Hello to my few readers out there. I apologize for my long absence or failure to update this blog. I already had my Kyōto stay in October of this year when good friends visited me, but I was/am very busy due to my upcoming graduation. My dissertation, the organisational side and my return plans keep me busy, so that I have only found a little time to write these articles during the holidays.
This time I went to Kyōto. Since this is a little bit longer ago, I can’t get all place names together, so I publish these (unnamed) places in this general article. Kyōto is one of the most important cities in Japan, not only today but also in the past. Kyōto was for a long time the 2nd capital of Japan and the center of political power. Since 794 A.D. Kyōto has been the seat of the emperor, even though the power was mostly with the shoguns. It was not until 1580 AD under the Shogun Hideyoshi that the decay of Kyōtos came to an end and also the construction of temples and shrines within the city was allowed, for which Kyōto is famous today. The fact that Kyōto is still existing in its form is due to the Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, at whose insistence Kyōto was removed from the list of possible nuclear bomb targets, as he had experienced its cultural value himself.
No Comments