Kioto (often called Miako, the native equivalent of the Chinese Kioto, capital, the real name being Heian or Heianjo), a city and long the capital of Japan, in the S. W. part of the main island, on the Kamogawa, 235 m. S. W. of Tokio (Yedo), and 25 m. N. E. of Ozaka; pop. in 1872, 567,334. It is one of the three fu or imperial cities of Japan. It is in a broad plain encircled by mountains which are covered with groves, gardens, temples, and pagodas. The Kamo, which flows through the city, is a stream of pure water crossed by numerous wooden bridges and a magnificent one of iron erected in 1873. The river bed is in a large extent dry in summer, and the people use it as a pleasure ground. The houses, mostly of one story, are very neat; the streets, which run at right angles, are exceedingly clean, and through many of them flow streams of pure water. It is especially famous for its temples. There are numerous monasteries and nunneries in the city, which in 1872 contained 2,413 Shinto shrines and 3,514 Buddhist temples. The now deserted palace of the mikado and the dwellings of the kuge or court nobles lie in a space enclosed by a wall of tiles and plaster, painted in longitudinal stripes of buff and white.

The castle of Nijo, formerly belonging to the shogun (tycoon), is in the central part of the W. side of the city, and is now used as the town hall. Kioto is famous for its manufactures of lacquered articles, silk stuffs, porcelain, metal vases and ornaments, and decorated weapons. It contains a school of foreign languages and sciences, besides many native schools. It is connected with Tokio and Nagasaki by telegraph. The railway to Ozaka is not yet finished. Its importance as a literary centre has passed away. - From the earliest period, the capital of Japan has been fixed near or in Kioto, though it was not made the permanent capital till A. D. 794. So universally was it looked upon as the political as well as the literary and ecclesiastical centre of the empire, that the five adjacent provinces were named the Kinai, or home provinces, and the other portions of the empire were divided and named with reference to their direction from it, and the methods of communication by road and canal were arranged with regard to it. In 1864 a conflict, which lasted for several days, took place in and around the mikado's palace, during which nearly the whole city was burned.

In 1868 the mikado took up his permanent residence in Yedo, which was thereupon called Tokio (eastern capital), while Kioto was named Saikio (western capital), a name which it now popularly retains.