Located on the island of Honshu, 400km to the west of Tokyo, Kyoto is the former imperial capital of Japan and its cultural centre. The history of Kyoto starts in 794 AD when the capital of Japan was established here as Heian-kyo, "tranquility and peace capital" in Japanese. In the 11th century the city was renamed Kyoto. Kyoto remained the capital of Japan until 1868 when the government was transferred to Edo, which was subsequently renamed Tokyo. Kyoto is located in a valley in the eastern part of the Tamba highlands and is surrounded on three sides by mountains. It has 1.5 million inhabitants. About 20% of Japan's "national treasures" and 14% of important cultural properties are located in the city of Kyoto. The historic monuments of ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. A large number of Shinto and Buddhist temples are found in the city.
01 Kyoto tower 02 Kyoto tower 03 Kyoto tower 04 Train station main hall
05 Kyoto skyline at dusk 06 Municipal museum of art
07 Street near Heian shrine 08 Packaged food 09 Packaged food 10 Downtown Kyoto
11 Alley in Gion district 12 Alley in Gion district 13 Theatre 14 Gion area 15 Gion area
16 Gion area 17 Gion area 18 Pavement with shops 19 Furniture and gift articles shop 20 Alley in Gion district 21 Street intersection with shops at night
22 Mall interior 23 Salted radish and pickles 24 Salted vegetables and pickles 25 Gourmet food shop 26 Indoor market
27 Cocon Karasuma department store at night 28 Temple at night 29 Reflection of Kyoto tower in train station 30 Reflection of Kyoto tower in train station 31 Train station and Christmas tree
32 Christmas tree in train station at night 01 Entrance pavilion and gate 02 Central pavilion
03 Panoramic view of inner court 04 Entry pavilion to temple garden 05 Side pavilion
06 Entry pavilion to temple garden 07 Entry pavilion to temple garden 08 Exit pavilion 09 Small Japanese girl in red kimono 10 Japanese family in kimono
11 Entry pavilion to temple garden 12 Panoramic view of inner court 13 Red and golden wooden railing
14 Temple garden 15 Temple garden and pond 16 Temple garden and pond 17 Covered bridge in pond
18 Covered bridge in pond 01 Temple entrance 02 Golden Kinkaku-ji pavilion with reflection in Kyoko-chi pond 03 Golden Kinkaku-ji pavilion with reflection in Kyoko-chi pond 04 Golden Kinkaku-ji pavilion with reflection in Kyoko-chi pond
05 Golden Kinkaku-ji pavilion with reflection in Kyoko-chi pond 06 Golden Kinkaku-ji pavilion with reflection in Kyoko-chi pond 07 Golden Kinkaku-ji pavilion 08 Kukkyocho floor of golden pavilion
09 Golden Kinkaku-ji pavilion 10 Temple park 11 Jizo Buddhist images and coins thrown by visitors 12 Kukkyocho floor of golden pavilion and trees
13 Souvenir shop 14 Souvenir shop 01 Chawan-zaka alley to temple 02 Nio-mon gate 03 Nio-mon and Sai-mon gates
04 Nio-mon gate 05 Sai-mon gate 06 Sai-mon gate 07 Staircase 08 Red temple halls
09 Red temple halls 10 Three story pagoda, Kyodo and Tamura halls 11 Red God statue in Hon-do hall 12 Staircase and torii gate 13 Zuigu-do hall
14 Votive picture tablets 15 Women praying at Zuigu-do hall 16 Women praying at Zuigu-do hall 17 Staircase 18 Treetops 19 Japanese girls wearing kimono
20 Nio-mon gate 21 Japanese girl wearing kimono 22 Souvenir shop 23 Wooden slippers 24 Nio-mon and Sai-mon gates 25 Sai-mon gate
26 Nio-mon gate 27 Otowa-no-taki waterfall 28 Hon-do main hall 29 Hon-do main hall and three-story pagoda at dusk
30 Hon-do main hall and three-story pagoda at dusk 31 Three-story pagoda at dusk 32 Three-story pagoda at dusk 01 Karamon gate
02 Karamon gate detail 03 Ninomaru palace 04 Kurumayose gate to palace 05 Rear view of Karamon gate
06 Roof detail 07 Roof detail 08 Bronze bell 09 Side view of Ninomaru-goten
10 Pond and park 01 Main gate 02 Vermillion columns 03 Inner court
04 Main hall 05 Bell pavilion 06 Garden and vermillion colonnade
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©Copyright Alfred Molon