Modern period[edit]

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expansion. You can help
by adding to it. (June 2024)

At the start of the Meiji period, the emperor's move from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1869
weakened the economy of Kyoto. The modern city of Kyoto was formed on April 1,
1889. The construction of Lake Biwa Canal in 1890 was one measure taken to revive
[12]
the city. The population of the city exceeded one million in 1932.

● Gallery

●
[13]
View of Kyoto from beside the Hondō of Kiyomizudera – 1870s
●

Nanzenji aqueduct
Contemporary history[edit]

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expansion. You can help
by adding to it. (June 2024)
 Kyoto International Conference Center

There was some consideration by the United States of targeting Kyoto with an atomic
bomb at the end of World War II because of the possibility that the city's importance was
[14]
great enough that its loss might persuade Japan to surrender. In the end, at the
insistence of Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War in the Roosevelt and Truman
administrations, the city was removed from the list of targets and replaced by Nagasaki.
The city was largely spared from conventional bombing as well, although small-scale air
[15]
raids did result in casualties. During the occupation, the U.S. Sixth Army and I Corps
[16]
were headquartered in Kyoto.

As a result, Kyoto is one of the few Japanese cities that still have an abundance of
prewar buildings, such as the traditional townhouses known as machiya. However,
modernization is continually breaking down traditional Kyoto in favor of newer
architecture, such as the Kyōto Station complex.

Kyoto became a city designated by government ordinance on September 1, 1956. In

1994, 17 historic monuments in Kyoto were inscribed on the list as UNESCO World
Heritage Sites. In 1997, Kyoto hosted the conference that resulted in the protocol on
greenhouse gas emissions (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change).

Geography[edit]
Terrain[edit]

Kyoto is located in a valley, part of the Yamashiro (or Kyoto) Basin, in the eastern part
of the mountainous region known as the Tamba highlands. The Yamashiro Basin is
surrounded on three sides by mountains known as Higashiyama, Kitayama and
Nishiyama (literally "east mountain", "north mountain" and "west mountain"
respectively), with a maximum height of approximately 1,000 meters (3,281 ft) above
sea level. This interior positioning results in hot summers and cold winters. There are
three rivers in the basin, the Uji River to the south, the Katsura River to the west, and
the Kamo River to the east. Kyoto City takes up 17.9% of the land in Kyoto Prefecture
and has a total area of 827.9 square kilometers (319.7 sq mi).

Kyoto sits atop a large natural water table that provides the city with ample freshwater
wells. Due to large-scale urbanization, the amount of rain draining into the table is
dwindling and wells across the area are drying at an increasing rate.

Climate[edit]

Kyoto has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa), featuring a marked seasonal
variation in temperature and precipitation. Summers are hot and humid, but winters are
relatively cold with occasional snowfall. Kyoto's rainy season begins around the middle
of June and lasts until the end of July, yielding to a hot and sunny latter half of the
summer. Kyoto, like most of the Pacific coast and central areas of Japan, is prone to
typhoons during the summer and autumn.

hide

Climate data for Kyoto (1991−2020 normals, extremes

1880−present)

Month Ja Fe Ma Ap Ma Ju Jul Au Se Oc No De Yea

n b r r y n g p t v c r

Record high °C 19. 22. 25. 30. 34. 36. 39. 39. 38. 33. 26. 22. 39.
(°F) 9 9 7 7 9 8 8 8 1 6 9 8 8

(6 (7 (7 (8 (9 (9 (10 (10 (10 (9 (8 (73 (10

7.8 3.2 8.3 7.3 4.8 8.2 3.6) 3.6) 0.6) 2.5 0.4 .0) 3.6)
) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

Mean daily 9.1 10. 14. 20. 25. 28. 32. 33. 29. 23. 17. 11. 21.
maximum °C 0 1 1 1 1 0 7 2 4 3 6 1
(°F) (4
8.4 (5 (5 (6 (7 (8 (89. (92. (84. (7 (6 (52 (70.
) 0.0 7.4 8.2 7.2 2.6 6) 7) 6) 4.1 3.1 .9) 0)
) ) ) ) ) ) )

Daily mean °C 4.8 5.4 8.8 14. 19. 23. 27. 28. 24. 18. 12. 7.2 16.
(°F) 4 5 3 3 5 4 4 5 2
(4 (4 (4 (45
0.6 1.7 7.8 (5 (6 (7 (81. (83. (75. (6 (5 .0) (61.
) ) ) 7.9 7.1 3.9 1) 3) 9) 5.1 4.5 2)
) ) ) ) )

Mean daily 1.5 1.6 4.3 9.2 14. 19. 23. 24. 20. 14. 8.4 3.5 12.
minimum °C
 (°F) (3 (3 (3 (4 5 2 6 7 7
(4 (384 1
4.7 4.9 9.7 8.6 7.1 .3)
) ) ) ) (5 (6 (74. (76. (69. (5 ) (53.
8.1 6.6 5) 5) 3) 7.9 8)
) ) )

Record low °C − − − − − 4.9 10. 11. 7.8 0.2 − − −1

(°F) 11 11 8. 4. 0. 6 8 4. 9. 1.9
.9 .6 2 4 3 (4 (46. (3 4 4
0.8 (51. (53. 0) 2.4 (10.
(1 (1 (1 (2 (3 ) 1) 2) ) (2 (15 6)
0.6 1.1 7.2 4.1 1.5 4.1 .1)
) ) ) ) ) )

Average 53. 65. 10 11 15 19 223 153 178 14 73. 57. 1,5

precipitation 3 1 6.2 7.0 1.4 9.7 .6 .8 .5 3.2 9 3 22.
mm (inches) 9
(2. (2. (4. (4. (5. (7. (8.8 (6.0 (7.0 (5. (2. (2.
10 56 18 61 96 86 0) 6) 3) 64 91 26) (59.
) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) 96)

Average 5 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 15
snowfall cm
(inches) (2. (2. (0. (0) (0) (0) (0) (0) (0) (0) (0) (0. (5.9
0) 8) 4) 8) )

Average 8.1 8.9 11. 10. 10. 13. 12. 9.3 11. 9.4 7.4 8.2 120
precipitation 2 6 8 2 6 1 .8
days (≥ 0.5
mm)

Average 67 65 61 59 60 66 69 66 67 68 68 68 65
relative
humidity (%)
 Mean monthly 12 12 15 17 18 13 142 182 142 15 14 13 1,7
sunshine hours 3.5 2.2 5.4 7.3 2.4 3.1 .7 .7 .7 6.0 0.7 4.4 93.
1

[17]
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency