Why Are So Many of Kyoto's Famous Sights Outside the 794 Capital? | Maps in Motion #05

Many of Kyoto's most famous sights lie outside Heian-kyo, the capital laid out in 794. We fast-forward 1,200 years on a map to see where the sights appeared, and why. Then we lay the old grid, drawn only from a 10th-century rulebook's measurements, over today's aerial photos.

Kyoto was Japan's imperial capital from 794 until the mid-19th century; the emperor lived there until 1869.

Sights, dates and locations

"794 city" tells you whether the sight is inside or outside the outer edge of Heian-kyo, drawn from the Engishiki measurements. Every sight is at least 120 m (about 400 ft) from that edge, so the uncertainty of the line (about ±40 m) doesn't change the answer. "WH" marks a component part of the World Heritage property. Dashes mean we didn't use a date for that place. Map links open OpenStreetMap.

Notes (type of date, today's main buildings):

• Kamigamo Shrine: Shrine's own account: a shrine was built here in 677 (older legends too). Main halls 1863 (National Treasures).
• Fushimi Inari Taisha: Shrine's own account: enshrined on the mountain in 711. Main hall rebuilt 1499. About 10,000 torii (shrine's figure).
• Kiyomizu-dera: Temple's own account: founded 778. Main hall (the stage) rebuilt 1633.
• Enryaku-ji: Official history: Saichō founded the hall that became the Konpon-chūdō in 788. In Ōtsu, Shiga.
• Rashomon site: City gate of 794; blown down in 980 and never rebuilt. Marker stone 1895.
• Toji: Building began around 796 (Kyoto City). Today's pagoda: the 5th, rebuilt 1644, about 55 m tall.
• Saiji site: Building began around 796; burned 990, pagoda burned 1233, then vanished. Marker stone 1926.
• Daigo-ji: Official history: founded 874. Pagoda completed 951 (952 per the Agency for Cultural Affairs).
• Ninna-ji: Official history: founded 888. Rebuilt by 1646.
• Byodo-in: Official history: a villa became a temple in 1052; Phoenix Hall 1053. In Uji.
• Sanjusangen-do: Official history: built 1164; today's hall 1266.
• Nanzen-ji: 1291 per Kyoto's tourism site (the temple dates its origin to 1289). Gate 1628.
• Kyoto Imperial Palace: The emperor lived here from 1331 until 1869 (Imperial Household Agency). Buildings 1855.
• Tenryu-ji: Official history: founded 1339, on a retired emperor's palace built in 1255.
• Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion): Official history: Ashikaga Yoshimitsu began his villa in 1397. The pavilion burned in 1950; rebuilt 1955.
• Ryoan-ji: Official history: founded 1450. Dates for the rock garden vary.
• Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion): Official history: Ashikaga Yoshimasa began his villa in 1482; Silver Pavilion framed 1489.
• Nishi Hongan-ji: Moved to this site in 1591 (temple history). Founders Hall 1636.
• Higashi Hongan-ji: Land granted in 1602 (temple history). Founders Hall 1895.
• Nijo Castle: Built by Tokugawa Ieyasu from 1603 (Kyoto City).
• Nishiki Market: A proper fish market from 1615; a market may have stood here as early as the Heian period (market association).
• Pontocho: Opened as a new district in 1674, after river embankment works in 1670 (Kyoto City).
• Kyoto Station: Opened 1877 with the Kyoto–Kobe railway (Kyoto Prefecture). Today's building 1997.
• Suirokaku Aqueduct: Built 1888; canal branch completed 1890.
• Keage Incline: Completed 1890; in use from 1891 (MLIT).
• Philosopher's Path: Path along the canal branch completed in 1890; the name came later.
• Heian Shrine: Founded 15 March 1895; recreates the Chōdō-in at about 5/8 size (shrine).
• Togetsukyo Bridge (Arashiyama): Today's bridge dates from 1934.
• Shimogamo Shrine: Older than the capital (shrine: prayers for the new capital were offered here first). Main halls 1863.
• Yasaka Shrine: Origins before the capital (shrine); dates vary (656 or 876). Main hall 1654.
• Great Hall marker: The Great Hall burned in 1177 and was not rebuilt. Marker erected 22 Oct 1895, a little northwest of the real site.
• Chōdō-in marker: Marker erected 1976.

Heian-kyo streets and today's streets

Distance between the center line of each Heian-kyo street, drawn from the Engishiki measurements with 1 jō = 2.9847 m (from excavation studies), and the center line of the matching street today (OpenStreetMap, June 2026). We measured every 20 m along the whole length inside the old city (except inside the palace grounds) and took the median absolute gap for each street. 33 of 36 streets stay within 15 m (about 50 ft); the median gap over all points is about 6.5 m (21 ft). Only the grid's position and angle were fitted; its fitted rotation (−0.24°) is within 0.004° of the orientation found by excavations.

Top 10 places visited by foreign tourists

Kyoto City, 2025 Tourism Survey, main report p. 70 (in Japanese): 1,717 foreign visitors, multiple answers, interviewed at five major sites. Areas were placed by a representative point (Gion area and Gion Corner: Hanamikoji; Arashiyama & Sagano: Togetsukyo Bridge; Kyoto Station area: the station).

Maps, aerial photos and old pictures

We tried to align the 1686 map with 13 landmarks. Leaving one out at a time, the typical error was about 200 m, so the map is shown side by side with lines linking the same places, not overlaid.

Photos of the sights (Wikimedia Commons):

• Sagano bamboo grove: Marco Almbauer (CC0) file page
• Byodo-in: 663highland (CC BY 2.5) file page
• Great Hall marker: Saigen Jiro (CC0) file page
• Enryaku-ji: 663highland (CC BY 2.5) file page
• Fushimi Inari Taisha: Balon Greyjoy (CC0) file page
• Ginkaku-ji: Laitr Keiows (CC BY-SA 3.0) file page (cropped)
• Gion: 663highland (CC BY 2.5) file page
• Heian Shrine: Saigen Jiro (CC0) file page
• Kamigamo Shrine: Saigen Jiro (CC0) file page
• Kinkaku-ji: Takeshi Kuboki from Amagasaki, Japan (CC BY 2.0) file page
• Kiyomizu-dera: Martin Falbisoner (CC BY-SA 4.0) file page (cropped)
• Kiyomizu-dera: lumoplank (CC0) file page
• Kiyomizu-dera: lumoplank (CC0) file page
• Kyoto Station: Jakub Hałun (CC BY 4.0) file page
• Nijo Castle: Martin Falbisoner (CC BY-SA 4.0) file page (cropped)
• Nishi Hongan-ji: 663highland (CC BY 2.5) file page
• Nishiki Market: collinox (CC BY 2.0) file page
• Odoi earthwork: Brakeet (CC0) file page
• Rakuchū rakugai-zu screens (Uesugi): attributed to Kanō Eitoku (public domain) file page
• Saiji site: Saigen Jiro (CC0) file page
• Shimogamo Shrine: Zairon (CC BY-SA 4.0) file page (cropped)
• Suirokaku Aqueduct: 鵜飼 実幸 (CC0) file page
• Tenryu-ji: lumoplank (CC0) file page
• Philosopher's Path: KimonBerlin (CC BY-SA 2.0) file page (cropped)
• Togetsukyo Bridge: Basile Morin (CC BY-SA 4.0) file page (cropped)
• Toji: Saigen Jiro (CC0) file page
• Toji: Nakai_Chan (CC BY 4.0) file page
• Kyoto from Mount Daimonji: Tim Vickerman (public domain) file page
• Yasaka Shrine: Jakub Hałun (CC BY 4.0) file page

What this episode shows

• Only 3 of the 17 component parts of the World Heritage property "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto" are inside Heian-kyo; most of the old sights sit on the hillsides and riverbanks outside it.
• Many sights inside the old city arrived or were built after 1590, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi rebuilt Kyoto.
• Of 36 present-day streets that match streets of the 794 city, 33 stay within 15 m (about 50 ft) of lines drawn only from the Engishiki measurements, measured along their whole length inside the old city.