Kyoto tourist information

The Tokaido Shinkansen provides passenger rail service linking Kyoto with Nagoya and Tokyo (in one direction) and with nearby Osaka and points west (in the other direction). The trip from Tokyo takes just over two hours. Another way to access Kyoto is via Kansai International Airport. The Haruka Express carries passengers from the airport to Kyoto Station in 72 minutes. There is also frequent service on JR, Keihan Railway, Hankyu Railway, Kintetsu, and other lines to other cities in the Kansai region.

Kyoto's municipal bus network and subway system are extensive. Private carriers also operate within the city. Many tourists join commuters on the public buses, or take taxis or tour buses.

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Cycling forms a very important form of personal transportation in the city, to an extent that bicycle culture can be considered a part of Kyoto's urban identity. The geography and scale of the city are such that the city may be easily navigated on a bicycle.

The streets of central Kyoto form a grid. Many large east-west avenues have numbers. Kyoto Station lies between Shichijo and Hachijo (shichi means "seven" and hachi means "eight). Major north-south roads have names such as Karasuma and Horikawa. Kyoto Station is on Karasuma, and the subway system's Karasuma Line follows that street north and south from the station, with stops at many numbered avenues, and also at Imadegawa (a major street). The other line, the Tozai Line, runs east-west partly under Oike Street.

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Though archaeological evidence places the first human settlement on the islands of Japan to approximately 10,000 BC, relatively little is known about human activity in the area before the 6th century. During the 8th century, when the powerful Buddhist clergy became meddlesome in the affairs of the Imperial government, the Emperor chose to relocate the capital to a region far from the Buddhist influence.

The new city, Heiankyo ( "Heian capital") became the seat of Japan's imperial court in 794. Later, the city was renamed to Kyoto ("capital city"). Kyoto remained Japan's capital until the transfer of the government to Edo in 1868 at the time of the Imperial Restoration. (Some believe that it is still the legal capital) After Edo was renamed to Tokyo (meaning "Eastern Capital"), Kyoto was known for a short time as Saikyo ( Saikyo, meaning "Western Capital").

An obsolete spelling for the city's name is Kiouto; it was formerly known to the West as Meaco or Miako.

Although there was some consideration by the United States of targeting Kyoto with the atomic bomb at the end of World War II, in the end it was decided to remove the city from the list of targets.

Kyoto is the only large Japanese city that still has an abundance of prewar buildings, such as machiya (traditional townhouses). However, modernization is continually breaking down the traditional Kyoto in favor of newer architecture, such as the controversial Kyoto Station complex.

Kyoto became a city designated by government ordinance on September 1, 1956. In 1997, Kyoto hosted the conference that resulted in the protocol on greenhouse gas emissions that bears the city's name.