KYOTO KAIKAN (KYOTO HALL) Kyoto Kaikan is a multipurpose building used for national and international meetings, for exhibitions, and as a concert hall and a theater. Built in 1960 by architect Maekawa Kunio, a pupil of Le Corbusier, it contains two concert chambers and a large conference hall for 2,500 people. It is a center for musical performances for the city.
KYOTO MUNICIPAL ZOO The zoo is the second largest in Japan after Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo. Created in 1903, it lies behind the Kyoto Municipal Art Museum to the east of Jingumichi-dori in Okazaki Park at the foot of the Higashiyama mountains. It is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Closed on Mondays. Its cherry trees in spring and maples in autumn provide a colorful backdrop to the zoo and the 700 animals within its spacious grounds. Entry fee.
BUTOKU-EN (MARTIAL VIRTUE HALL)
Built in 1935, the Center for the Traditional Martial Arts is located in the northwest corner of the Okazaki cultural complex. It serves as a school for fencing, jujutsu and archery every day except Sunday and holidays. The annual competition in these skills is held here from May 4th each year. The building is on the west side of the Heian Shrine.
4 HEIAN SHRINE
Heian Shrine (Heian Jingu), regarded as one of Kyoto’s must-see sites, is located in the northern portion of the Okazaki cultural area. Kyoto had been the Imperial capital of Japan from 794 until the capital was moved in 1868 to Tokyo on the demise of the rule by the Tokugawa Shoguns and the beginning of the Meiji Restoration. The loss of the seat of government was a shock to the citizens of Kyoto as the city had been the Imperial and cultural center of the nation for over 1,000 years. The combination of the court and the great temples had enlivened and enriched the life of the city; now only the temples remained and they were under attack from a new government that was oriented to the Shinto faith and was anti-Buddhist. The court may have disappeared, but Kyoto’s heritage could not be ignored. In 1892, to celebrate the 1,100th anniversary of the founding of the city, it was decided to re-erect a scaled-down version of the Daigoku-den, the Palace of the Hall of State, of the original capital of 794. Instead of creating the replica on the site of the initial palace in the north-central area of the city (north of Nijo Castle), it was decided to place the project in the Okazaki area.
The rebuilt smaller edition of the Hall of State was dedicated to the memory of the Emperor Kammu (736–805) who had created the city of Heian-kyo (Kyoto) in 794. Then, in 1940, under wartime nationalism, the Emperor Komei (reigned 1831–67), the father of the Emperor Meiji and the last emperor to reside permanently in Kyoto as the capital, was enshrined here also. Thus the spirits of these two emperors are in the Heian Jingu shrine Honden (Spirit Hall). The rebuilt Daigoku-den (Great Hall of State) burned in 1976 and was reconstructed three years later. The creation of a portion of the palace of Heian-kyo in 1895 was accomplished on a two-thirds scale of the original structure. Rebuilt were the Daigoku-den, the East and West Main Halls, the Ote-mon (Main Gate), the corridors connecting the Ote-mon and the Daigoku-den, and the Soryu and Byakko towers of the corridors. A purification water basin lies to the left front of the Ote-mon Gate outside of the grounds proper. A huge concrete torii, bearing the Imperial 16-petal chrysanthemum in gold, was added in 1929 a good distance down Jingu-mich-dori from the shrine. The torii stands 80 feet (24 m) high. The top rail is 111 feet (33.3 m) long.
Heian Shrine was built in 1895 to commemorate the 1,100th anniversary of the founding of Kyoto.
The shrine (and this is a Shinto shrine with a worship area at the innermost portion of the grounds) is entered through the Otemon, a two-story gate that is a replica of the main gate into the original palace grounds. This vermilion painted structure with a blue tile roof has corridors extending to the east and west and thence to the north toward the Daigoku-den. The East and West Main Halls stand before the north–south corridors just beyond the Ote-mon. The ground of the fore-court between the corridors, the gate and the Daigoku-den to the north is covered with a white sand. At the end of the north–south corridors are two towers in the Chinese style, the Soryu-ro (Blue Dragon) on the east (right) and the Byakko-ro (White Tiger) on the west. In front of the Ote-mon to the west is a roofed purification basin.
At the far end of the courtyard is the Daigoku-den, which was the main government hall where the emperor held official business of state. When the Daigoku-den burned in 1177, it was never replaced—until this scaled-down version was created. The present building is 110 feet (33 m) long, 40 feet (12 m) wide and 55 feet (15.5 m) high. As with the Ote-mon, the structure is vermilion with a blue tile roof. Before the hall, to the east side of its front steps, is a cherry tree, while to the west is a citrus tree, two traditional plantings as existed in the early days of the palace.
The Honden (Spirit Hall), which holds the spirits of the two emperors, is behind the Daigoku-den. Its innermost sector is an un-painted structure of hinoki (cypress) wood, 27 feet (8.1 m) by 28 feet (98.4 m) (not open to the public). It is surrounded by a wooden fence. The Honden was constructed in traditional Shinto style with vermilion posts and beams, white plaster, green barred windows and a tiled roof. Before the Honden is the Haiden (Prayer Hall), where people facing the Honden can pray.
The entry to the magnificent garden (fee) is to the left when facing the Daigoku-den. The garden was, of course, designed by a modern landscape gardener, Ogawa Jihei, but he attempted to keep to the spirit of Heian gardens. The huge 323,000 square foot (29,000 sq m) garden is centered on a large pond, the Seihogai-ike, as would have been true 1,000 years ago. The first part of the garden is a stroll garden with many cherry trees and eventually a small pond. The path then leads on to the Seiho Lake which is connected with the Soryu-ike (Pond of the Green Dragon) by the Garyu-kyo (Dragon Stepping Stones), which provide a “path” across the water. (These stones once formed the base to the Sanjo-dori Bridge from Hide-yoshi’s time. They became available when the bridge was modernized at the end of the 19th century.) A roofed bridge built about 1910, the Taihei-kaku (Bridge of Peace) in the Chinese style, crosses the lake. It is topped by a phoenix, and it bears a resemblance in style to both the Gold and Silver Pavilions. The garden is lovely in all seasons: in spring when the weeping cherry trees and azaleas are in bloom, in summer when the iris and water lilies provide a visual delight, in autumn when the color of the maples enriches the gardens, and in winter when snow blankets the buildings and garden. The cherry trees can be found in the south garden.
A carp-filled pond in the garden at Heian Shrine.
NORTH OF HEIAN SHRINE Continuing north beyond Okazaki Park, we come to the area in which Kyoto University has its various buildings and then several temples and shrines of note.
KYOTO UNIVERSITY Founded in 1869, Kyoto University became one of two new national universities created for a nation attempting to align its future with the Western world (the other was Tokyo University). Previously, Confucian ethics, Buddhist lore and Shinto beliefs provided the under-girding for much of Japanese culture and learning. After the appearance of the American “Black Ships,” it became obvious not only that knowledge of scientific advances occurring in the West was essential for the development of Japanese industry, but that a knowledge of Western society, its history and its goals were needed as well if Japan were to become a part of a world on which for so many centuries it had turned its back. Such knowledge was to be imparted to the most able of young Japanese in Kyoto by its new university. Thus it made a major contribution to the modernization of Japan, as it still does today.
Kyoto University has continued to develop and to expand between the Kamo River and Yoshida Hill for more than a century. Today, it boasts of world-class academics as well as an international flavor. The university