INTRODUCTION
Kyoto and Its Heritage
If one were limited to visiting a single city in Japan, there is no question that Kyoto would be the preferred choice. As the ancient capital of Japan, from its inception in 794 it set the cultural tone for the nobility, the Imperial court and eventually the nation at large. It also welcomed the various Buddhist sects that were to develop in Japan and which were to affect the beliefs of commoners and courtiers alike. Politics being what they are, the Buddhist temples were at first kept at arm’s length by having them built on the surrounding hills rather than on the plain in the city proper. The interference of Buddhist monks in the previous capital at Nara was not going to be tolerated by the Emperor and his court in their new location, and thus few temples could be found in central Kyoto in the capital’s early days. Now, 1,300 years after the city was established, the temples, shrines, gardens and remaining palaces of the Emperor and his nobles, scattered throughout and around Kyoto, provide an ambience that few other cities can offer.
To experience the essence of Kyoto, one should walk its avenues and streets, its alleys and byways. Only in this way can one appreciate the spirit of the place—its quiet lanes and bustling main thoroughfares, and its juxtaposition of houses and shops, temples and shrines, gardens and industries. Such an approach may seem to offer difficulties since many cities in Japan are centuries old and have streets laid out in a winding and seemingly incoherent pattern. Unlike many cities in Japan, however, Kyoto has a very orderly city plan based on streets which intersect at right angles. This systematic, regular plan reflects the fascination of the founders of Kyoto with the ancient Chinese capital of Ch’ang-an (present-day Xian) whose orderly street plan it copied. Specific main streets as well as the major rivers further subdivided this plan so that the grid pattern of Kyoto streets makes it an easy city in which to roam. Armed with the tourist map provided at the Tourist Information Center and a small compass (if one’s sense of direction is fallible), you are unlikely to get lost. (The Tourist Information Center is on Karasuma-dori, the street headed north alongside the lighthouse-like tower, opposite the north side of Kyoto Central Station and the outdoor bus station.)
Chishaku-in, opposite Kyoto National Museum.
Where did it all begin for Kyoto? When in 794 the Emperor Kammu planned his new capital at Heian-kyo, the early name for Kyoto, he provided it with an auspicious descriptive name, since Heian-kyo means “Capital of Peace and Tranquility.” The new capital was to enjoy peace and tranquility in its early years, a status which, unhappily, had all too quickly evaporated at the previous seat of government in Nara, 30 miles (48 km) to the south. There, the great Emperor Shomu, who had developed the grandeur of Nara, had been followed on the throne by his daughter, a woman too easily influenced by the men in her life. Unfortunate in her judgment and in her reliance on those about her, one of her lovers had been her prime minister who eventually rose in revolt against her rule while another lover was a Buddhist priest who had intentions of usurping her throne. At the same time, the temples of Nara, meant to engender piety and to protect the state, were all too often controlled by priests who preferred to dabble in politics rather than keep to their religious profession. In order to govern, as the Empress’s successor discovered, an Emperor was forced to deal with unnecessary political intrigue and unseemly infighting within the court and the Buddhist hierarchy.
The forested Arashiyama mountain range on the outskirts of Kyoto.
Thus the Emperor Kammu, in order to escape the pernicious priests and meddlers in Imperial affairs, moved his