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KIOTO (Kyoto)

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 825 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KIOTO (Kyoto) , the former See also:capital of See also:Japan, in the See also:province of Yamashiro, in 350 01' N., 135° 46' E. Pop. (1903), 379,404. The Kamo-gawa, upon which it stands, is a See also:mere rivulet in See also:ordinary times, trickling through a wide See also:bed of pebbles; but the See also:city is traversed by several aqueducts, and was connected with See also:Lake See also:Biwa in 1890 by a See also:canal 6i m. See also:long, which carries an abundance of See also:water for manufacturing purposes, brings the See also:great lake and the city into navigable communication, and forms with the Kamogawa canal and the Kamo-gawa itself a through route to See also:Osaka, from which Kioto is 25 M. distant by See also:rail. Founded in the See also:year 793, Kioto remained the capital of the See also:empire during nearly eleven centuries. The See also:emperor Kwammu, when he selected this remarkably picturesque spot for the See also:residence of his See also:court, caused the city to be laid out with mathematical accuracy, after the See also:model of the Tang See also:dynasty's capital in See also:China. Its See also:area, 3 M. by 31, was intersected by 18 See also:principal thoroughfares, 9 See also:running due See also:north and See also:south, and 9 due See also:east and See also:west, the two systems being connected at intervals by See also:minor streets. At the See also:middle of the See also:northern See also:face stood the See also:palace, its enclosure covering three-quarters of a square mile, and from it to the centre of the south face ran an See also:avenue 283 ft. wide and 32 M. long. Conflagrations and subsequent reconstructions modified the regularity of this See also:plan, but much of it still remains, and its See also:story is perpetuated in the nomenclature of the streets. In its days of greatest prosperity Kioto contained only See also:half a million inhabitants, thus never even approximating to the See also:size of the See also:Tokugawa See also:metropolis, Yedo, or the Hojo capital Kamakura. The emperor Kwammu called it Heian-jo, or the " city of See also:peace, " when he made it the seat of See also:government; but the See also:people knew it as Miyako, or Kyoto, terms both of which signify " capital," and in See also:modern times it is often spoken of as Saikyo, or western capital, in opposition to See also:Tokyo, or eastern capital. Having been so long the iniperial, intellectual, See also:political and See also:artistic metropolis of the See also:realm, the city abounds with evidences of its unique career.

Magnificent temples and shrines, See also:

grand monuments of architectural and artistic skill, beautiful gardens, gorgeous festivals, and numerous ateliers where the traditions of See also:Japanese See also:art are obeyed with attractive results, offer to the See also:foreign visitor a fund of See also:interest. Clear water ripples everywhere through the city, and to this water Kioto owes something of its importance, for nowhere else in Japan can fabrics be bleached so See also:white or dyed in such brilliant See also:colours. The people, like their neighbours of Osaka, are full of manufacturing See also:energy. Not only do they preserve, amid all the progress of the See also:age, their old-See also:time See also:eminence a, producers of the finest See also:porcelain, See also:faience, See also:embroidery, brocades, See also:bronze, cloisonne See also:enamel, fans, toys and See also:metal-See also:work of all kinds, but they havealso adapted themselves to the foreign See also:market, and weave and dye quantities of See also:silk fabrics, for which a large and constantly growing demand is found in See also:Europe and See also:America. Nowhere else can be traced with equal clearness the See also:part played in Japanese See also:civilization by See also:Buddhism, with its magnificent See also:paraphernalia and imposing ceremonial See also:spectacles; nowhere else, See also:side by side with this luxurious See also:factor, can be witnessed in more striking juxtaposition the austere purity and severe simplicity of the Shinto cult; and nowhere else can be more intelligently observed the See also:fine See also:faculty of the Japanese for utilizing, emphasizing and enhancing the beauties of nature. The citizens' dwellings and the shops, on the other See also:hand, are insignificant and even sombre in See also:appearance, their exterior conveying no See also:idea of the See also:pretty See also:chambers within or of the tastefully laid-out grounds upon which they open . behind. Kioto is celebrated equally for its See also:cherry and See also:azalea blossoms in the See also:spring, and for the colours of its autumn foliage.

End of Article: KIOTO (Kyoto)

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