Kyoto: Cultural Capital of Japan

京都（きょうと　Kyoto） is located in Kyoto Prefecture, Kansai Region, Japan. Kyoto is considered the cultural capital of Japan and is a major tourist destination. [1] It was once the capital city of ancient Japan, originally named as 平安京（へいあんきょう　Heian Capital）, since 794. This lasted to 1868, when the capital city became to Tokyo.

Kyoto on the Map

The original Heian Capital was arranged in accordance with traditional Chinese "feng shui" following the model of the ancient Chinese capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang. [1] Kyoto was luckily spared from large-scale destruction during World War II, and as a result, its prewar cultural heritage has mostly been preserved. Surprisingly, it (together with 奈良（なら　Nara）) now even becomes to important cultural heritages for research on certain ancient Chinese buildings, constructions, etc., since there are very few ancient structures left in China from similar eras. Both Kyoto and Nara now preserve a lot of ancient Chinese (around Tang Dynasty) style structures, which are pretty precious for both Japanese and Chinese people.

Diagram of Heian Capital (left) and Ancient Chang'an (right), Both Around 7th to 8th Century

P.S., modern Kyoto and Xi'an now look much different from these figures

This leads to some of the most famous sites in Kyoto. The Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto were inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1994.

Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺　きよみずでら; left) and Nijō Castle (二条城　にじょうじょう; right)

Built in A.D. 794 on the model of the capitals of ancient China, Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan from its foundation until the middle of the 19th century. As the centre of Japanese culture for more than 1,000 years, Kyoto illustrates the development of Japanese wooden architecture, particularly religious architecture, and the art of Japanese gardens, which has influenced landscape gardening the world over. 

by UNESCO Description [2]

Reference:

[1] Kyoto - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto

[2] Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) - UNESCO World Heritage Centre. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/688/