Kyoto
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kyoto (京都) is a city in Japan. This city was the capital of Japan from 794 till 1868. In those days, the Japanese Emperors lived in this city.
Now, Kyoto is a major city of the Kansai area of Japan. Its population is 1.5 million people. The city of Kyoto is the capital of a bigger place, the prefecture of Kyoto. Kyoto is one of the cultural, educational and technology centers of Japan. In it are many universities including Kyoto University, the second oldest national university of Japan.
There are mountains around the city on the east, north, and west sides. Some people in Kyoto believe that these mountains make Kyoto's summer especially hot and humid, and Kyoto's winter very cold.
We can see many temples and shrines built in traditional Japanese architectural styles here. Some of those buildings are registered as World Heritage sites of UNESCO. On the other hand, since Kyoto was one of biggest and wealthiest Japanese cities in the middle of the 19th century; the citizens were eager to import European style and there are many European style buildings in the center of Kyoto for company offices and schools.
Kyoto is one of oldest cities in Japan. Many tourists from all over the world come to Kyoto. Japanese people often come to Kyoto in the spring to see the cherry blossoms, and in the autumn to see the leaves change color.
Traditional Kyoto food often uses vegetables.
Kyoto is famous for three great festivals: Gion festival, Aoi festival in the summer and Jidai festival in the autumn.
