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 Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

from east to west, running approximately 4.9 km from Kawabata Street (east) to Tenjingawa Street (west).

History

During the period of the

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 ...

, it was a narrow street known as Sanjō Bonmon Koji (三条坊門小路). From the mid

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 street began to be known as ''Oike'', due to the fact that in the past it passed by a large pond (池 ''ike'') contained inside the then larger

Shinsenen Shinsenen (神泉苑) is a Shingon Japanese Buddhist temple located south of Nijō Castle in the approximate center of the modern city of Kyoto, Honshu, Japan. It was founded by Kūkai in 824 and predominantly consists of a large water garden cent ...

. In 1945 during

WW2 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 opposing ...

, in the section between the west side of 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 ...

and Horikawa Street, houses and buildings were removed to create a firewall, making the street considerably wider. After 1947, due to the urban planning policy of the city, it was decided to maintain a width of 50 meters for this section.

Present Day

Nowadays the section between Kawabata Street and Horikawa Street is the widest street in the city of Kyoto. This section is on the route of the Yamaboko Junkō parade of the Gion Matsuri and on the route of the parade of the

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 '' Gio ...

. Several subway stations of the Tōzai Line are located along this segment, as well as several relevant public facilities such as the Kyoto City Hall and Zest Oike, making it an important public space. For this reason, in the year 2003 after an extensive infrastructure improvement project, this section was designated as "Symbol Road" by the city of

Relevant landmarks along the Street

* Kyoto Hotel Okura * Kyoto City Hall. * Zest Oike *

Honnō-ji is a temple of the Nichiren branch of Buddhism located in Kyoto, Japan. Honnō-ji incident Honnō-ji is most famous for the Honnō-ji incident – the assassination of Oda Nobunaga – that occurred there on 21 June 1582. Nobunaga lodged at ...

temple *

Hello Work is the Japanese English name for the Japanese government's Employment Service Center, it is a public institution based on the Employment Service Convention No. 88 (ratified in Japan on 20 October 1953) under Article 23 of the Japanese Ministry o ...

Karasuma Oike Plaza *

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 ...

Corporation *

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 ...

Garden *

Shimadzu Corporation 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 ...

Sanjō Factory

Train Stations

Subway

Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae Station Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae Station (京都市役所前駅 ''Kyōto shiyakusho-mae eki'') is a stop on the Tozai Line of Kyoto Municipal Subway in Kyoto, Japan. It is in Nakagyo-ku. With the station number designation T12, its station color is ''kara ...

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 ...

Nijōjō-mae Station is a train station in Nakagyō-ku ward, city of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Lines * ** (Station Number: T14) Layout The underground station has an island platform with two tracks. File:Platform_of_Nijojo-Mae_Station.JPG, Platform ...

Nishiōji Oike Station is a train station on the Kyoto Municipal Subway Tōzai Line in Nakagyō-ku ward, city of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Layout The underground station has an island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is ...

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 ...

JR
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 ...

* Nijō Station

Links

Kyoto Hotel Okura

Zest Oike

References

{{Reflist Streets in Kyoto