Article: The Wonder That Was (and is) Kyoto!

The Wonder That Was (and is) Kyoto!, by John Erskine Banta

The site where the new capital was located was first settled in the
6th century by the Hata family, immigrants from Korea, whose members
were skilled in silkworm culture and silk weaving.

Geographically the area consisted of a fault basin, framed on the
north, east and west by the Tamba Mountains. Two rivers, now known
as the Kamogawa and the Katsuragawa, flowed down from the mountains,
bisecting the basin before joining the Yodogawa (Yodo River), which
emptied into Osaka Bay.

With the rivers providing easy access to the merchants and markets
of Osaka, The Hatas gradually amassed great wealth through commerce
in silk goods. Their success attracted the powerful Kamo, Izumo and
Ono families who built imposing residences in the northern districts
of the basin.

The population of the basin and the wealth of the families living
there continued to grow. In the late 700s the reigning emperor and
his ministers decided to move the Imperial capital from nearby Nara
to the Kyoto basin. They chose to pattern the layout of the new
capital after the Tang dynasty Chinese capital of Chang'an (modern
Xi'an or Sian), which at that time was one of the largest and
grandest cities in the world.

The new capital, christened Heiankyo (literally, Peace Capital), was
laid out in the shape of a rectangle, measuring 4.5 kilometers (2.8
miles) from east to west, and 5.2 kilometers (3.2 miles) from north
to south. The emperor and his entourage moved to the new city in
794, beginning a golden age in Japan that later came to be known as
the Heian Jidai (Hay-ee-on Jee-die) or the Age of Peace.

Leaders of the powerful Fujiwara and Taira clans, which vied for
control of the Imperial Court by providing Imperial consorts and
ministers, built their residences in the Shirakawa and Rokuhara
districts of central Kyoto.

Other palatial residences and landscaped gardens proliferated. The
arts and crafts achieved new heights of sophistication. For the next
four centuries, Kyoto flourished as one of the brightest stars in
the civilized world.

In 1185 clan leader Yoritomo Minamoto defeated his rivals in battle,
had himself named Shogun by the emperor, took complete control of
the country, and moved the administrative functions of the
government from Kyoto to Kamakura, a tiny seaside village 45 km (28
mi.) southwest of present-day Tokyo. Although no longer the seat of
administrative power, Kyoto continued to play a major role in the
cultural life of the country.

When the Kamakura government was replaced by the Muromachi Shogunate
in 1333, the administration of the country was returned to Kyoto.
One of the first things the new government did was to break the hold
that Buddhist organizations in Nara had on the building of new
temples, and sponsor the building of dozens of temples, many of them
huge complexes, within the new city and on the surrounding
mountains.

The Muromachi period ended in 1568 after a long civil war that
devastated much of the splendid capital. In 1590, Hideyoshi
Toyotomi, the winner in this new clan struggle, began a major
rebuilding program in Kyoto that included the beautiful Fushimi
Castle and the lavishly decorated Jurakudai Mansion.

Ieyasu Tokugawa, Toyotomi's successor, who founded the Tokugawa
Shogunate in Edo (now Tokyo) in 1603, continued to support Kyoto as
the Imperial as well as the cultural capital of Japan. To
accommodate himself on his regular trips to the city, Ieyasu
commissioned the building of the famous Nijo Castle, which remains
today as one of Kyoto's great treasures.

The arts, crafts and commerce in general flourished in Kyoto during
the Tokugawa period, but after the Shogunate fell and the Emperor
was restored to power in 1868, the new central government moved the
Imperial Court to Tokyo, once again leaving Kyoto on the sidelines
of history.

But being shunted aside was to turn out to be a major advantage for
Kyoto as the new government in Tokyo led the rest of the country in
a rapid industrial revolution between 1870 and 1890. During these
two frenetic and subsequent decades, Kyoto remained very much like
it had been for generations—its castles, palaces, shrines, temples
and traditional homes and shops intact.

At the beginning of the U.S.-Japan war in 1941, Kyoto's reputation
for its cultural and historical significance was such that American
scholars and others who were intimately familiar with the city
persuaded the U.S. government to put it off-limits to Allied bombers
during the conflict.

Still today, despite its postwar industrialization, Kyoto has 202 of
the country's National Treasures (20 percent of the total) and 1,596
of its Important Cultural Assets (15 percent of the total).

Among these treasures from the past: Kyoto Imperial Palace, Nijo
Castle, Katsura Detached Palace, Shugakuin Detached Palace, Nishi
Honganji Temple, Higashi Honganji Temple, Kiyomizu Temple, Yasaka
Shrine, Heian Shrine, and the beautiful Kinkakuji (Temple of the
Golden Pavilion).

In addition to these historical treasures, Kyoto has three of the
country's largest annual festivals (Gion, Heian and Aoi), along with
a number of other major annual and monthly events that, combined,
attract millions of visitors each year.

Kyoto is also the birthplace of No, Kyogen and Kabuki, and is the
national center for Chado (the Tea Ceremony) and Ikebana (Flower
Arranging), two of Japan's most important cultural practices.

While examples of Japan's traditional culture can be found in
abundance throughout the islands, Kyoto has retained its role as the
primary repository of the glories of old Japan, and no one can say
they have "done Japan" without a visit to the ancient capital.

John Erskine Banta is General Manager and Director of Radisson
Miyako Hotel Tokyo