Kyoto Prefecture
is part of the
Kinki region of the island of
Honshū,
Japan. The capital is the city of
Kyoto.
For most of its history, the city of Kyoto was the Imperial capital of Japan. The history of the city itself can be traced back as far as the 6th century. In
544, the
Aoi Matsuri was held in Kyoto to pray for good harvest and good weather.
Kyoto did not start out as the capital of Japan. A noteworthy earlier capital was
Nara. In 741,
Emperor Shomu moved the capital briefly to a place called Kuni-kyo, between the cities of Nara and Kyoto, in present-day Kyoto Prefecture. In 784, the capital was moved to
Nagaokakyo, also in present-day Kyoto Prefecture. In 794,
Emperor Kammu moved the capital to Heian-kyo, and this was the beginning of the current-day city of Kyoto. Even today, almost all of the streets, houses, stores, temples and shrines in the city of Kyoto exist where they were placed in this year.
Although in
1192 real political power shifted to
Kamakura, where a samurai clan established the
shogunate, Kyoto still remained the imperial capital as the powerless emperors and their court continued to be seated in the city. Imperial rule was briefly restored in
1333, but another samurai clan established a new
shogunate in Kyoto three years later.
In
1467, a great civil war, the
Onin no Ran, took place inside Kyoto, and most of the town was burned down. Japan plunged into the
age of warring feudal lords. A new strong man,
Tokugawa Ieyasu, established the shogunate at
Edo (today's Tokyo) in
1603.
The
Meiji Restoration returned Japan to imperial rule in
1868.
Emperor Meiji, who was now the absolute sovereign, went to stay in
Tokyo next year. The imperial court never returned to Kyoto.
Although many Japanese major cities were heavily bombed by US bombers during
World War II, the old capital was protected from devastating bombing. During the occupation, the
U.S. 6th Army was headquartered in Kyoto.
Kyoto is located almost in the center of
Honshu and of Japan. It covers an area of 4612.71 km², which is 1.2% of Japan. Kyoto is 31st by size. To the north, Kyoto faces the
Sea of Japan and
Fukui Prefecture. To the south, it faces
Osaka and
Nara Prefectures. To the east, it faces
Mie and
Shiga Prefectures. To the west, it faces
Hyogo Prefecture. Kyoto is separated in the middle by the Tanba Mountains. This makes the climate of Kyoto very different in the north and south.
Cities
Fifteen cities are located in Kyoto Prefecture.{|valign="top"|
*
Ayabe*
Fukuchiyama*
Joyo*
Kameoka*
Katsura*
Kyotanabe*
Kyotango*
Kyoto (capital)
*Maizuru
*Miyazu
*Muko
*Nagaokakyo
*Nantan
*Uji
*Yawata | 
