page_title: Heian-kyō
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Heian-kyō / Description
caption_attribution_description: Miniature Model of Saiji, Heiankyo. 平安京の西寺 復元模型（平安京創世館）
context_page_description: Heian-kyō was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180.
  Emperor Kanmu established it as the capital in 794, moving the Imperial Court there from nearby Nagaoka-kyō at the recommendation of his advisor Wake no Kiyomaro and marking the beginning of the Heian period of Japanese history. The city was modelled after the Tang dynasty Chinese capital of Chang'an. It remained the chief political center until 1185, when the samurai Minamoto clan defeated the Taira clan in the Genpei War, moving administration of national affairs to Kamakura and establishing the Kamakura shogunate.
  Though political power would be wielded by the samurai class over the course of three different shogunates, Heian remained the site of the Imperial Court and seat of Imperial power, and thus remained the official capital. In fact, even after the seat of Imperial power was moved to Tokyo in 1868, since there is no law which makes Tokyo the capital, there is a view that Kyoto legally or officially remains the capital even today.
context_section_description: Heian-kyō was built in what is now the central part of Kyoto city covering an area spanning the Kadono (葛野郡, Kadono-gun) and Otagi Districts (愛宕郡, Otagi-gun) of Yamashiro Province. The city boundaries formed a rectangle measuring 4.5 km from east to west and 5.2 km from north to south. The city layout followed Heijō-kyō (Japan's capital during the Nara period) with the Imperial palace, Daidairi, placed in the centre of the northern city limits and the Suzaku Avenue (Suzaku-ōji), the main thoroughfare extending from the palace down through the centre of the city, dividing it into the Right (Ukyō) and Left Capitals (Sakyō) (the eastern side being the Left and the western side being the Right from the emperor's viewpoint.) The design followed Sui and Tang dynasty Changan with the exception that Heian-kyō had no city walls. It is thought that the site for the city was selected according to the principles of Shijinsōō (四神相応, "Four Gods Suitability") based on Chinese Feng shui and relating to the Four Symbols of Chinese astrology.
  The boundaries of Heian-kyō were smaller than those of modern Kyoto, with Ichijō-ōji (一条大路) at the northern limit corresponding to present-day Ichijō-dōri (一条通), between Imadegawa-dōri (今出川通) and Marutamachi-dōri (丸太町通), Kyūjō-ōji in the south corresponding to Kujō-dōri (九条通) slightly to the south of the present-day JR Kyōto Station and Higashi-kyōgoku-ōji in the east corresponding to present-day Teramachi Street (Teramachi-dōri). The location of Nishi-kyōgoku-ōji at the western limit is estimated as a line running north to south from Hanazono Station on the JR San'in Main Line to Nishi-Kyōgoku Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line.
  The layout of Heian-kyō was plotted in accordance with the principles of geomancy as a square city. Jō (丈, about 3.03m) was the basic unit of measurement. 40 sq. jō made a chō (町, 121.2 meters on each side). The city was further divided by major streets called ōji (大路) and minor streets called koji (小路). Four lines of chō running east to west (excepting the first 2 rows in the north) were together called a jō (条) and four lines of chō running from north to south were called a bō (坊) The Cho which shared the same Jo and Bo were each given a number from 1 to 16. In this way addresses could be identified as follows: "Right Capital, Jō Five, Bō Two, Chō Fourteen" (右京五条二坊十四町).
  The width of even the minor streets was 4 Jō (丈, about 12m) and for the major streets over 8 Jō (丈, about 24m). Almost all of the streets in present-day Kyoto have become considerably narrower. Suzaku-ōji for example was 28 Jō (丈, about 84m) wide. In addition a river ran alongside Horikawa-koji (堀川小路) and Nishi Horikawa-koji (西堀川小路).
caption: Miniature model of the ancient capital Heian-kyō
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