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[[File:Ginkaku.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The Silver Pavilion at [[Ginkaku-ji]], and rock garden, built by Shogun [[Ashikaga Yoshimasa]] in [[1482]].]]

[[File:Ginkaku.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The Silver Pavilion at [[Ginkaku-ji]], and rock garden, built by Shogun [[Ashikaga Yoshimasa]] in [[1482]].]]

[[File:Owariya.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The [[Owari-ya]] [[soba]] shop, established [[1465]].]]

[[File:Owariya.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The [[Owari-ya]] [[soba]] shop, established [[1465]].]]

Heian-kyô was built with the express purpose of becoming the seat of Imperial power, and became the capital in 794, marking the end of the [[Nara Period]].

Heian-kyô was built with the express purpose of becoming the seat of Imperial power, and became the capital in 794, marking the end of the [[Nara Period]]. It quickly grew into a great city of one or two hundred thousand people, including a few thousand ''[[kuge]]'' (court nobles). The Heian period city consisted chiefly of large wooden mansions of the elites, which also housed numerous servants and the like; commoners less closely associated with the elites lived mostly in bark-and-wattle homes in the backstreets.<ref>[[Conrad Totman]], ''Early Modern Japan'', University of California Press (1993), 25.</ref>

It served as the political capital, and as the economic, religious, and cultural center of the archipelago, until 1185, when the [[Minamoto clan]] established the first [[shogunate]] in [[Kamakura]]. Kyoto would continue to be of great importance economically, culturally, and religiously, but would not, with brief exceptions, serve again as the sole political center.

It served as the political capital, and as the economic, religious, and cultural center of the archipelago, until 1185, when the [[Minamoto clan]] established the first [[shogunate]] in [[Kamakura]]. Kyoto would continue to be of great importance economically, culturally, and religiously, but would not, with brief exceptions, serve again as the sole political center.

It was during the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, around [[1590]]-[[1592]], that Kyoto saw considerable reconstruction efforts. The street grid was restored in some areas, or redefined in other areas (i.e. new streets were constructed). Maeda Gen'i, Hideyoshi's deputy in the city, oversaw the construction in [[1591]] of an earthen embankment, or ''[[odoi]]'', which defined the official borders of the city, dividing the area into ''rakuchû'' ("inside the capital") and ''rakugai'' ("outside the capital"). Between Hideyoshi's efforts, and those undertaken by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] in the early decades of the 17th century, the city came to be reorganized, with many important institutions relocated, and districts defined or redefined to be inhabited by members of a particular social class.

It was during the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, around [[1590]]-[[1592]], that Kyoto saw considerable reconstruction efforts. The street grid was restored in some areas, or redefined in other areas (i.e. new streets were constructed). Maeda Gen'i, Hideyoshi's deputy in the city, oversaw the construction in [[1591]] of an earthen embankment, or ''[[odoi]]'', which defined the official borders of the city, dividing the area into ''rakuchû'' ("inside the capital") and ''rakugai'' ("outside the capital"). Between Hideyoshi's efforts, and those undertaken by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] in the early decades of the 17th century, the city came to be reorganized, with many important institutions relocated, and districts defined or redefined to be inhabited by members of a particular social class.

Along with [[Edo]] and [[Osaka]], Kyoto was one of the archipelago's three primary centers of commerce and urban commoner culture during the Edo period. Not a part of any daimyô's [[han|domain]], Kyoto was governed by a shogunate official called the ''[[Kyoto shoshidai]]'', who oversaw the city's administrative affairs on behalf of the shogunate. Boasting a sizeable population of roughly 200,000 by the end of the 16th century, Kyoto's population nearly doubled to roughly 350,000-400,000 over the course of the Edo period.<ref name=moriya/> ''[[Ukiyo-e]]'', [[kabuki]], ''[[joruri|jôruri]]'' (puppet theatre), and various new forms of literature, along with the various arts and entertainments of the pleasure districts, thrived alongside older, more traditional arts, many of them developing into distinct forms and styles exclusive to Kyoto, reflecting a decidedly more reserved, traditional, and slower pace and lifestyle than their Edo and Osaka cousins.

Along with [[Edo]] and [[Osaka]], Kyoto was one of the archipelago's three primary centers of commerce and urban commoner culture during the Edo period. Not a part of any daimyô's [[han|domain]], Kyoto was governed by a shogunate official called the ''[[Kyoto shoshidai]]'', who oversaw the city's administrative affairs on behalf of the shogunate. Boasting a sizeable population of roughly 200,000 by the end of the 16th century, Kyoto's population nearly doubled to roughly 350,000-400,000 over the course of the Edo period.<ref name=moriya/> ''[[Ukiyo-e]]'', [[kabuki]], ''[[joruri|jôruri]]'' (puppet theatre), and various new forms of literature, along with the various arts and entertainments of the pleasure districts, thrived alongside older, more traditional arts, many of them developing into distinct forms and styles exclusive to Kyoto, reflecting a decidedly more reserved, traditional, and slower pace and lifestyle than their Edo and Osaka cousins. By the [[Edo period]], if not earlier, Kyoto's commoner cityscape came to be dominated by ''[[machiya]]'' townhouses - wooden structures which ran deep back into each city block, often housing the family business in the front areas (''omote'') facing the street, and the family home in the rear/interior (''oku'') parts of the building.

As always a major religious center, Tokugawa era Kyoto boasted seven or eight thousand [[Buddhist temples]] and [[Shinto shrines]], the city being therefore home to tens of thousands of Shinto priests and Buddhist monks and nuns.<ref name=moriya/>

As always a major religious center, Tokugawa era Kyoto boasted seven or eight thousand [[Buddhist temples]] and [[Shinto shrines]], the city being therefore home to tens of thousands of Shinto priests and Buddhist monks and nuns.<ref name=moriya/>