Kyoto Prefecture

Timeline

1. 603

   Founding of Koryu-ji

   In year 11 of Empress Suiko, the Hata clan leader Hata no Kawakatsu founds Hachioka-dera (modern Koryu-ji) at Uzumasa — Kyoto's oldest Buddhist temple.

2. 713

   Tango Province Established

   In Wado 6, the northern part of Tamba Province is split off as Tango Province, fixing the framework of today's northern Kyoto Prefecture.

3. 740

   Move to Kuni-kyo

   In Tenpyo 12, Emperor Shomu moves the capital briefly to Kuni-kyo in modern Kizugawa, anticipating Kyoto's later role.

4. 794

   Founding of Heian-kyo

   In Enryaku 13, Emperor Kanmu inaugurates Heian-kyo on the site of modern Kyoto, beginning 1,074 years as imperial capital.

5. 1467

   Onin War

   Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sozen clash in an eleven-year civil war that burns most of central Kyoto and triggers the Warring States era.

6. 1586

   Jurakudai and Odoi Built

   Toyotomi Hideyoshi raises the lavish Jurakudai palace and rings Kyoto with the Odoi earthworks, redrawing the city's footprint.

7. 1603

   Nijo Castle Completed

   In Keicho 8, Nijo Castle is finished as Tokugawa Ieyasu's Kyoto residence; it later becomes the stage for the restoration of imperial rule.

8. 1864

   Kinmon Incident

   In Genji 1, Choshu troops clash with shogunate forces around the Imperial Palace, and the resulting fires sweep across central Kyoto.

9. 1868

   Kyoto Prefecture Founded

   In Keio 4 (Meiji 1), the Kyoto Court is renamed Kyoto-fu, instituting prefectural government centered on the old Yamashiro province.

10. 1869

    Imperial Court Moves to Tokyo

    In Meiji 2, the emperor relocates to Tokyo and never returns, ending Kyoto's millennium as the seat of imperial power.

11. 1952

    Amanohashidate Scenic Designation

    Amanohashidate is designated a national Special Place of Scenic Beauty, formally recognizing its standing as one of Japan's three classic views.

12. December 1994

    World Heritage Inscription

    Seventeen monuments across Kyoto, Uji, and Otsu are inscribed as 'Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto'.

13. 2005

    Ine Preservation District

    The Ine Bay boathouse village is designated an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings.

14. 2009

    Gion Festival Inscribed

    The yamahoko procession of the Gion Festival is inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Detailed History

Kyoto Prefecture's history reaches into the Yayoi period: settlements at Kumonomiya and Kaide in the southern Yamashiro basin show that wet-rice culture had arrived by the early Yayoi. In the north, large keyhole tombs at Hiruko-yama and Amino-Choshiyama on the Tango Peninsula attest to a Kofun-period polity that rivalled the Kinai. Buddhist culture entered with the Hata clan, whose patriarch Hata no Kawakatsu founded Hachioka-dera (today's Koryu-ji) in 603, and Kamigamo Shrine took its present form by 678. In 740 Emperor Shomu moved the capital briefly to Kuni-kyo in present-day Kizugawa, in 784 to Nagaoka-kyo, and in 794 Emperor Kanmu inaugurated Heian-kyo on the site of modern Kyoto. For 1,074 years the city was Japan's imperial capital. The Heian period saw regents, retired emperors, and warrior houses contest control through events like the Otenmon Conspiracy of 866, the Hogen Disturbance of 1156, and Taira no Kiyomori's 1180 transfer of the capital to Fukuhara. The Kamakura shogunate planted its Rokuhara Tandai overseers after the Jokyu War of 1221, and in 1336 Ashikaga Takauji established the Muromachi shogunate inside the city. The Onin War of 1467 leveled much of Kyoto and tipped Japan into the Warring States era; Oda Nobunaga entered the city in 1568, the Muromachi shogunate fell in 1573, and 1582 saw both the Honno-ji Incident and the Battle of Yamazaki. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was appointed regent in 1585, built the lavish Jurakudai and the Odoi earthen ramparts in 1586, and raised Fushimi Castle in 1592. The Tokugawa shogunate stationed its Kyoto Shoshidai and Kyoto Shugoshoku in the city; Nijo Castle was completed in 1603, and Ieyasu was confirmed as shogun there. In the north, smaller domains at Kameoka, Fukuchiyama, and Sonobe in Tamba, and at Tanabe, Miyazu, and Mineyama in Tango, operated under Tokugawa oversight. The fall of the shogunate brought the Kinmon Incident of 1864 and the Battle of Toba-Fushimi of 1868, after which Kyoto-fu was established. The emperor's relocation to Tokyo in 1869 ended Kyoto's role as capital, but the Meiji government founded Heian Shrine in 1894 to mark 1,100 years since Heian-kyo. In December 1994, seventeen monuments across Kyoto, Uji, and Otsu were inscribed as the World Heritage 'Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto'.

Cultural Significance

Kyoto Prefecture's cultural holdings are extraordinary: 52 National Treasure buildings (second nationally), 304 Important Cultural Property buildings (also second), and the largest concentration of National Treasure fine and decorative arts in Japan. The 1994 World Heritage inscription comprises Kamigamo and Shimogamo Shrines, To-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, Daigo-ji, Ninna-ji, Byodo-in and Ujigami Shrine, Kozan-ji, Saiho-ji, Tenryu-ji, Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji, Nishi Hongan-ji, Nijo Castle, and Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei in Shiga — seventeen sites spanning from the founding of Heian-kyo in 794 through the Edo period. Although the city repeatedly burned in events like the Onin War and the Kinmon Incident, Kyoto was removed from American firebombing and atomic target lists in 1945 thanks to the intervention of US Secretary of War Henry Stimson, preserving the old urban fabric almost intact. The three great festivals (Aoi, Gion, Jidai) and the Gozan no Okuribi bonfires fuse imperial ritual with folk devotion; the float procession of the Gion Festival was inscribed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009. In the north, Ine became an Important Preservation District in 2005, while Amanohashidate received Special Place of Scenic Beauty status in 1952 — Edo Confucian scholar Hayashi Shunsai had earlier counted it among the three classic views of Japan.

Architectural Details

Kyoto Prefecture's built environment reads as a millennium of layered architecture across the southern Yamashiro basin and the northern Tango coast. When Emperor Kanmu inaugurated Heian-kyo in 794 he laid down a grid plan whose streets, temple precincts, and shrine compounds remain almost exactly where they were set, so present-day Kyoto still reads as a Heian-period cadastre overwritten by later eras. Older religious architecture frames that grid: the Hata clan's Hachioka-dera (today's Koryu-ji) was founded in 603, and Kamigamo Shrine took its present form by 678. After the Onin War of 1467 leveled most of the city, Toyotomi Hideyoshi rebuilt the capital from 1586, raising the Jurakudai, encircling the city with the Odoi earthen rampart, and erecting Fushimi Castle in 1592 — destroyed in the 1596 Keicho earthquake and rebuilt on Kohata-yama. The Tokugawa shogunate completed Nijo Castle in 1603 as the venue where Ieyasu received his shogunal commission. Northern domains shaped a different scale: Akechi Mitsuhide raised Kameyama Castle in 1578 and Fukuchiyama Castle in 1579, with Tanabe, Miyazu, and Mineyama anchoring Tango. With over 75 percent of the land in mountains and hills, vernacular building dominates the coast: the funaya boathouses of Ine Bay, with boat berths below and living quarters above, were designated an Important Preservation District in 2005.