with offices in Fukui Prefecture) in operation since March 2, 1942. It is a parent company of Keifuku Bus and Kyoto Bus, and an affiliated company of Keihan Electric Railway, which ...

at the terminal of

Uzumasa Tenjingawa Station is a train station on the Kyoto Municipal Subway Tōzai Line, in Ukyō-ku ward, city of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Lines * ** (Station Number: T17) Randen-Tenjingawa Station on the Arashiyama Main Line (Randen) of Keifuku Electric Ra ...

Tramways

;

(Randen) *Keifuku Arashiyama Main Line *Keifuku Kitano Line ;

Eizan Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway company whose two lines run entirely in Sakyō-ku in the city of Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the i ...

*Eizan Main Line *Eizan Kurama Line

Buses

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. Buses operating on routes within the city, the region, and the nation stop at

. In addition to Kyōto Station, bus transfer is available at the intersections of Shijō Kawaramachi and . The intersection of Karasuma Kitaōji, near

on the Karasuma Line north of downtown, has a major bus terminal.

Roads and waterways

Because many older streets in Kyoto are narrow, there are a significant number one-way roads without sidewalks.

Cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

is a common form of personal transportation in the city, although there are few areas set aside for bicycle parking and bicycles parked in restricted areas are impounded. Kyoto has fewer toll-highways than other Japanese cities of comparable size. 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. 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 Jūkan Expressway The is a national expressway in Kyoto Prefecture. It is owned and operated primarily by the West Nippon Expressway Company (NEXCO West Japan) and the Kyoto Prefecture Road Corporation. The route is signed E9 under Ministry of Land, Infrastructu ...

connects the city to northern regions of Kyoto Prefecture. The

Second Keihan Highway The , also called as Daini-Keihan Road, is a national highway and 6-laned Regional High-Standard Highways (expressways of Japan, expressway) in Japan, leading from Fushimi-ku, Kyoto through Kansai Science City to Kadoma, Osaka. This road is a Bypas ...

is another bypass to Osaka. Traditionally, trade and haulage took place by waterway, and there continue to be a number of navigable rivers and canals in Kyoto. In contemporary Kyoto, however, waterways are no longer commonly used for transportation of passengers or goods, other than for limited sightseeing purposes such as excursion boats on the

Hozu River The is a part of Katsura River in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The river begins in the mountains near Kameoka, a town northwest of Kyoto City. It snakes into the Arashiyama section of western Kyoto before changing its name to Katsura River. The H ...

and

cormorant fishing Cormorant fishing is a traditional fishing technique in which fishermen use trained cormorants to catch fish in rivers. Historically, cormorant fishing has taken place in Japan and China, as well as Greece, North Macedonia, and briefly, England an ...

boats on the

Ōi River The is a river in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Geography The Ōi River flows from the Akaishi Mountains, the branch of the Japanese Southern Alps which form the border between Shizuoka, Nagano and Yamanashi prefectures. These mountains, with p ...

Culture

Tsukemono shop by Gavin Anderson in Nishiki Ichiba, Kyoto

Although ravaged by wars, fires, and earthquakes during its eleven centuries as the imperial capital, Kyoto suffered only minor damage in

. It was removed from the atomic bomb target list (which it had headed) by the personal intervention of Secretary of War

, as Stimson wanted to save this cultural center, which he knew from his honeymoon and later diplomatic visits. Kyoto has been, and still remains, Japan's cultural center. About 20% of Japan's National Treasures and 14% of Important Cultural Properties exist in the city proper. The government of Japan plans to relocate the

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The ag ...

to Kyoto in 2023. Geishas in Kyoto

With its 2,000 religious places – 1,600

temples and 400

s, as well as palaces, gardens and architecture intact – it is one of the best preserved cities in Japan. Among the most famous temples in Japan are

, a magnificent wooden temple supported by pillars off the slope of a mountain;

, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion;

, the Temple of the Silver Pavilion; and

Ryōan-ji Ryōan-ji ( ja, 竜安寺, label=Shinjitai, ja, 龍安寺, label=Kyūjitai, ''The Temple of the Dragon at Peace'') is a Zen temple located in northwest Kyoto, Japan. It belongs to the Myōshin-ji school of the Rinzai branch of Zen Buddhism. The ...

, famous for its rock garden. The

Heian Jingū The is a Shinto shrine located in Sakyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The Shrine is ranked as a ''Beppyō Jinja'' () (the top rank for shrines) by the Association of Shinto Shrines. It is listed as an important cultural property of Japan. History 2 ...

is a Shinto shrine, built in 1895, celebrating the imperial family and commemorating the first and last emperors to reside in Kyoto. Three special sites have connections to the imperial family: the Kyoto Gyoen area including the

and

Sentō Imperial Palace In Japan, the traditionally does not refer to a single location, but to any residence of retired emperors. Before Akihito abdicated in 2019, the last Emperor to retire did so in 1817, so the designation commonly refers to the historical . Kyot ...

, homes of the

emperors of Japan An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

for many centuries;

Katsura Imperial Villa The , or Katsura Detached Palace, is an Imperial residence with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. Located on the western bank of the Katsura River in Katsura, Nishikyō-ku, the Villa is 8km distant fr ...

, one of the nation's finest architectural treasures; and

Shugakuin Imperial Villa The , or Shugaku-in Detached Palace, is a set of gardens and outbuildings (mostly teahouses) in the hills of the eastern suburbs of Kyoto, Japan (separate from the Kyoto Imperial Palace). It is one of Japan's most important large-scale cultural ...

, one of its best

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

s. In addition, the temple of Sennyu-ji houses the tombs of the emperors from Shijō to Kōmei. Other sites in Kyoto include

Arashiyama is a district on the western outskirts of Kyoto, Japan. It also refers to the mountain across the Ōi River, which forms a backdrop to the district. Arashiyama is a nationally designated Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty. Notable t ...

, the

Gion is a district of Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan, originating as an entertainment district in the Sengoku period, in front of Yasaka Shrine (Gion Shrine). The district was built to accommodate the needs of travellers and visitors to the shrine. ...

and

Ponto-chō is a district in Kyoto, Japan, known for its geisha and , and is home to many of the city's and traditional tea houses. Like Gion, Ponto-chō is famous for the preservation of forms of traditional architecture and entertainment. Etymology T ...

geisha {{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha {{nihongo, Geisha, 芸者 ({{IPAc-en, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ʃ, ə; {{IPA-ja, ɡeːɕa, lang), also known as {{nihongo, , 芸子, geiko (in Kyoto and Kanazawa) or {{nihongo, , 芸妓, geigi, are a class of female ...

quarters, the

Philosopher's Walk The is a pedestrian path that follows a cherry-tree-lined canal in Kyoto, Japan between Ginkaku-ji and Nanzen-ji. First opened in 1890 and extended again in 1912, the path follows the course of a shallow irrigation channel bringing water fro ...

, and the canals that line some of the older streets. The "

Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto The UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) encompasses 17 locations in Japan within the city of Kyoto and its immediate vicinity. In 794, the Japanese imperial family moved the capital to Heian- ...

" are listed by the

as a

. These include the Kamo Shrines (Kami and Shimo), Kyō-ō-Gokokuji (Tō-ji), Kiyomizu-dera,

Daigo-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Its main devotion (''honzon'') is Yakushi. ''Daigo'', literally "ghee", is used figuratively to mean "crème de la crème" and is a metaphor of the most profound part of Buddhist though ...

Ninna-ji is the head temple of the Omuro school of the Shingon Sect of Buddhism. Located in western Kyoto, Japan, it was first founded in AD 888 by Emperor Uda, and was later reconstructed in the 17th century. It is part of the Historic Monuments of A ...

, Saihō-ji (Kokedera),

Tenryū-ji , formally known as , is the head temple of the Tenryū-ji branch of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, located in Susukinobaba-chō, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto, Japan. The temple was founded by Ashikaga Takauji in 1339, primarily to venerate Gautama Buddh ...

Rokuon-ji , officially named , is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the most popular buildings in Kyoto, attracting many visitors annually.Bornoff, Nicholas (2000). ''The National Geographic Traveler: Japan''. National Geographic Socie ...

(Kinkaku-ji),

Jishō-ji __NOTOC__ , officially named , is a Zen temple in the Sakyo ward of Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the constructions that represents the Higashiyama Culture of the Muromachi period. History Ashikaga Yoshimasa initiated plans for creating a retire ...

(Ginkaku-ji),

Hongan-ji , also archaically romanized as Hongwanji, is the collective name of the largest school of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism (which further sub-divides into the Nishi and Higashi branches). 'Hongan-ji' may also refer to any one of several actual temple bu ...

Kōzan-ji , officially , is a Buddhist temple of the Omuro sect of Shingon Buddhism in Umegahata Toganōchō, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto, Japan. Kōzan-ji is also known as Kōsan-ji and Toganō-dera. The temple was founded by the Shingon scholar and monk Myōe ( ...

, and the

Nijō Castle is a flatland castle in Kyoto, Japan. The castle consists of two concentric rings ( Kuruwa) of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, various support buildings and several gardens. The surface area of the castle is ...

, primarily built by the Tokugawa shōguns. Other sites outside the city are also on the list. Kyoto is renowned for its abundance of delicious Japanese foods and cuisine. The special circumstances of Kyoto as a city away from the sea and home to many Buddhist temples resulted in the development of a variety of vegetables peculiar to the . The oldest restaurant in Kyoto is Honke Owariya which was founded in 1465. Japan's television and film industry has its center in Kyoto. Many ''

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—''Portrait of Hel ...

'', action films featuring samurai, were shot at

Toei Uzumasa Eigamura is a theme park and film set modeled after the Edo period located in Kyoto, Japan that opened its doors in 1975. It is situated in Toei Company's Kyoto Studio where movies have been produced. Projects filmed at the park include Sebastiano Seraf ...

. A film set and theme park in one, Eigamura features replicas of traditional Japanese buildings, which are used for ''jidaigeki''. Among the sets are a replica of the old

Nihonbashi is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The current ...

(the bridge at the entry to Edo), a traditional courthouse, a Meiji Period

police box A police box is a public telephone kiosk or callbox for the use of members of the police, or for members of the public to contact the police. It was used in the United Kingdom throughout the 20th century from the early 1920s. Unlike an ordinar ...

and part of the former

Yoshiwara was a famous (red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1617, Yoshiwara was one of three licensed and well-known red-light districts created during the early 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shima ...

red-light district. Actual film shooting takes place occasionally, and visitors are welcome to observe the action. The

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

spoken in Kyoto is known as ''Kyō-kotoba'' or ''Kyōto-ben'', a constituent dialect of the

Kansai dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as suc ...

. Until the late Edo period, the Kyoto dialect was the ''de facto'' standard Japanese, although it has since been replaced by modern standard Japanese. Traditional Kyoto expressions include the polite copula ''dosu'', the honorific verb ending ''-haru'', and the greeting phrase ''okoshi-yasu''.

Festivals

Kyoto is well known for its traditional festivals which have been held for over 1,000 years and are a major tourist attraction.Kyoto Visitors Guide (1998). Kyoto Tourist Office, Kyoto City Council. The first is the

Aoi Matsuri The , or "Hollyhock Festival", (although commonly, but mistakenly identified as "hollyhock", the "aoi" actually belongs to the birthwort family and translates as "wild ginger"—Asarum, as correctly pointed in the Wikipedia article on the Tokug ...

on May 15. Two months later (July) 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 or just is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people retu ...

with the

Gozan no Okuribi , more commonly known as , is a festival in Kyoto, Japan. It is the culmination of the Obon festival on August 16, in which five giant bonfires are lit on mountains surrounding the city. It signifies the moment when the spirits of deceased famil ...

, lighting fires on mountains to guide the spirits home (August 16). The October 22

Jidai Matsuri The is a traditional Japanese festival (also called matsuri) held annually on October 22 in Kyoto, Japan. It is one of Kyoto's renowned three great festivals, with the other two being the ''Aoi Matsuri'', held annually on May 15, and the '' Gi ...

, Festival of the Ages, celebrates Kyoto's illustrious past. Minami Kannonyama Gion Matsuri Yoiyama.jpg, Gion Matsuri Gozanokuribi Daimonji2.jpg,

UNESCO World Heritage Site

The

Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) The UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) encompasses 17 locations in Japan within the city of Kyoto and its immediate vicinity. In 794, the Japanese imperial family moved the capital to Heian- ...

includes fourteen temples, shrines, and castles in Kyoto dating from between the sixth century (

, though extant structures are more recent) and the seventeenth century (

). The sites were designated as World Heritage in 1994. File:KamigamoJinjya Saiden.jpg,

Kamigamo Shrine is an important Shinto sanctuary on the banks of the Kamo River in north Kyoto, first founded in 678. Its formal name is the . It is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan and is one of the seventeen Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto which ...

File:Shimogamo 01.jpg,

File:Kozanji Kyoto Kyoto11s5s4592.jpg,

Museums

Sitting people reading outdoors at Kyoto International Manga Museum 20080608

* Hakusasonso

Hashimoto Kansetsu Hashimoto Kansetsu (, November 10, 1883 – February 26, 1945) was a painter of nihonga (Japanese-style paintings) who was active in the Kyoto art world during the Showa and Taisho eras. Born in Kobe, he was the son of the painter Hashimoto Ka ...

Garden and Museum () *

Hosomi Museum opened near in Kyoto, Japan, in 1998. The collection, begun by Osaka industrialist , numbers some one thousand pieces including thirty Important Cultural Properties, ranging from haniwa and tea utensils to paintings of the Heian and Kamakura ...

() * Joutenkaku Museum () *

Kitamura Museum opened near the confluence of the Kamo and Takano Rivers in Kyoto, Japan, in 1977. The collection, based on that built up by businessman , comprises some 1,000 works including thirty-three Important Cultural Properties and nine Important Art O ...

() *

Koryo Museum of Art The opened in Kyoto, Japan, in 1988. The collection amassed by the Museum's founder, pachinko magnate and izakaya operator , comprises some 1,700 objects including Goryeo celadons, Joseon white porcelain, Buddhist art, Korean folk art, archaeolo ...

() * Kyoto Arashiyama Orgel Museum () *

Kyoto Art Center The is a venue for promoting the arts which is located in the heart of Kyoto, Japan. The center, a three-story reinforced-concrete building, occupies the site of the former Meirin Elementary School (founded by the people of Kyoto during the Meij ...

() * Kyoto Botanical Garden () * Kyoto City Archaeological Museum () * Kyoto City Heiankyo Sosei-Kan Museum () *

Kyoto International Manga Museum The Kyoto International Manga Museum (京都国際マンガミュージアム, Kyōto Kokusai Manga Myūjiamu) is located in Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The museum's collection includes approximately 300,000 items as of 2016, with 50,000 volumes ...

() * Kyoto

Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when v ...

Museum () *

Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art The is one of the oldest art museums in Japan. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Museums"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 671-673. It is located in Okazaki Park in Sakyō-ku, Kyoto, and opened in 1928 as a commemoration of Emperor Hirohito's coro ...

() *

Kyoto Museum for World Peace The is part of Ritsumeikan University in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The Museum is accessible to the public for a 400–600 Yen fee. The displays and materials are mostly in Japanese but there is a 25-page English booklet describing the exhibits. Th ...

() * Kyoto Museum of Traditional Crafts () *

Kyoto National Museum The is one of the major art museums in Japan. Located in Kyoto's Higashiyama ward, the museum focuses on pre-modern Japanese and Asian art. History The Kyoto National Museum, then the Imperial Museum of Kyoto, was proposed, along with the Impe ...

() * Kyoto Prefectural Garden of Fine Arts () * Kyoto Prefectural Insho-Domoto Museum of Fine Arts () *

() * Kyoto University Museum () *

Museum of Kyoto The is a museum of the history and culture of Kyoto. The annex served as Heian Museum of Ancient History until 1986. It was designed by Tatsuno Kingo and Uheiji Nagano as the former Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan. Nussbaum ...

() * Namikawa Cloisonne Museum of Kyoto () *

National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto The is an art museum in Kyoto, Japan. This Kyoto museum is also known by the English acronym MoMAK (Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto). History The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (MoMAK) was initially created as the Annex Museum of the Nationa ...

() *

Nomura Art Museum opened near Nanzen-ji in Kyoto, Japan, in 1984. The '' sukiya''-style building has two rooms for displaying exhibits and there is also a chashitsu. The collection, based on that built up by financier Tokushichi Nomura II, comprises some 1,700 w ...

() * Onishi Seiwemon Museum () * Raku Museum () *

Ryozen Museum of History The is a history museum located in Kyoto, Japan. It specializes in the history of the Bakumatsu period and the Meiji Restoration. The Museum is next to the Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine The is a Shinto Shrine located in Kyoto, Japan. It ho ...

() *

Sen-oku Hakuko Kan 250px, Sen-oku Hakuko Kan is located in Kyoto, Japan and houses a large collection of Chinese bronze vessels, Chinese and Japanese mirrors, and a few Chinese bronze Buddhist figures. The collection was brought together by Sumitomo Kichizaemon V ...

() *

Shigureden is a museum in Arashiyama, Kyoto, Japan, centered on the ''Ogura Hyakunin Isshu'' anthology of ''waka'' poems compiled by Fujiwara no Teika in the 13th century. The museum was founded by former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, who invested m ...

() * Tin Toy Museum () *

Toei Kyoto Studio Park is a theme park and film set modeled after the Edo period located in Kyoto, Japan that opened its doors in 1975. It is situated in Toei Company's Kyoto Studio where movies have been produced. Projects filmed at the park include Sebastiano Sera ...

() * Yurinkan Museum ()

Sports

Kyoto has been the site of many annual sporting events, ranging from the 400-year-old

Tōshiya The or ''the arrows which hit the target'', was an archery exhibition contest held on the west veranda of Sanjūsangen-dō temple in Kyoto, Japan. History of the contest The contest originated in the late 16th century dating back to 1606 when ...

archery exhibition held at the Sanjūsangen-dō Temple to the

Kyoto Marathon The is an annual marathon sporting event for men and women over the classic distance of 42.195 kilometres which is held in mid February in Kyoto, Japan. The course starts at Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium and pass through Kyoto Botanical Gard ...

and the

Shimadzu All Japan Indoor Tennis Championships The is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts founded as the All Japan Indoors in 1964. It is currently part of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) ITF Women's World Tennis Tour. From 1997 to 2018, it was part of ...

. Several sports teams are based in Kyoto, including professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

teams. In football, Kyoto has been represented by

Kyoto Sanga FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. "Sanga" comes from the Sanskrit word ''sangha'', a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist templ ...

, a club which won the

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

in 2002 and rose to

J. League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most succe ...

's Division 1 in 2005. Kyoto Sanga began as an amateur non-company club in the 1920s, making it the J. League team with the longest history, although it was only after professionalization in the 1990s that it was able to compete in the Japanese top division. Until 2019, Kyoto Sanga used

Takebishi Stadium Kyoto is a multi-purpose stadium in Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. It was formerly known as Kyoto Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium. Since August 2019 it has been called Takebishi Stadium Kyoto until July 2029 for the naming rights by ''Takebishi'' ( たけび� ...

in Ukyō-ku as its home stadium, but home matches were moved to the city of

Kameoka, Kyoto is a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 87,518 in 29,676 households and a population density of 390 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kameoka abuts Kyoto to the east and is loca ...

in 2020. There are also several amateur football clubs based in Kyoto. The amateur clubs AS Laranja Kyoto,

Ococias Kyoto AC Ococias Kyoto AC ( ja, おこしやす京都AC) is a Japanese football club based in Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture. The club split off from the original ''Kyoto Shiko Club'' when it professionalized and became today's Kyoto Sanga FC. The club now f ...

, and Kyoto Shiko Soccer Club compete in the regional

Kansai Soccer League is the Japanese fifth tier of league football, which is part of the Japanese Regional Leagues. It covers most of the Kansai region, as well as the prefectures of Hyōgo, Kyōto, Nara, Osaka, Shiga and Wakayama. Mie, usually considered part of ...

. Another professional team based in Kyoto is the

Kyoto Hannaryz The Kyoto Hannaryz (京都ハンナリーズ ''Kyōto Hannarīzu'') are a Japanese basketball team playing in Kyoto Prefecture; they are part of the Western Conference of the B.League. The Hannaryz are coached by Roy Rana. Coaches * David Ben ...

, a men's basketball team in the First Division of the B.League that plays its home games at the

Kyoto City Gymnasium Kyoto City Gymnasium (京都市体育館, ''Kyoto-shi Taiikukan'') is an arena in Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan. It is the home arena of the Kyoto Hannaryz The Kyoto Hannaryz (京都ハンナリーズ ''Kyōto Hannarīzu'') are a Japanese basketball tea ...

in Ukyō-ku. Kyoto has also been the home of other professional teams that have subsequently moved or been disbanded. Between 1949 and 1952, the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

professional baseball team

Shochiku Robins The Shochiku Robins were a Japanese baseball team that played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). The franchise originated in the Japanese Baseball League (NPB's predecessor) and existed from 1936–1953, when it merged with the Taiyo Whales. ...

played home games at Kinugasa Ballpark in Kita-ku and Nishi-Kyōgoku Baseball Park (now known as Wakasa Stadium) in Ukyō-ku. This team eventually became the

Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japan, Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its c ...

. Kyoto also hosted two teams in the Japan Women's Baseball League before the league folded in 2021.

Company team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

s in Kyoto include two rugby squads, the

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.Shimadzu is a Japanese public KK company, manufacturing precision instruments, measuring instruments and medical equipment, based in Kyoto, Japan. It was established in 1875. The American arm of the company, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, was founde ...

Breakers, which compete in the Kansai regional rugby league Top West. In baseball, company teams have competed in the regional JABA Kyoto Tournament annually since 1947.

Kyoto Racecourse is located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is used for horse racing. It has a capacity of 120,000. It was built in 1999. History Kyoto Race Course opened on December 1, 1925. In preparation for the track's 100th anniversary ...

in Fushimi-ku is one of ten racecourses operated by the

Japan Racing Association The Japan Racing Association ( ja, 日本中央競馬会 Nippon Chūō Keiba Kai, or JRA) is a public company established to operate Chūō Keiba (中央競馬 Central horse racing) and to manage racecourses, betting facilities, and horse-training ...

. It hosts notable horse races including the Kikuka-shō, Spring

Tenno Sho The is a horse race held twice a year in Japan, once in the spring and once in the autumn. "Tenno" means "Emperor of Japan". The races are both International Grade I races. Prior to the 2007 races, both Tenno Sho races were Japanese domestic Gra ...

, and

Queen Elizabeth II Cup The Queen Elizabeth II Cup is a Group One Thoroughbred horse race at Sha Tin Racecourse in the New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1975 by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, it is run annually in April at a distance of 2,000 metres (ten ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

*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. . *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. *Lone, John. (2000). ''Old Kyoto: A Short Social History.'' Oxford:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. . *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) .

External links

Kyoto City Official Website
(in Japanese)
Kyoto City Official Travel Guide
City of Kyoto and Kyoto City Tourism Association (in English) * {{Authority control Populated places established in the 8th century 1889 establishments in Japan Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Japan Former capitals of Japan Environmental model cities Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan

Name

History

Origins

Middle Ages

Early modern period

Modern period

Contemporary history

Geography

Terrain

Climate

Cityscape

Administrative divisions

Demographics

Government

Kyoto City Assembly

List of mayors

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Partner cities

Economy

Education

Colleges and universities

Transportation

Railways

High-speed rail

Conventional lines

Subways

Tramways

Buses

Roads and waterways

Culture

Festivals

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Museums

Sports

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links