万華鏡 Mangekyo, Japan through history.
In this program, we will mainly dig into thehistory of Japanese tourism,
and tell you a story about a place that no oneknows yet.
After listening to this story, I want to know moreabout that place.
I would be happy if I could share with you thediscovery that the usual scenery looks a littledifferent.
I am Taiki Arai, personality. Thank you forlistening.
Now, this is the first episode, the firstmemorable episode.
For a while, we will start with Kyoto.
If you are listening to this, have you ever openedor seen a map of Kyoto?
In many cities in Japan, the roads are alongrivers and mountains,
so they are often curved.
However, in the center of Kyoto, the vertical andhorizontal roads meet in a straight line,
and it looks like a pentagon.
Why is Kyoto in such a beautiful shape?
The answer goes back about 1,200 years from now.
It is in a grand urban plan drawn by an emperor.
This time, as the entrance to Kyoto, we will solvethe mystery of the 5th eye.
Nakuyo Uguisu, Heian-kyo.
I think many of you may have learned about it inthe history of Japan,
but in 794, Emperor Kanmu built a new capital inKyoto.
That is Heian-kyo.
Until then, the capital was Heian-kyo in Nara.
So why did Emperor Kanmu leave Nara?
It is because at that time, Nara had a greattemple power,
and the Buddhist forces began to speak out even inpolitics.
Emperor Shomu was born in the Nara period,
and in the era of Emperor Shomu,
epidemics were rampant in Japan,
and there were rebellions and disasters.
So Emperor Shomu decided to protect the countrywith the power of Buddhism,
and built a temple called Kokubunji all over thecountry,
and had that huge Buddha built in Nara.
In 752, a ceremony was held to celebrate thecompletion of the temple.
In this way, Buddhism was cherished by thecountry,
and the temple began to have great power.
Eventually, a monk named Dokyo was worshipped bythe emperor,
and he became the center of politics,
and there was even an incident that was said tohave been aimed at the emperor.
After such an era, Emperor Kanmu became theemperor,
and for about 25 years from 781 to 806,
he was the emperor.
Emperor Kanmu said that he wanted to start a newera
Emperor Kanmu was said to have thought so.
Also, unlike Nara, Kyoto was easy to connect toOsaka Bay by river,
and it was also a good place for transportation.
In fact, Emperor Kanmu also built a capital calledNagaoka 10 years ago.
However, construction did not go well,
and it was also affected by floods.
In addition, the person in charge of building thecapital was assassinated,
and it is said that the unfortunate events thatfollowed were feared as a festival.
So he decided to rebuild the capital from scratch.
At that time, what did he use as a model to builda new capital?
The answer is the capital of China, Chang'an,
which is now located in Xi'an.
At that time, Chang'an was the largest city in theworld,
and a thick main street led through the center ofthe capital to the north and south,
where the vertical and horizontal paths intersect.
This way of building the city is called Joubousei.
In other words, the fifth eye of Kyoto wasoriginally a city plan from China.
So why did he imitate the capital of China?
For Japan at that time,
the Party was the most advanced country inpolitics and culture,
and having a well-organized capital like the Party
also showed that Japan was a well-organizedcountry as well as the Party.
In fact, Heijo-kyo, which was established in 710BC,
was also the fifth eye of Kyoto.
Now, let's take a look at how big Heijo-kyo was.
The east and west were about 4.5 km long,
and the north and south were about 5.3 km long.
It was a vertically long, large rectangular city.
In the middle of the city, in the north and south,
there was Prince Suzaku,
and the road was about 85 meters long.
It was twice the size of today's main road,
and Prince Suzaku was called Sakyo on the eastside, Kyo on the left,
and Ukyo on the west side, Kyo on the right.
I'd like to give you a little quiz here.
On the map, the east is on the right,
but why is the east side called Sakyo?
The answer is from the emperor's point of view.
The emperor is looking south from the palace onthe northern edge of the capital
and looking down on the capital.
If you stand facing south, the east will be on theleft,
so it's called Sakyo.
And in the capital, there are nine on the side,
eight on the vertical, and they are divided likethis.
The side obi is called Jyo,
and from the north, there are Ichijo, Nijo, andKujo.
The vertical obi is called Bou,
and from Prince Suzaku to the outside,
there are Ichibou, Nibou, and Shibou.
In other words, by using this Gyo and Retsu,
it's like a coordinate system of a map where youcan see the location.
For example, the Shijo-dori and Gojo-dori in Kyotonow
are named after this Jyo.
On the other hand, the vertical obi is calledKarasuma-dori
and Kawara-machi-dori.
However, this beautiful capital
didn't go as planned.
The western Ukyo was a land with a lot ofwetlands,
and it was a place where it was difficult forpeople to live.
Eventually, people moved to the east side of theSakyo,
and the center of the city shifted more and moreto the east.
Prince Suzaku, who was in the middle of thecapital,
is now around Senbon-dori.
However, the busiest area in Kyoto today
is the eastern Shijo-Kawara-machi and Gion,
and the center of the city shifted to the eastover 1,200 years.
And there is a person who made a big contributionto this Govan-no-me.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified Japan,
and Hideyoshi, who unified the country,
remodeled the city to make Kyoto their base.
In the middle of the square,
which used to be a pedestrian street,
he built a new road
and turned it into a narrow, long, semicircularsquare.
In addition, he gathered the temples scatteredthroughout the city
and built a temple town,
and in 1591,
the whole city was surrounded by a soil wallcalled Odoi.
Odoi is a wall that protects the city from theenemy,
and it also played a role in preventing the floodof the Kamo River.
In other words, to summarize the story so far,
the present Govan-no-me in Kyoto
is something that Hideyoshi's remodeling
was able to do in the plan of the Heian period.
Just like this program, Mangekyo,
the patterns of each era overlap.
That is the city of Kyoto.
From here,
I will briefly introduce the convenient areas
to remember when traveling in Kyoto
by putting Govan-no-me in the middle.
First, around Kyoto Station,
at the south end of Govan-no-me,
it is the entrance to Kyoto.
Right near the station,
there is also a tower that has been around sincethe Heian period.
Next, at the center of Govan-no-me,
it is the heart of the city,
where the Shijo Kawaramachi,
Kyoto Gojo, and Nijojo
gather.
From there,
if you cross the Kamo River
and go east,
you will reach Higashiyama,
Gion,
Kiyomizudera,
Ginkakuji,
etc.
It is an area with many famous places
at the foot of the mountains.
On the other hand,
if you go to the west end,
you will reach Arashiyama,
Chikurin-no-komichi,
Togetsu-kyo,
Tenryu-ji, etc.
It is a place rich in nature.
And to the south,
there is Fushimi,
where the Senbon Torii is located,
and a town where the Shuzo of Nihonshu is located.
By the way,
in the north,
there is Ginkakuji, etc.
If you line them up like this,
Higashiyama, Arashiyama,
Fushimi,
they are all on the outside
of the fifth eye.
In this Kyoto edition,
I will visit this area one by one
and dig down
the famous temple
and shrine
there.
The fifth eye
that I've been talking about
has a strong impression
on the current life in Kyoto.
For example,
where the children of Kyoto
became friends
and also appeared
in Conan's movies.
Marutakebi-su-ni-oshi-oi-ke
This is
Marutamachi-dori,
Takeyamachi-dori,
Ebisugawa-dori, Nijo-dori,
Oshikouji-dori,
Oike-dori.
The names of the streets
are sung in order from the north.
Because it is the fifth eye,
you can remember the streets
in order.
Another unique thing in Kyoto
is the way of writing address.
In Kyoto,
going north is called
agaru,
going south is called sagaru,
going east is called
higashi-iru,
going west is called
nishi-iru.
For example,
Kawaramachi-dori,
Shijo-noboru.
This means that
from the intersection of Kawaramachi-dori
and Shijo-dori.
The name of the street
and the direction
tell you where it is.
The city plan from 1200 years ago
is still used
as the address.
In this video,
I talked about
why Kyoto is the fifth eye
as the entrance to Kyoto.
I talked about
Heian-kyo,
that led to the east,
the center of the city,
and the great remodeling of Hideyoshi.
When you walk around Kyoto,
please pay attention
to the name of the street.
Actually,
when Heian-kyo was built,
there were only two temples
in Kyoto
that were allowed to be built,
the Toji and the Saiji.
Therefore,
many old temples and shrines
were built outside the fifth eye,
such as at the foot of a mountain.
In the next video,
I will talk about
the outside of the fifth eye.
It is a story of an old shrine
known as Senbon-tori,
which is said to have been there
before Heian-kyo.
Finally,
a little announcement.
Now,
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for Japanese learners.
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when you were a student
or if you want to speak
Japanese in English,
please check the description
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Thank you for listening
to the end.
This was Arai Taigi,