Editing Kyoto Prefecture (section)

== History ==
[[File:Kunikyo-ato, Daigokuden-2.jpg|thumb|200px|left|[[Kuni-kyō]]]]
[[File:史跡長岡宮跡 大極殿公園 2013.12.23 - panoramio.jpg|thumb|200px|left|[[Nagaoka-kyō]], a [[Capital of Japan]] in Otokuni Palace]]
{{See also|Historic Sites of Kyoto Prefecture}}
<!--this whole explanation is about the city of Kyoto, not the prefecture. There is a separate main article about Kyoto City, which provides detailed discussion of its history-->

Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Kyoto Prefecture was known as [[Yamashiro Province|Yamashiro]].<ref name="Frédéric_2002" />{{rp|page=780}}

For most of its history, the city of Kyoto was Japan's Imperial capital. The city's history can be traced back as far as the 6th century. In 544, the [[Aoi Matsuri]] was held in Kyoto to pray for good harvest and good weather.

Kyoto did not start out as Japan's capital. A noteworthy earlier capital was [[Nara, Nara|Nara]]. In 741, [[Emperor Shōmu]] moved the capital briefly to Kuni-kyo, between the cities of Nara and Kyoto, in present-day Kyoto Prefecture. In 784, the capital was moved to [[Nagaokakyō, Kyoto|Nagaokakyō]], also in present-day Kyoto Prefecture. In 794, [[Emperor Kanmu]] moved the capital to [[Heian-kyō]], and this was the beginning of the current-day city of Kyoto. Even today, almost all of the streets, houses, stores, temples and shrines in Kyoto exist where they were placed in this year.

Although in 1192 real political power shifted to [[Kamakura]], where a samurai clan established [[Kamakura shogunate|the shogunate]], Kyoto remained the imperial capital as the powerless emperors and their court continued to be seated in the city. Imperial rule was [[Kenmu Restoration|briefly restored]] in 1333, but another samurai clan established [[Ashikaga shogunate|a new shogunate]] in Kyoto three years later.

In 1467, a great civil war, the [[Ōnin War]], took place inside Kyoto, and most of the town was burned down. Japan plunged into the [[Sengoku period|age of warring feudal lords]]. A new strong man, [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], established the shogunate at [[Edo]] (today's Tokyo) in 1603.

In the 15th century AD, tea-jars were brought by the ''[[shōgun]]s'' to [[Uji, Kyoto|Uji]] in Kyoto from the [[Philippines]] which was used in the [[Japanese tea ceremony]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sambali.blogspot.com/2006/09/luzon-jars-glossary.html|title=Quests of the Dragon and Bird Clan: Luzon Jars (Glossary)|first=Paul Kekai|last=Manansala|date=5 September 2006}}</ref>

The [[Meiji Restoration]] returned Japan to imperial rule in 1868. [[Emperor Meiji]], who was now the absolute sovereign, went to stay in Tokyo during the next year. The imperial court has not returned to Kyoto since then. During the instigation of [[Fuhanken Sanchisei]] in 1868, the prefecture received its suffix ''[[Fu (administrative division)|fu]]''. The subsequent reorganization of the old [[Provinces of Japan|provincial system]] merged the former [[Tango Province]], [[Yamashiro Province]] and the eastern part of [[Tanba Province]] into today's Kyoto Prefecture.

Although many Japanese major cities were heavily bombed during [[World War II]], the old capital escaped such devastation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33755182|title=The city saved from the atomic bomb|last=Oi|first=Mariko|date=2015-08-09|access-date=2019-01-16|language=en-GB}}</ref> During the occupation, the [[Sixth United States Army|U.S. Sixth Army]] and [[I Corps (United States)|I Corps]] were headquartered in Kyoto.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071214152914/http://www.history.army.mil/documents/8-5/8-5.htm Chronology of the Occupation]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080415182305/http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V1%20Sup/ch7.htm THE EIGHTH ARMY MILITARY GOVERNMENT SYSTEM]</ref>