The Wonder That was (and is) Kyoto!

KYOTO – Japan’s Imperial capital was moved from Nara to what is now Kyoto in 794 A.D. Within a decade, the new capital had become the wellspring of the arts, crafts and culture that was to distinguish the Japanese for centuries to come…and one of the largest, most sophisticated, and most attractive cities in the world.

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.

Copyright © 2007 by Boye Lafayette De Mente
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Boye Lafayette De Mente has been involved with Japan, Korea, China and Mexico since the late 1940s as a member of a U.S. intelligence agency, student, journalist, and editor. He is the author of more than 50 books on these countries, including the first books ever on the Japanese way of doing business: Japanese Etiquette & Ethics in Business, first published in 1959, and How to Do Business in Japan, published in 1961.

To see a complete list of his titles [each one linked to Amazon.com’s buy page], go to his personal website: http://www.phoenixbookspublishers.com/.