Transportation[edit]

See also: Transport in Keihanshin

Railways[edit]

The interior of Kyōto Station

Kyoto is served by rail transportation systems operated by several different

companies and organizations. The city's main gateway terminal, Kyōto Station,
connects the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train line with five JR West lines, a
Kintetsu line, and a municipal subway line.

The Keihan Electric Railway, the Hankyu Railway, and other rail networks also
offer frequent services within the city and to other cities and suburbs in the Kinki
region. Although Kyoto does not have its own commercial airport, the limited
express Haruka operated by JR West carries passengers from Kansai
[43]
International Airport to Kyōto Station in 73 minutes.

The Kyoto Railway Museum in Shimogyō-ku, operated by JR West, displays many

steam, diesel, and electric locomotives used in Japan from the 1880s to the
present.

High-speed rail[edit]

The Tokaidō Shinkansen, operated by JR Central, provides high-speed rail

service linking Kyoto with Nagoya, Yokohama, and Tokyo to the east and with
nearby Osaka to the west. Beyond Osaka, many trains boarding at Kyoto
continue on the San'yō Shinkansen route managed by JR West, providing access
to cities including Kobe, Okayama, Hiroshima, Kitakyushu, and Fukuoka. The trip
from Tokyo to Kyoto takes around 2.5 hours, and the trip from Hakata Station in
Fukuoka to Kyoto takes just over three hours by the fastest train service Nozomi.
All Shinkansen trains stop at Kyōto Station, including Hikari and Kodama trains.

Conventional lines[edit]
 Railway map around Kyoto City

Hankyu Railway
● Hankyu Arashiyama Line
● Hankyu Kyoto Main Line
Keihan Electric Railway
● Keihan Main Line
● Keihan Ōtō Line
● Keihan Keishin Line
● Keihan Uji Line
Kintetsu Railway
● Kintetsu Kyoto Line
Sagano Scenic Railway
● Sagano Scenic Line
West Japan Railway Company (JR West)
● Kosei Line
● Nara Line
● San'in Main Line (Sagano Line)
● Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kyoto Line/Biwako Line)
Subways[edit]

Main article: Kyoto Municipal Subway

 A Karasuma Line subway train at Takeda Station

The Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau operates the Kyoto Municipal

Subway consisting of two lines: the Karasuma Line and the Tōzai Line. The two
lines are linked at Karasuma Oike Station near Kyoto's central business district.

The Karasuma Line runs primarily north to south between the terminal of
Kokusaikaikan Station and Takeda Station, and takes its name from the fact that
trains run beneath Karasuma Street between Kitaōji Station in Kita-ku and Jūjō
Station in Minami-ku. The Karasuma Line connects to the Hankyu Kyoto Main
Line at the intersection of Shijō Karasuma in Kyoto's central business district and
to JR lines and the Kyoto Kintetsu Line at Kyōto Station. In addition, the
Transportation Bureau and Kintetsu jointly operate through services which
continue to Kintetsu Nara Station in Nara, the capital city of Nara Prefecture.

The Tōzai Line runs from the southeastern area of the city towards the center,
then east to west (tōzai in Japanese) through the Kyoto downtown area where
trains run beneath the east–west streets of Sanjō Street, Oike Street, and Oshikōji
Street [ja]. The Keihan Keishin Line has been integrated into this line, and thus
Keihan provides through services to Hamaōtsu in the neighboring city of Ōtsu,
the capital of Shiga Prefecture. Within the city of Kyoto, the Tōzai Line also
connects to the Keihan lines at Yamashina Station, Misasagi Station, and Sanjō
Keihan Station, and to the Keifuku Electric Railroad at the terminal of Uzumasa
Tenjingawa Station.

Tramways[edit]

Eizan Electric Railway (Eiden)

● Eizan Kurama Line
● Eizan Main Line
Keifuku Electric Railroad (Randen)
● Keifuku Arashiyama Main Line
● Keifuku Kitano Line
Buses[edit]

A typical Kyoto Municipal Bus

Kyoto's municipal bus network is extensive. Private carriers also operate within
the city. Many tourists join commuters on the public buses, or take tour buses.
Kyoto's buses have announcements in English and electronic signs with stops
written in the Latin alphabet. Buses operating on routes within the city, the
region, and the nation stop at Kyōto Station. In addition to Kyōto Station, bus
transfer is available at the intersection of Shijō Kawaramachi, Sanjō Keihan
Station, and the intersection of Karasuma Kitaōji near Kitaōji Station.

Roads and waterways[edit]

Shijō Street

Because many older streets in Kyoto are narrow, there are a significant number
of one-way roads without sidewalks. Cycling is a common form of personal
transportation in the city, although there are few areas set aside for bicycle
parking and bicycles parked in restricted areas are impounded.

Kyoto has fewer toll-highways than other Japanese cities of comparable size.
There are nine national highways in the city of Kyoto: Route 1, Route 8, Route 9,
Route 24, Route 162, Route 171, Route 367, Route 477, and Route 478.

The city is connected with other parts of Japan by the Meishin Expressway,
which has two interchanges in the city: Kyoto-higashi Interchange (Kyoto East) in
Yamashina-ku and Kyoto-minami Interchange [ja] (Kyoto South) in Fushimi-ku.
The Kyoto Jūkan Expressway connects the city to the northern regions of Kyoto
Prefecture. The Second Keihan Highway is another bypass to Osaka.
Traditionally, trade and haulage took place by waterway, and there continue to be
a number of navigable rivers and canals in Kyoto. In contemporary Kyoto,
however, waterways are no longer commonly used for transportation of
passengers or goods, other than for limited sightseeing purposes such as
excursion boats on the Hozu River and cormorant fishing boats on the Ōi River.

Culture[edit]

A tsukemono shop on Nishiki Street

Although ravaged by wars, fires, and earthquakes during its eleven centuries as
[citation needed]
the imperial capital, Kyoto suffered only minor damage in World War
[44][45]
II. Kyoto remains Japan's cultural center. About 20% of Japan's National
Treasures and 14% of Important Cultural Properties exist in the city proper. The
government of Japan relocated the Agency for Cultural Affairs to Kyoto in 2023.
[46]

Geisha in Kyoto

With its 2,000 religious places – 1,600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines,
as well as palaces, gardens and architecture intact – it is one of the best
preserved cities in Japan. Among the most famous temples in Japan are
Kiyomizu-dera, a magnificent wooden temple supported by pillars off the slope of
a mountain; Kinkaku-ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion; Ginkaku-ji, the Temple
of the Silver Pavilion; and Ryōan-ji, famous for its rock garden. The Heian Jingū
is a Shinto shrine, built in 1895, celebrating the imperial family and
commemorating the first and last emperors to reside in Kyoto. Three special sites
have connections to the imperial family: the Kyoto Gyoen area including the
Kyoto Imperial Palace and Sentō Imperial Palace, homes of the emperors of
Japan for many centuries; Katsura Imperial Villa, one of the nation's finest
architectural treasures; and Shugakuin Imperial Villa, one of its best Japanese
gardens. In addition, the temple of Sennyu-ji houses the tombs of the emperors
from Shijō to Kōmei.

Other sites in Kyoto include Arashiyama, the Gion and Ponto-chō geisha
quarters, the Philosopher's Walk, and the canals that line some of the older
streets.

The "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto" are listed by the UNESCO as a World
Heritage Site. These include the Kamo Shrines (Kami and Shimo), Kyō-ō-Gokokuji
(Tō-ji), Kiyomizu-dera, Daigo-ji, Ninna-ji, Saihō-ji (Kokedera), Tenryū-ji, Rokuon-ji
(Kinkaku-ji), Jishō-ji (Ginkaku-ji), Ryōan-ji, Hongan-ji, Kōzan-ji, and the Nijō
Castle, primarily built by the Tokugawa shōguns. Other sites outside the city are
also on the list.

Kyoto is renowned for its abundance of delicious Japanese foods and

cuisine. The special circumstances of Kyoto as a city away from the
sea and home to many Buddhist temples resulted in the
development of a variety of vegetables peculiar to the Kyoto area (京
野菜, kyō-yasai). The oldest restaurant in Kyoto is Honke Owariya which was
[47]
founded in 1465.

Japan's television and film industry has its center in Kyoto. Many jidaigeki, action
[48]
films featuring samurai, were shot at Toei Uzumasa Eigamura. A film set and
theme park in one, Eigamura features replicas of traditional Japanese buildings,
which are used for jidaigeki. Among the sets are a replica of the old Nihonbashi
(the bridge at the entry to Edo), a traditional courthouse, a Meiji Period police box
and part of the former Yoshiwara red-light district. Actual film shooting takes
place occasionally, and visitors are welcome to observe the action.

The dialect spoken in Kyoto is known as Kyō-kotoba or Kyōto-ben, a constituent

dialect of the Kansai dialect. Until the late Edo period, the Kyoto dialect was the
de facto standard Japanese, although it has since been replaced by modern
standard Japanese. Traditional Kyoto expressions include the polite copula dosu,
the honorific verb ending -haru, and the greeting phrase okoshi-yasu.