Kyoto Station Bus Terminal Live Cam

History

Kyoto’s storied past unfolds like a scroll painting, stretching back to the year 794 CE when Emperor Kanmu moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō—modern-day Kyoto. As the imperial seat for over a millennium, Kyoto became the beating heart of Japanese culture, courtly refinement, and religious scholarship. The city’s narrow streets still echo with echoes of court nobles clad in layered silk robes, while the iconic torii gates of Fushimi Inari Shrine stand as silent sentinels to centuries of pilgrimage. When researching “Kyoto history” or “ancient Japan,” travelers often discover that Kyoto was not only the political center but also the birthplace of Genji culture, whose influence permeated poetry, tea ceremony, and classical Japanese literature.