Kyoto

It is impossible to understand Japan without seeing the city of Kyoto. It was the capital of the country for about a thousand years.

The last shogunate, the Tokugawas, began to reside in a coastal town called Edo, even though the capital was still Kyoto. The shogun was the feudal military leader, who held the real power in the country, even though the emperor still reigned. In what is known as the Meiji Restoration, for the Emperor Meiji, the emperor was restored to full power. The shogunate, as well as the Samurai as a privileged class and the feudal lords known as Daimyo, were abolished.

But the emperor after the Meiji Restoration moved to Edo, in Edo Castle where the Tokugawas had lived, and reigned there. Edo grew into a great city which was, at least  for some time, the largest city in the world, and was renamed Tokyo. You may notice that the letters of Tokyo, written in English, are a rearrangement of the letters in Kyoto.

The very old city of Kyoto is actually modeled on an even older city, the distant inland Chinese city of Xian. There was originally a lot of Chinese influence on Kyoto, and it was set out according to Feng Shui principles. There are many shrines remaining in Kyoto, which bring visitors from all over the world, despite the countless battles, earthquakes and, fires that the city has seen in it's long history.

The original palace was the Heian Palace, with a strong Chinese influence. It was not rebuilt after a 1227 fire, but there is quite a bit of information on it and it influenced the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

This is a reconstruction of the original Heian Palace, and the surrounding area. Although Japan and China are often portrayed in the west as rivals, Japan is popular with Chinese shoppers, students and, vacationers, and you can see in many of these images of Japan that the photo was contributed by someone with a Chinese name.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0159747,135.782534,3a,75y,73.01h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-OyZGauvDLTE%2FV_jTizxCbUI%2FAAAAAAAAf2U%2FX9_yNUiaqXsNixoTJGJGjb7C0DSvX6-dACLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-OyZGauvDLTE%2FV_jTizxCbUI%2FAAAAAAAAf2U%2FX9_yNUiaqXsNixoTJGJGjb7C0DSvX6-dACLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya14.539884-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

The best-known sight in Kyoto is, of course, the Imperial Palace. We have already seen this, in the posting "Imperial Palaces". This is where the emperor reigned from during the long time that Kyoto was the capital of Japan.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0254135,135.7621246,3a,75y,63.55h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-h__S7sZcToc%2FWHoIZ3x3K2I%2FAAAAAAAAJJs%2FyX1LjFMmTh40cR-k5xuwpCcc4erE1AGIwCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-h__S7sZcToc%2FWHoIZ3x3K2I%2FAAAAAAAAJJs%2FyX1LjFMmTh40cR-k5xuwpCcc4erE1AGIwCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya166.72072-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i4096!8i2048

Let's revisit a place that we saw in "The Real Japan". Near the Imperial Palace, and the site of the Heian Palace, is Nijo Castle. This was built by the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, as the Kyoto residence of the shogun, near the emperor, even that we saw above that the Tokugawas began to live mainly in Edo, and that is what led to Tokyo becoming the capital. Notice how the outer walls, at the moat, resemble the corresponding features of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, which started as Edo Castle that was built by the same Tokugawa Shogunate.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0139448,135.747611,3a,75y,66.11h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sgfJmDXd_IK4pHSW_tdRm4Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DgfJmDXd_IK4pHSW_tdRm4Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D61.596794%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

As old as the city of Kyoto is, there is a shrine that far predates the city, being about two thousand years old. This is the Shimogamo Shrine.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0387917,135.772995,3a,75y,132.88h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-JKiX-O11DFU%2FWRXOTsKP-2I%2FAAAAAAAACNE%2F_JPeCBi22ewdyjlHoJeqACGRymRvLsK4QCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-JKiX-O11DFU%2FWRXOTsKP-2I%2FAAAAAAAACNE%2F_JPeCBi22ewdyjlHoJeqACGRymRvLsK4QCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-5.806788-ya296.19672-ro-0.71270984-fo100%2F!7i5376!8i2688

Here is a look at the modern city, starting from Kyoto Tower. But even there are more old temples and shrines.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9875605,135.7593461,3a,75y,78.04h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-CYheflTmOjE%2FWA3KLp-fJEI%2FAAAAAAAAPvc%2FCT1tR4K2a3I54VSK30ejT1Fy-2goiRRdQCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-CYheflTmOjE%2FWA3KLp-fJEI%2FAAAAAAAAPvc%2FCT1tR4K2a3I54VSK30ejT1Fy-2goiRRdQCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya75.50329-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i10000!8i5000

Here is a residential area of Kyoto.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9719948,135.7000846,3a,75y,298h,72t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sfyH_CAand1prBbfy9cX4Vg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DfyH_CAand1prBbfy9cX4Vg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D298.5%26pitch%3D-18.999996%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656