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115-576: Prince Kotohito was born in Kyoto on November 10, 1865, as the sixteenth son of Prince Fushimi Kuniye (1802–1875). His father was the twentieth head of the Fushimi-no-miya , one of the four shinnōke , branches of the Imperial Family which were eligible to succeed to the throne if the main line should die out. Since the infant mortality rate in the main imperial household was quite high, Emperor Kōmei ,

230-772: A Kintetsu line, and a municipal subway line. The Keihan Electric Railway , the Hankyu Railway , and other rail networks also offer frequent services within the city and to other cities and suburbs in the Kinki region. Although Kyoto does not have its own commercial airport, the limited express Haruka operated by JR West carries passengers from Kansai International Airport to Kyōto Station in 73 minutes. The Kyoto Railway Museum in Shimogyō-ku , operated by JR West, displays many steam, diesel, and electric locomotives used in Japan between

345-593: A military attaché to France in 1882 to study military tactics and technology. He graduated from the Army Staff College in 1894, specializing in cavalry . He commanded the 1st Cavalry Regiment from 1897 to 1899. Kan'in became a veteran of both the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). He was appointed to command the 2nd Cavalry Brigade in 1901. He rose to

460-625: A Chinese flag. While those factions were active, the Japanese 6th Division breached the defensive lines of Chinese 31st and 68th Army on 24 July and captured Taihu, Susong, and Huangmei Counties on 3 August. As the Japanese continued to move westward, the Chinese 4th Army of the Fifth War Zone deployed its main force in Guangji, Hubei and Tianjia Town to intercept the Japanese offensive. The 11th Army Group and

575-596: A major industry of Kyoto; Kyoto's kimono weavers are particularly renowned, and the city remains the premier center of kimono manufacturing. Sake brewing is another prominent traditional industry in Kyoto, and the headquarters of major sake brewers Gekkeikan and Takara Holdings are found in Kyoto. Other notable businesses headquartered in Kyoto include Aiful , Ishida , Nissen Holdings , Gyoza no Ohsho , Sagawa Express , Volks , and Wacoal . As of 1 May 2023, there were 154 municipal public elementary schools in Kyoto, with

690-532: A major transportation hub in the interior of China was further established. The city also served as an important transit point for foreign aid moving inland from the southern ports. After the Japanese capture of Nanjing , the bulk of the Nationalist government agencies and the military command headquarters were in Wuhan although the capital had been moved to Chongqing . Wuhan thus became the de facto wartime capital at

805-409: A month until the Japanese finally captured it on September 29th. To overcome the Chinese defenders, the Japanese resorted to deploying large amounts of poison gas, which proved to be their only their only decisive means of achieving victory. Following the fall of Tianjizhen, the Japanese continued to attack westwards by capturing Huangpo on 24 October and rapidly approaching Hankou. In the north of

920-697: A number of navigable rivers and canals in Kyoto. In contemporary Kyoto, however, waterways are no longer commonly used for transportation of passengers or goods, other than for limited sightseeing purposes such as excursion boats on the Hozu River and cormorant fishing boats on the Ōi River . Although ravaged by wars, fires, and earthquakes during its eleven centuries as the imperial capital, Kyoto suffered only minor damage in World War II . Kyoto remains Japan's cultural center. About 20% of Japan's National Treasures and 14% of Important Cultural Properties exist in

1035-442: A result, its prewar cultural heritage has mostly been preserved. Kyoto is considered the cultural capital of Japan and is a major tourist destination. The agency for cultural affairs of the national government is headquartered in the city. It is home to numerous Buddhist temples , Shinto shrines , palaces and gardens, some of which have been designated collectively as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO . Prominent landmarks include

1150-496: A significant number of one-way roads without sidewalks. Cycling is a common form of personal transportation in the city, although there are few areas set aside for bicycle parking and bicycles parked in restricted areas are impounded. Kyoto has fewer toll-highways than other Japanese cities of comparable size. There are nine national highways in the city of Kyoto: Route 1 , Route 8 , Route 9 , Route 24 , Route 162 , Route 171 , Route 367 , Route 477 , and Route 478 . The city

1265-409: A three day battle. Chiang Kai-Shek had Madang's overseeing general Xie Weiying executed. The defeat at Madang opened up the route to Jiujiang. It took almost three weeks for the Japanese to clear the waterway around Madang of mines, costing them five minesweepers, two warships and a landing craft full of marines . After the fall of Madang, there were some two hundred thousand Chinese troops under

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1380-490: A total of 55,736 pupils. At the secondary level, there were 66 municipal public junior high schools with 27,046 students and 11 municipal public senior high schools with 5,117 students. Home to 40 institutions of higher education , Kyoto is one of the academic centers in Japan. Kyoto University is ranked highly among all universities nationwide, with eight Nobel laureates and two Prime Ministers of Japan among its alumni. The Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences and

1495-646: Is connected with other parts of Japan by the Meishin Expressway , which has two interchanges in the city: Kyoto-higashi Interchange (Kyoto East) in Yamashina-ku and Kyoto-minami Interchange  [ ja ] (Kyoto South) in Fushimi-ku. The Kyoto Jūkan Expressway connects the city to the northern regions of Kyoto Prefecture. The Second Keihan Highway is another bypass to Osaka. Traditionally, trade and haulage took place by waterway, and there continue to be

1610-422: Is dwindling and wells across the area are drying at an increasing rate. Kyoto has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen : Cfa ), featuring a marked seasonal variation in temperature and precipitation. Summers are hot and humid, but winters are relatively cold with occasional snowfall. Kyoto's rainy season begins around the middle of June and lasts until the end of July, yielding to a hot and sunny latter half of

1725-558: Is located to the south of the Kyoto Imperial Palace . In the center of the city, there are several covered shopping arcades only open to pedestrian traffic, such as Teramachi Street and Shinkyōgoku Street . The original city was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capital of Chang'an / Luoyang . The Imperial Palace faced south, resulting in Ukyō (the right sector of

1840-404: Is one of the oldest municipalities in Japan, having been chosen in 794 as the new seat of Japan's imperial court by Emperor Kanmu . The original city, named Heian-kyō , was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese feng shui following the model of the ancient Chinese capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang . The emperors of Japan ruled from Kyoto in the following eleven centuries until 1869. It

1955-584: The Associated Kyoto Program runs a study-abroad academic program with a focus on cultural, language, and historical learning in and around the Kansai metropolitan area. Kyoto is served by rail transportation systems operated by several different companies and organizations. The city's main gateway terminal, Kyōto Station , connects the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train line with five JR West lines,

2070-721: The Dabie Mountains , the Chinese 3rd Army Group of the Fifth War Zone stationed the 19th and 51st Army Groups and the 77th Army in the Liuan and Huoshan regions in Anqing . The 71st Army was tasked with the defense of Fujin Mountain and Gushi County in Henan. The Chinese 2nd Group Army was stationed in Shangcheng , Henan and Macheng , Hubei. The Chinese 27th Army Group and the 59th Army were stationed in

2185-608: The Diet of Japan passed the National Mobilization Law, which authorized unlimited war funding. As part of the law, the National Service Draft Ordinance also allowed the conscription of civilians. On 29 April, the Japanese air force launched major air strikes on Wuhan to celebrate Emperor Shōwa's birthday. The Chinese, with prior intelligence, were well prepared. The battle was known as the "4.29 Air Battle" and

2300-726: The Imperial Japanese Army General Staff , replacing General Kanaya Hanzo. During his tenure, the Imperial Japanese Army committed many war crimes against Chinese civilians including the Nanjing massacre and the systemic use of chemical and bacteriological weapons . As Chief of the General Staff , Kotohito authroized the use of chemical weapons in China, such as tear gas , which were used sporadically in 1937, but in

2415-456: The Kyoto Imperial Palace , Kiyomizu-dera , Kinkaku-ji , Ginkaku-ji , and Kyoto Tower . The internationally renowned video game company Nintendo is based in Kyoto. Kyoto is also a center of higher learning in the country, and its institutions include Kyoto University , the second-oldest university in Japan. In Japanese, Kyoto was previously called Kyō ( 京 ), Miyako ( 都 ), Kyō no Miyako ( 京の都 ), and Keishi ( 京師 ) . After becoming

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2530-463: The Kyōto Station complex. Kyoto became a city designated by government ordinance on September 1, 1956. In 1994, 17 historic monuments in Kyoto were inscribed on the list as UNESCO World Heritage Sites . In 1997, Kyoto hosted the conference that resulted in the protocol on greenhouse gas emissions ( United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ). Kyoto is located in a valley, part of

2645-605: The Poyang Lake from Hukou County to reinforce the 106th Division, which breached the Chinese 25th Army's defensive line and captured Xinzhi. They attempted to occupy De'an County and Nanchang , together with the 106th Division, to protect the southern flank of the Japanese Army, which was advancing westward. Xue Yue , the commander-in-chief of the Chinese First Corps, used the 4th, 29th, 66th, and 74th Armies to link with

2760-624: The Soviet Volunteer Group . The 4th Group fighters would claim at least 4 of the A5Ms, and the Soviet group claimed no less than 3 of the A5Ms shot down. Both the Japanese fighter group commander, Lieutenant Kaneko, and the Chinese fighter group commander, Captain Li, were Killed in action in the battle. A largely-intact A5M fighter plane that was downed in the battle was recovered with a damaged engine, and it

2875-618: The Uji River to the south, the Katsura River to the west, and the Kamo River to the east. Kyoto City takes up 17.9% of the land in Kyoto Prefecture and has a total area of 827.9 square kilometers (319.7 sq mi). Kyoto sits atop a large natural water table that provides the city with ample freshwater wells. Due to large-scale urbanization, the amount of rain draining into the table

2990-671: The Versailles Peace Treaty . According to another memorandum discovered by the historian Yoshiaki Yoshimi , Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni authorized the use of poison gas against the Chinese on 16 August 1938. A resolution adopted by the League of Nations on 14 May condemned the use of toxic gas by the Imperial Japanese Army . Japan made heavy use of chemical weapons against China to make up for its lack of numbers in combat and because China did not have any poison gas stockpiles of its own to retaliate. Japan used poison gas at Hankou in

3105-586: The Yangtze River , was the second-largest city in China, with a population of 1.5 million in late 1938. The Yangtze River and the Hanshui River divide the city into three regions, which include Wuchang , Hankou and Hanyang . Wuchang was the political center, Hankou was the commercial district, and Hanyang was the industrial area. After the completion of the Yuehan Railway , the importance of Wuhan as

3220-504: The Yellow River region, and the 17th Army was deployed in the Xinyang region to organize the defensive works. The Japanese attacked in late August with the 2nd Army Group marching from Hefei by two different routes. The 13th Division, on the southern route, breached the Chinese 77th Army's defensive line and captured Huoshan, when it turned towards Yejiaji. The nearby Chinese 71st Army and

3335-657: The Yuehan Railway . After the Japanese occupied Xuzhou in May 1938, they sought actively to expand the scale of the invasion. The IJA decided to send a vanguard to occupy Anqing for use as a forward base for an attack on Wuhan, for its main force then to attack the area north of the Dabie Mountains moving along the Huai River , and to occupy Wuhan eventually by the way of the Wusheng Pass. Later, another detachment would move west along

3450-573: The Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics , both part of the university, have been affiliated with influential mathematicians and physicists. Private universities such as Doshisha University and Ritsumeikan University are also located in the city. The Consortium of Universities in Kyoto is a Kyoto-based higher education network consisting of three national universities, three public (prefectural and municipal) universities, 45 private universities, five other organizations, and representatives from

3565-539: The loss of Xuzhou , approximately 1.1 million men or 120 divisions of the National Revolutionary Army were redeployed. The commission decided to organize the defense around the Dabie Mountains , Poyang Lake , and the Yangtze River against the 200,000 Japanese in 20 divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army. Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi of the Fifth War Zone were assigned to defend the north of

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3680-493: The shinnōke households, which had gone extinct upon the death of the fifth head, Prince Naruhito . On December 19, 1891, Prince Kotohiko married Sanjō Chieko (January 30, 1872 – March 19, 1947), a daughter of Prince Sanjō Sanetomi . The couple had seven children: five daughters and two sons. Prince Kan'in entered the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1877 and graduated in 1881. Emperor Meiji sent him as

3795-559: The 12th and 13th Kōkūtais , led by Lieutenant Takashi Kaneko, and 15 G3M bombers of the Kanoya Kokutai, led by Lieutenant Commander Sugahisa Tuneru, on a raid against Wuhan engaged in battle with 19 Chinese Air Force I-15 fighters of the 22nd and 23rd Pursuit Squadrons and 10 I-16 fighters of the 21st PS, all under the overall command of the 4th Pursuit Group CO Captain Li Guidan , as well as several more mix of Polikarpov fighters of

3910-585: The 12th, the Japanese 2nd Army captured Xinyang and moved south of the Pinghan Railway to attack Wuhan, together with the 11th Army. The continuing stalemate around Wuhan and the continued influx of foreign aid to Chinese forces from ports in the south made the IJA decide to deploy three reserve divisions to pressure the naval shipping lines. It thus decided to occupy the Guangdong port by an amphibious landing. Because of

4025-523: The 1880s and the present. The Tokaidō Shinkansen , operated by JR Central , provides high-speed rail service linking Kyoto with Nagoya , Yokohama , and Tokyo to the east and with nearby Osaka to the west. Beyond Osaka, many trains boarding at Kyoto continue on the San'yō Shinkansen route managed by JR West, providing access to cities including Kobe , Okayama , Hiroshima , Kitakyushu , and Fukuoka . The trip from Tokyo to Kyoto takes around 2.5 hours, and

4140-455: The 25th Army and engaged the Japanese in a fierce battle at Madang and north of De'an, which brought the battle to a stalemate. Towards the end of September, four regiments of the Japanese 106th Division circled into the Wanjialing region, west of De'an. Xue Yue commanded the Chinese 4th, 66th, and 77th Armies to flank the Japanese. The 27th Division of the Japanese Army attempted to reinforce

4255-425: The 2nd Army Group made use of their existing positions to resist, which halted the Japanese 13th Division. The 16th Division was thus called in to reinforce the attack. On 16 September, the Japanese captured Shangcheng. The defenders retreated southwards out of the city and used their strategic strongholds in the Dabie Mountains to continue the resistance. On 24 October, the Japanese occupied Macheng. The 10th Division

4370-499: The 68th Army were ordered to form a line of defense in Huangmei county, and the 21st and 29th Army Group, as well as the 26th Army, moved south to flank the Japanese. The Chinese recaptured Taihu on 27 August and Susong on 28 August. However, with Japanese reinforcements arriving on 30 August, the Chinese 11th Army Group and the 68th Army were unsuccessful in their counteroffensives. They retreated to Guangji County to continue resisting

4485-528: The Battle of Wanjialing, which multiplied the number of war dead honoured in Japanese shrines. They also said that the damages had not been admitted during the war to maintain public morale and confidence in the war effort. In Shandong, 1,000 soldiers under Shi Yousan , who had defected multiple times to rivaling warlord cliques and was then independent, occupied Jinan and held it for a few days. Guerrillas also briefly held Yantai . The area east of Changzhou all

4600-545: The Battle of Wuhan to break Chinese resistance after conventional Japanese assaults had been repelled by Chinese defenders. Rana Mitter wrote, "Under General Xue Yue, some 100,000 Chinese troops pushed back Japanese forces at Huangmei. At the fortress of Tianjiazhen, thousands of men fought until the end of September, with Japanese victory assured only with the use of poison gas. Yet even now, top Chinese generals seemed unable to work with each other at Xinyang, Li Zongren's Guangxi troops were battered to exhaustion. They expected that

4715-572: The Central Army, including experienced veterans from the Battle of Shanghai . The army commanders and division commanders were all graduates from the Whampoa Military Academy . The Japanese attacked Tianjiazhen primarily by land, but suffered from poor supply lines and attacks by Chinese guerrillas. The resulting struggle was one of the bloodiest of the entire Wuhan campaign, lasting for over

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4830-465: The Central China Area Army to guard the areas in and around Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, and other important cities, which would protect the back of the Japanese forces and complete the preparation for the battle. The Battle of Wuhan was preceded by a Japanese air strike on 18 February 1938 that was known as the "2.18 Air Battle" and ended by Chinese forces repelling the attack. On 24 March,

4945-466: The Chinese 17th Group Army and 45th Army and captured Lushan. The 10th Division then continued to move westward but met a Chinese counterattack east of Xinyang and was forced to withdraw back to Lushan. The Japanese 2nd Army Group ordered the 3rd Division to assist the 10th Division in taking Xinyang. On 6 October, the 3rd Division circled back to Xintang and captured the Liulin station of Pinghan Railway . On

5060-549: The Chinese-American fighter pilots Arthur Chin and Louie Yim-qun , all flying the Gladiators, would claim at least four of the A5Ms to be shot down that day. On 15 June, the Japanese made a naval landing and captured Anqing , which signaled the onset of the Battle of Wuhan. The capture Anqing's airbase enabled Japanese aircraft to assault Jiujiang, a major riverine port and railroad junction one hundred miles upstream. On

5175-628: The Chinese. During the Battle of Wuhan, Prince Kan'in Kotohito transmitted the emperor's orders to use toxic gas 375 times, from August to October 1938, despite the 1899 Hague Declaration IV, 2 - Declaration on the Use of Projectiles the Object of Which is the Diffusion of Asphyxiating or Deleterious Gases , Article 23 (a) of the 1907 Hague Convention IV - The Laws and Customs of War on Land , and Article 171 of

5290-816: The Eleventh Army along both banks of the Yangtze in the main assault on Wuhan, and Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni commanded four-and-a-half divisions of the Second Army along the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains to assist the assault. The forces were augmented by 120 ships of the Third Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy under Koshirō Oikawa , more than 500 planes of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service , and five divisions of Japanese forces from

5405-554: The Empire of Japan, Nazi Germany , and Fascist Italy . He received the following orders and decorations: Kyoto Kyoto ( / ˈ k j oʊ t oʊ / ; Japanese : 京都 , Kyōto [kʲoꜜːto] ), officially Kyoto City ( 京都市 , Kyōto-shi , [kʲoːtoꜜɕi] ) , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan 's largest and most populous island of Honshu . As of 2020 ,

5520-673: The Fifth and Ninth War Zone were put under the direct command of Chiang Kai-shek , defending Wuhan from the Central China Area Army of the Imperial Japanese Army led by Shunroku Hata . Chinese forces were also supported by the Soviet Volunteer Group , a group of volunteer pilots from Soviet Air Forces . Although the battle ended with the eventual capture of Wuhan by the Japanese forces, it resulted in heavy casualties, with China suffering as many as one million casualties, military and civilian. With Japan suffering its heaviest losses of

5635-487: The IJA was significantly weakened. The Battle of Wuhan bought more time for Chinese forces and equipment in Central China to move farther inland to the mountainous fortress of Chongqing and lay the foundation for an extended war of resistance. Wuhan and Hubei Province now provided the Japanese with new airbases and logistics to support the massive "joint-strike force" terror-bombing campaign against Chongqing and Chengdu under

5750-566: The Japanese 106th Division. Jiujiang was captured on the 26th after a five day battle. The decision to retreat by the Chinese forces came too suddenly for the civilian population to be evacuated, leaving many behind at the mercy of the Japanese occupiers. Following Jiujiang's capture, occupying Japanese forces engaged in a "mini- Nanjing Massacre " against the city's civilian population. Male civilians were indiscriminately executed alongside any POWs who had failed to retreat in time, whilst women and children were raped en masse. In addition, many of

5865-461: The Japanese Army attacked Ruichang , the 106th Division moved along the Nanxun Railway, now known as Nanchang-Jiujiang, on the south side. The defending Chinese 4th Army, 8th Army Group, and 29th Army Group relied on the advantageous terrain of Lushan and north of Nanxun Railway to resist. As a result, the Japanese offensive suffered a setback. On 20 August, the Japanese 101st Division crossed

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5980-411: The Japanese as the Capture of Wuhan , was a large-scale battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War . Engagements took place across vast areas of Anhui , Henan , Jiangxi , Zhejiang , and Hubei provinces over a period of four and a half months. It was the single largest, longest, and bloodiest battle of the entire Second Sino-Japanese War. More than one million National Revolutionary Army troops from

6095-419: The Japanese by 30 July, which exposed the rest of the North China Plain . To disrupt the Japanese invasion plans, the Chinese Nationalists decided to engage the Japanese in Shanghai, which opened a second front . The fighting lasted from 13 August to 12 November, with the Chinese suffering major casualties including "70 percent of Chiang Kai-shek 's young officers." After the fall of Shanghai, Nanjing , which

6210-413: The Japanese forces along with the Chinese 26th, 55th, and 86th Armies. The Chinese 4th Army Group ordered the 21st and 29th Army Groups to flank the Japanese from northeast of Huangmei , but they were unable to stop the Japanese advance. Guangji was captured on 6 September. On 8 September, Guangji was recovered by the Chinese 4th Corps, but Wuxue was lost the same day. The Japanese Army then lay siege to

6325-666: The Japanese forces coming from Xuzhou. However, the disparity in Chinese and Japanese troop strength caused that line of defense to collapse quickly. In an attempt to win more time for the preparation of the defense of Wuhan, the Chinese opened up the dikes of the Yellow River in Huayuankou , Zhengzhou on 9 June. The flood, now known as the 1938 Yellow River flood , forced the Japanese to delay their attack on Wuhan. However, it also caused around 500,000 to 900,000 civilian deaths by flooding many cities in northern China. On 18 February 1938, an Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAF) strike-force composed of at least 11 A5M fighters of

6440-504: The Kadono district of Yamashiro Province . The new city, Heian-kyō ( 平安京 , "tranquility and peace capital") , modeled after Chinese Tang dynasty capital Chang'an , became the seat of Japan's imperial court in 794, beginning the Heian period of Japanese history . Although military rulers established their governments either in Kyoto ( Muromachi shogunate ) or in other cities such as Kamakura ( Kamakura shogunate ) and Edo ( Tokugawa shogunate ), Kyoto remained Japan's capital until

6555-437: The Ruichang-Ruoxi Road and the surrounding area, which resulted in a stalemate for more than a month until the Japanese 27th Division captured Ruoxi on 5 October. The Japanese forces then turned to strike northeast, captured Xintanpu in Hubei on the 18th, and moved towards Dazhi. In the meantime, other Japanese forces and their supporting river fleet continued their advance westwards along the Yangtze, encountering resistance from

6670-565: The Transportation Bureau and Kintetsu jointly operate through services which continue to Kintetsu Nara Station in Nara , the capital city of Nara Prefecture . The Tōzai Line runs from the southeastern area of the city towards the center, then east to west ( tōzai in Japanese) through the Kyoto downtown area where trains run beneath the east–west streets of Sanjō Street , Oike Street , and Oshikōji Street  [ ja ] . The Keihan Keishin Line has been integrated into this line, and thus Keihan provides through services to Hamaōtsu in

6785-406: The Yamashiro (or Kyoto) Basin, in the eastern part of the mountainous region known as the Tamba highlands. The Yamashiro Basin is surrounded on three sides by mountains known as Higashiyama, Kitayama and Nishiyama, with a maximum height of approximately 1,000 meters (3,281 ft) above sea level . This interior positioning results in hot summers and cold winters. There are three rivers in the basin,

6900-402: The Yangtze, and Chen Cheng of the Ninth War Zone was tasked with defending the south. The First War Zone, located in the west of the Zhengzhou - Xinyang section of the Pinghan Railway , was given the task of stopping the Japanese forces coming from the North China Plain. Finally, Chinese troops in the Third War Zone, located between Wuhu , Anqing and Nanchang , were given the task to protect

7015-405: The Yangtze. However, the Yellow River flood forced the IJA to abandon its plan of attacking along the Huai, and it decided to attack along both banks of the Yangtze instead. On 4 May, the commander of the IJA forces, Shunroku Hata, organized approximately 350,000 men of the Second and Eleventh Armies to fight in and around Wuhan. Under him, Yasuji Okamura commanded five-and-a-half divisions of

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7130-461: The capital of Japan at the start of the Heian period (794–1185), the city was often referred to as Heian-kyō ( 平安京 , "Heian capital"), and late in the Heian period the city came to be widely referred to simply as "Kyōto" ( 京都 , "capital city"). After the seat of the emperor was moved to the city of Edo and that city was renamed " Tōkyō " ( 東京 , meaning "eastern capital"), Kyoto was briefly known as "Saikyō" ( 西京 , meaning "western capital"). As

7245-403: The capital of Japan from 794 to 1868, Kyoto is sometimes called the thousand-year capital ( 千年の都 ). Historically, foreign spellings for the city's name have included Kioto and Miaco or Meaco . Ample archeological evidence suggests human settlement in the area of Kyoto began as early as the Paleolithic period, although not much published material is retained about human activity in

7360-408: The capital) being on the west, while Sakyō (the left sector) is on the east. The streets in the modern-day wards of Kamigyō-ku, Nakagyō-ku, and Shimogyō-ku still follow a grid pattern. Areas outside of the city center do not follow the same grid pattern, though streets throughout Kyoto are referred to by name, a practice that is rare in most regions of Japan. Kyoto was the largest city in Japan until

7475-417: The city for defense and as firebreaks, and numerous buildings burned. The city has not seen such widespread destruction since. In the late 16th century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi reconstructed the city by building new streets to double the number of north–south streets in central Kyoto, creating rectangle blocks superseding ancient square blocks. Toyotomi also built earthwork walls called odoi ( 御土居 ) encircling

7590-403: The city government announced that a record number of tourists had visited Kyoto. As a result of a sharp decline in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic , the mayor acknowledged in 2021 "the possibility of bankruptcy in the next decade" and announced job cuts in the administration and cuts in social assistance, including reductions in funding for home care. Traditional Japanese crafts are also

7705-484: The city government. The Consortium does not offer degrees, but allows students of member universities to take courses at other member universities. In addition to Japanese universities and colleges, educational institutions from other countries operate programs in the city. The Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (KCJS) is a group of 14 American universities that runs overseas academic programs in Japanese language and cultural studies for university students. Similarly,

7820-438: The city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth-most populous city in Japan. More than half (56.8%) of Kyoto Prefecture's population resides in the city. The city is the cultural anchor of the substantially larger Greater Kyoto , a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.8 million people. It is also part of the even larger Keihanshin metropolitan area , along with Osaka and Kobe . Kyoto

7935-432: The city proper. The government of Japan relocated the Agency for Cultural Affairs to Kyoto in 2023. Battle of Wuhan Taishō period Shōwa period The Battle of Wuhan ( traditional Chinese : 武漢會戰 ; simplified Chinese : 武汉会战 ; Japanese : 武漢作戦 (ぶかんさくせん) ), popularly known to the Chinese as the Defence of Wuhan ( traditional Chinese : 武漢保衛戰 ; simplified Chinese : 武汉保卫战 ), and to

8050-416: The city's urban districts and suburban villages were deliberately razed, including the city's ceramics factories and maritime transportation system. As many as 90,000 civilians were massacred by the Japanese army in and around Jiujiang. The Japanese Namita detachment moved westward along the river, landed northeast of Ruichang on 10 August, and mounted an assault on the city. The defending NRA 2nd Corps

8165-407: The city, which showed the rebels' dissatisfaction towards the Tokugawa Shogunate. At the start of the Meiji period , the emperor's move from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1869 weakened the economy of Kyoto. The modern city of Kyoto was formed on April 1, 1889. The construction of Lake Biwa Canal in 1890 was one measure taken to revive the city. The population of the city exceeded one million in 1932. There

8280-640: The city. Teramachi Street in central Kyoto is a Buddhist temple quarter where Toyotomi gathered temples in the city. In 1603, the Tokugawa Shogunate was established at Edo (present-day Tokyo), marking the beginning of the Edo period . Nevertheless, Kyoto flourished as one of three major cities in Japan , the others being Osaka and Edo. At the end of the period, the Hamaguri rebellion of 1864 burned down 28,000 houses in

8395-555: The codename Operation 100 . After its fall 1938 victory in the Battle of Wuhan, Japan advanced deep into Communist territory and redeployed 50,000 troops to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region . Elements of the Communist Eighth Route Army soon attacked the advancing Japanese, inflicting between 3,000 and 5,000 casualties and resulting in a Japanese retreat. The IJA advance in central China

8510-401: The country in population decrease for two consecutive years. However, the population of the city rises during standard working hours, and Kyoto ranks seventh in Japan in terms of daytime population . Approximately 55% of the total population of Kyoto Prefecture is concentrated in the city of Kyoto, which is the highest ratio among the prefectures of Japan. The city of Kyoto is governed by

8625-602: The creation of new administrative districts and a number of municipal mergers that took place between the 1920s and the 1970s, the contemporary city of Kyoto is divided into eleven wards ( 区 , ku ) . The central wards, located to the west of the Kamo River, are small and densely populated. The city hall is located in Nakagyō-ku , and the Kyoto prefectural offices are located in present-day Kamigyō-ku . Kyoto contains roughly 2,000 temples and shrines. The main business district

8740-671: The defending Chinese 31st Army and 32nd Army Group west of Ruichang. When the town of Madang and Fujin Mountain, both in Yangxin County , were captured. The Chinese 2nd Corps deployed the 6th, 56th, 75th and 98th Armies, along with the 30th Army Group, to strengthen the defense of the Jiangxi region. The battle continued until 22 October when the Chinese lost other towns in Yangxin County, Dazhi and Hubei Provinces. The Japanese 9th Division and Namita detachment were now approaching Wuchang. While

8855-462: The dual command of Xue Yue and Zhang Fukui in the Jiujiang-Ruichang area. The Japanese first captured the city of Pengze, but were met with resistance at Hukou, for which they deployed poison gas again in a five-day battle. The Japanese reached Jiujiang two weeks after the fall of Hukou. Chinese defenders tried to resist the Japanese advance, but were too disorganized and uncoordinated to repel

8970-537: The encirclement. With Japanese forces in the area losing combat command capabilities, hundreds of officers were airdropped into the area. Of the four Japanese divisions which had gone into the battle, only around 1,500 men made it out of the encirclement. The event was later called the Victory of Wanjialing by the Chinese. In 2000, Japanese military historians admitted the heavy damages that the 9th, 27th, 101st, and 106th Divisions and their subordinate units had suffered during

9085-449: The father of Emperor Meiji , adopted Prince Kotohito as a potential heir. Prince Kotohito was thus the adopted brother of Emperor Meiji and a great uncle to both Emperor Shōwa and his consort, Empress Kōjun . Prince Kotohito was initially sent to Sambō-in monzeki temple at the age of three to be raised as a Buddhist monk , but was selected in 1872 to revive the Kan'in-no-miya , another of

9200-460: The fighting in Wuhan, a significant portion of Chinese forces in Guangzhou had been transferred elsewhere. As such, the pace of the occupation was much smoother than expected, and Guangzhou fell to the Japanese on 21 October. The loss of the Guangzhou area meant the loss of the main supply line of foreign aid to central China—the two railways linking Kowloon to Guangzhou and Guangzhou to Wuhan. Thus,

9315-512: The large number and the extent of military operations since the beginning of the invasion. Reinforcements were thus dispatched to boost forces in the area, which placed a strain on the Japanese peacetime economy, leading Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe to reassemble his Cabinet in 1938 and to introduce the National Mobilization Law on 5 May that year, which moved Japan into a wartime economic state. Wuhan , located halfway upstream of

9430-448: The late 16th century, when its population was surpassed by those of Osaka and Edo . Before World War II, Kyoto vied with Kobe and Nagoya to rank as the fourth- or fifth-largest city in Japan. Having avoided most wartime destruction, it was again the third-largest city in 1947. By 1960 it had fallen to fifth again, and by 1990 it had fallen to seventh. As of January 2022 , it was the ninth-largest city in Japan by population and had led

9545-662: The main force of the Japanese Eleventh Army attacked along the southern shore of the Yangtze River. The Chinese garrison of the Madang river fortress repelled four Japanese assaults, but suffered casualties due to intense bombardment from Japanese ships on the Yangtze, as well as poison gas attacks. Due to a ceremony at a local military school, most of the Chinese officers responsible for Madang's defense were absent. Reinforcements were thus dispatched too late, and Madang fell after

9660-612: The mayor of Kyoto and the Kyoto City Assembly, a municipal council . The legislative city assembly has 67 elected members, and terms are four years in length. As of 2024, the assembly is controlled by a coalition of members affiliated with the Liberal Democratic Party , Komeito , and the Democratic Civic Forum. Between the founding of the modern city and 1898, the governor of Kyoto Prefecture also acted as

9775-521: The mayor of the city of Kyoto. From 1898 through the Second World War, mayors were nominated by the Kyoto City Assembly and appointed by the Minister of Home Affairs . Since 1947, mayors of Kyoto have been chosen by direct election to four-year terms. As of 2024, there have been ten mayors elected using this system. While some mayors have resigned or died in office, no mayor has lost a reelection bid in

9890-597: The neighboring city of Ōtsu , the capital of Shiga Prefecture . Within the city of Kyoto, the Tōzai Line also connects to the Keihan lines at Yamashina Station , Misasagi Station , and Sanjō Keihan Station , and to the Keifuku Electric Railroad at the terminal of Uzumasa Tenjingawa Station . Kyoto's municipal bus network is extensive. Private carriers also operate within the city. Many tourists join commuters on

10005-562: The onset of the engagements in Wuhan. The Chinese war effort was thus focused on protecting Wuhan from being occupied by the Japanese. The Japanese government and the headquarters of the China Expeditionary Army expected Wuhan to fall, along with the Chinese resistance, "within a month or two." In December 1937, the Military Affairs Commission was created to determine the battle plan for the defense of Wuhan. After

10120-665: The position but was ambushed and repulsed by the Chinese 32nd Army led by Shang Zhen in Baisui Street, west of Wanjialing. On 7 October, the Chinese Army mounted a final large-scale assault to encircle the Japanese troops. The battle continued for three days, and all of the Japanese counterattacks were repelled by the Chinese. By 10 October, the Japanese 106th Division, as well as the 9th, 27th, and 101st Divisions, which had gone to reinforce it, had suffered heavy casualties. The Aoki, Ikeda, Kijima, and Tsuda Brigades were also destroyed in

10235-898: The postwar period. In the 2024 Kyoto mayoral election , independent candidate Koji Matsui was elected for the first time, supported by the Liberal Democratic Party , Komeito , the Constitutional Democratic Party , and the Democratic Party for the People . Information technology and electronics are key industries in Kyoto. The city is home to the headquarters of Nintendo , Intelligent Systems , SCREEN Holdings , Tose , Hatena , Omron , Kyocera , Shimadzu , Rohm , Horiba , Nidec Corporation , Nichicon , Nissin Electric , and GS Yuasa . Domestic and international tourism contributes significantly to Kyoto's economy. In 2014,

10350-586: The public buses, or take tour buses. Kyoto's buses have announcements in English and electronic signs with stops written in the Latin alphabet. Buses operating on routes within the city, the region, and the nation stop at Kyōto Station . In addition to Kyōto Station, bus transfer is available at the intersection of Shijō Kawaramachi , Sanjō Keihan Station , and the intersection of Karasuma Kitaōji near Kitaōji Station . Because many older streets in Kyoto are narrow, there are

10465-578: The rank of lieutenant general in 1905 and became the commander of the IJA 1st Division in 1906, and the Imperial Guard Division in 1911. He was promoted to the rank of full general and became a Supreme War Councilor in 1912. He was further promoted to become the youngest field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army in 1919. In 1921, he accompanied then- Crown Prince Hirohito on his tour of Europe. On December 1, 1931, Prince Kan'in became Chief of

10580-503: The region before the 6th century, around which time the Shimogamo Shrine is believed to have been established. During the 8th century, when powerful Buddhist clergy became involved in the affairs of the imperial government, Emperor Kanmu chose to relocate the capital in order to distance it from the clerical establishment in Nara . His last choice for the site was the village of Uda, in

10695-585: The resignation of War Minister General Hata Shunroku (1879–1962), thus bringing down the Yonai cabinet in July 1940. The Prince was a participant in the liaison conferences between the military chiefs of staff and the second cabinet of Prince Konoe Fumimaro (June 1940–July 1941). Both he and Lieutenant General Hideki Tojo , the newly appointed War Minister, supported the Tripartite Pact and Anti-Comintern Pact between

10810-426: The river fortress of Tianjiazhen. Tianjiazhen was positioned at a natural choke point in the Yangtze river, with the banks being only 600m wide at its narrowest. To capitalize on this natural defense, the Chinese had built massive battlements and fortifications since the end of 1937, with help provided by Soviet advisors and thousands of local laborers. Manning Tianjiazhen were thousands of China's best troops from

10925-520: The southern bank of the Yangtze River, the Chinese Ninth War Zone had one regiment stationed west of Poyang Lake and another stationed in Jiujiang . To prevent a Japanese assault on Jiujiang, the Chinese had built defensive fortifications at Madang, including artillery emplacements, naval mines and bamboo river booms. On 24 June, the Japanese forces made a surprise landing in Madang, while

11040-529: The spring of 1938, he further authorized the use of sneezing gas , and from summer 1939, he approved the use of mustard gas against both Kuomintang and Communist Chinese troops. Prince Kan'in transmitted to the Army the emperor's first directive ( rinsanmei ) authorizing the use of chemical weapons on July 28, 1937. He transmitted a second order on September 11 authorizing the deployment of special chemical warfare units to Shanghai . On April 11, 1938, Directive Number 11

11155-481: The strategic value of Wuhan was greatly diminished. The Chinese Army, hoping to save its remaining forces, thus abandoned the city in October. The Japanese Army captured Wuchang and Hankou on 26 October and captured Hanyang on the 27th, which concluded the campaign in Wuhan. According to Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Seiya Matsuno, Emperor Shōwa authorized by specific orders ( rinsanmei ) the use of chemical weapons against

11270-468: The summer. Kyoto, like most of the Pacific coast and central areas of Japan, is prone to typhoons during the summer and autumn. In the 1870s, the city was divided into a northern ward (Kamigyō-ku) and a southern ward (Shimogyō-ku), each working as individual administrative divisions of Kyoto Prefecture. The modern municipality was created by the unification of these wards into the city of Kyoto in 1889. Due to

11385-646: The terminal of Kokusaikaikan Station and Takeda Station , and takes its name from the fact that trains run beneath Karasuma Street between Kitaōji Station in Kita-ku and Jūjō Station in Minami-ku. The Karasuma Line connects to the Hankyu Kyoto Main Line at the intersection of Shijō Karasuma in Kyoto's central business district and to JR lines and the Kyoto Kintetsu Line at Kyōto Station. In addition,

11500-641: The transfer of the imperial court to Tokyo in 1869 at the time of the Imperial Restoration . In the Sengoku period , the city suffered extensive destruction in the Ōnin War of 1467–1477, and did not really recover until the mid-16th century. During the war, battles between samurai factions spilled into the streets, and came to involve court nobility ( kuge ) and religious factions as well. Nobles' mansions were transformed into fortresses, deep trenches dug throughout

11615-582: The transport systems prevented the government from being able to complete the transfer. Wuhan thus became the "de facto wartime capital" of the Republic of China for its strong industrial, economic, and cultural foundations. Assistance from the Soviet Union provided additional military and technical resources, including the Soviet Volunteer Group. On the Japanese side, the IJA forces were drained by

11730-730: The trip from Hakata Station in Fukuoka to Kyoto takes just over three hours by the fastest train service Nozomi . All Shinkansen trains stop at Kyōto Station, including Hikari and Kodama trains. The Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau operates the Kyoto Municipal Subway consisting of two lines: the Karasuma Line and the Tōzai Line . The two lines are linked at Karasuma Oike Station near Kyoto's central business district. The Karasuma Line runs primarily north to south between

11845-569: The troops of Hu Zongnan, another general close to Chiang Kai-shek, would relieve them, but instead Hu led his troops away from the city." Japan also used poison gas against Chinese Muslim armies at the Battle of Wuyuan and the Battle of West Suiyuan . After four months of fighting, both the Chinese Air Force and the Chinese Navy were decimated since the IJA had captured Wuhan. However, the main Chinese land force remained largely intact, and

11960-510: The war, it decided to divert its attention to the north, which would prolong the war until the attack on Pearl Harbor . The end of the battle signaled the beginning of a strategic stalemate in the war, shifting from large pitched battles to localised struggles. On 7 July 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) launched a full-scale invasion of China after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident . Both Beijing and Tianjin had fallen to

12075-599: The way to Shanghai was controlled by another non-government Chinese force, led by Dai Li , who used guerrilla tactics in the suburbs of Shanghai and across the Huangpu River . The force was made up of secret society members of the Green Gang and the Tiandihui and killed spies and traitors. It lost more than 100 men during its operations. On 13 August, members of the force sneaked into the Japanese air base at Hongqiao and raised

12190-619: Was issued in his name, authorizing further use of poison gas in Inner Mongolia . In Shanxi Province, poisonous gases were used to counter the guerilla warfare of the 8th Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army. Large amounts of sneezing gas were utilized against the Chinese National Revolutionary Army at the Battle of Wuhan and in the Central China region. Lethal blister gases , such as yperite and lewisite , were deployed by Japanese forces after 1939. He forced

12305-472: Was largely spared from conventional bombing as well, although small-scale air raids did result in casualties. During the occupation, the U.S. Sixth Army and I Corps were headquartered in Kyoto. As a result, Kyoto is one of the few Japanese cities that still have an abundance of prewar buildings, such as the traditional townhouses known as machiya . However, modernization is continually breaking down traditional Kyoto in favor of newer architecture, such as

12420-498: Was one of the most intense air battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War. After the fall of Xuzhou in May 1938, the Japanese planned an extensive invasion of Hankou and the takeover of Wuhan, and intended to destroy the main force of the National Revolutionary Army. The Chinese, on the other hand, were building up their defensive efforts by massing troops in the Wuhan area. They also set up a defensive line in Henan to delay

12535-462: Was reinforced by the 32nd Army Group and initially halted the Japanese attack. However, when the Japanese 9th Division entered the fray, the Chinese defenders were exhausted, and Ruichang was captured on the 24th. The Japanese 9th Division and the Namita detachment continued to move along the river, and the Japanese 27th Division invaded Ruoxi at the same time. The Chinese 30th and 18th Corps resisted along

12650-443: Was slowed down significantly by multiple battles around Changsha in 1939 , 1941 , and 1942 . No more major offensives were launched until Operation Ichi-Go in 1944; between 1942 and 1944, limited Japanese offensives were mounted for the sole purpose of training recruits. The Chinese managed to preserve their strength to continue resisting the weakened IJA, which reduced its capability to respond to rising tensions between Japan and

12765-541: Was some consideration by the United States of targeting Kyoto with an atomic bomb at the end of World War II because of the possibility that the city's importance was great enough that its loss might persuade Japan to surrender. In the end, at the insistence of Henry L. Stimson , Secretary of War in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, the city was removed from the list of targets and replaced by Nagasaki . The city

12880-469: Was the capital of China, was threatened directly by the Japanese forces. The Nationalists were thus forced to declare the capital an open city while they began the process of moving the capital to Chongqing . With the fall of three major Chinese cities (Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai), there was a large number of refugees fleeing the fighting in addition to the government facilities and war supplies that needed to be transferred to Chongqing. Inadequacies in

12995-476: Was the main force in the northern route. It breached the Chinese 51st Army's defensive line and captured Liuan on 28 August. On 6 September, it captured Gushi and continued its advance westwards. The Chinese 27th Army Group and the 59th Army gathered in the Yellow River region to resist. After ten days of fighting, the Japanese crossed the Yellow River on 19 September. On the 21st, the Japanese 10th Division defeated

13110-693: Was the scene of several key events of the Muromachi period , Sengoku period , and the Boshin War , such as the Ōnin War , the Honnō-ji Incident , the Kinmon incident , and the Battle of Toba–Fushimi . The capital was relocated from Kyoto to Tokyo after the Meiji Restoration . The modern municipality of Kyoto was established in 1889. The city was spared from large-scale destruction during World War II and, as

13225-495: Was the second intact A5M to be recovered, repaired, and flight-tested in the war, the first recovered-intact A5M having been one downed by Colonel Gao Zhihang during an air battle over Nanjing on 12 October 1937. On 3 August 1938, 52 Chinese fighters, with 20 I-15s, 13 I-16s, 11 Gloster Gladiators , and 7 Hawk IIIs intercepted at least 29 A5M fighters and 18 G3M bombers over Hankou. The former Guangxi warlord air force pilot Zhu Jiaxun and his squadron-mate, He Jermin, along with

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