The city of Heian-kyō, predecessor to modern-day Kyōto was made capital by the Emperor Kammu (737–806) who had decreed the citys construction for that purpose. This CG video depicts the city as it was in its heyday. The following text explains various sites in the city in the same order they are introduced in the video. Heian-kyō was roughly 5km by 5km, situated on a plane between the Kamo River to the east, and the Katsura River to the west. In accordance with ancient Chinese principles of city design and feng-shui, Daidairi, the Imperial palace and administrative center was situated in the middle of the citys northernmost limit. An 80m-wide main street, Suzaku-ōji, bisected the town, extending southwards from the central palace gate, with the rest of the streets organized in a grid pattern of perpendicular lines. Although Heian-kyō was not walled, entrance came via a grand central gate on the Southern edge, Rajōmon (from which the 1950 Kurosawa Akira film Rashōmon takes its name), which opened onto Suzaku-ōji. Within the city limits, to the west of Rajōmon was a magnificent five-story pagoda named Saiji, one of only two Buddhist temples allowed within Heian-kyō, a measure ordered by the emperor to prevent the priesthood from gaining too great an influence in the city. To the east of the Daidairi lay Shinsen-en, the Chinese-style walled pleasure garden of the nobility, featuring a splendid lodge within a natural park bordering on a lake. The much smaller temple garden of Shinsen-en remains on the site to this day. The tradition-rich modern-day city of Kyoto has been honing itself in recent years to become an even more desirable tourist destination. We sat down with the city’s mayor, Kadokawa Daisaku, to learn more about how Kyoto is changing for the better, while preserving its unique charm. Article: Leading Kyoto’s New Charm Offensive nippon/en/people/e00060/
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 11:22:30 +0000