is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. It has a population of 2.58 million and has a geographic area of . It borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture to the east, Mie Prefecture to the southeast, Nara Prefecture and Osaka Prefecture to the south, and Hyōgo Prefecture to the west.
Kyoto, the capital and largest city, hosts 57% of the prefecture's total population. Other major cities includes Kameoka, Maizuru, and Uji. The prefecture is located on the Sea of Japan's coast and extends to the southeast towards the Kii Peninsula, covering territory of the former provinces of Tamba, Tango, and Yamashiro. It is centered on the historic capital of Kyoto, and is one of two prefectures in Japan (with Osaka) using the designation fu rather than the standard ken. Kyoto has made Kyoto Prefecture one of the most popular tourism destinations in Japan, and 21% of the prefecture's land area is designated as Natural Parks. The prefecture forms part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area, which is the second most populated region in Japan after the Greater Tokyo area and one of the world's most productive regions by GDP.
History
Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Kyoto Prefecture was known as Yamashiro.
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. 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, 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 the shogunate, Kyoto remained the imperial capital as the powerless emperors and their court continued to be seated in the city. Imperial rule was briefly restored in 1333, but another samurai clan established 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 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 shōguns to Uji in Kyoto from the Philippines which was used in the Japanese tea ceremony.
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. The subsequent reorganization of the old 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. During the occupation, the U.S. Sixth Army and I Corps were headquartered in Kyoto.Chronology of the OccupationTHE EIGHTH ARMY MILITARY GOVERNMENT SYSTEM
Geography Kyoto Prefecture is almost in the center of Honshu and of Japan. It covers an area of , which is 1.2% of Japan. Kyoto is the 31st largest prefecture by size. To the north, it faces the Sea of Japan and Fukui Prefecture. To the south, it faces Osaka and Nara Prefectures. To the east, it faces Mie and Shiga Prefectures. To its west is Hyōgo Prefecture. The prefecture is separated in the middle by the Tanba Mountains. This makes its climate very different in the north and south.
21% of the prefecture's land area was designated as Natural Parks, namely Sanin Kaigan National Park; Biwako, Kyoto Tamba Kogen, Tango-Amanohashidate-Ōeyama and Wakasa Wan Quasi-National Parks; and Hozukyō, Kasagiyama, and Rurikei Prefectural Natural Parks.
Municipalities
Cities
Fifteen cities are located in Kyoto Prefecture: Flag, name w/o suffixFull nameArea (km2)PopulationMapJapaneseTranscriptionTranslation Ayabe綾部市Ayabe-shiAyabe City 347.10 31,846 1 Fukuchiyama福知山市Fukuchiyama-shiFukuchiyama City 552.54 77,306 2 Jōyō城陽市Jōyō-shiJōyō City 32.71 74,607 3 Kameoka亀岡市Kameoka-shiKameoka City 224.80 86,174 4 Kizugawa木津川市Kizugawa-shiKizugawa City 85.13 77,907 5 Kyōtanabe京田辺市Kyōtanabe-shiKyōtanabe City 42.92 73,753 6 Kyōtango京丹後市Kyōtango-shiKyōtango City 501.44 50,860 7 Kyoto (capital)京都市Kyōto-shiKyoto City 827.83 1,463,723 8 Maizuru舞鶴市Maizuru-shiMaizuru City 342.13 80,336 9 Miyazu宮津市Miyazu-shiMiyazu City 172.74 16,758 10 Mukō向日市Mukō-shiMukō City 7.72 56,859 11 Nagaokakyō長岡京市Nagaokakyō-shiNagaokakyō City 19.17 80,608 12 Nantan南丹市Nantan-shiNantan City 616.40 31,629 13 Uji宇治市Uji-shiUji City 67.54 179,630 14 Yawata八幡市Yawata-shiYawata City 24.35 70,433 15 Kansai Science City is located in the southwest.
Towns and villages These are the towns and villages in each district: Flag, name w/o suffixFull nameArea (km2)PopulationDistrictMapJapaneseTranscriptionTranslation Ide井手町Ide-chōIde Town 18.04 7,406Tsuzuki District 16 Ine伊根町Ine-chōIne Town 61.95 1,928Yosa District 17 Kasagi笠置町Kasagi-chōKasagi Town 23.52 1,144Sōraku District 18 Kumiyama久御山町Kumiyama-chōKumiyama Town 13.86 15,250Kuse District 19 Kyōtamba京丹波町Kyōtamba-chōKyōtamba Town 303.09 12,907Funai District 20 Minamiyamashiro南山城村Minamiyamashiro-muraMinamiyamashiro Village 64.11 2,391Sōraku District 21 Ōyamazaki大山崎町Ōyamazaki-chōŌyamazaki Town 5.97 15,953Otokuni District 22 Seika精華町Seika-chōSeika Town 25.68 36,198Sōraku District 23 Ujitawara宇治田原町Ujitawara-chōUjitawara Town 58.16 8,911Tsuzuki District 24 Wazuka和束町Wazuka-chōWazuka Town 64.93 3,478Sōraku District 25 Yosano与謝野町Yosano-chōYosano Town 108.38 20,092Yosa District 26
Mergers
Demographics
Religion According to Agency for Cultural Affairs research in 2020, over 60% believe in Shinto and Buddhism.
Politics The current governor of Kyoto is Takatoshi Nishiwaki, a former vice minister of the Reconstruction Agency. He was first elected in April 2018, and has since been re-elected twice.
The prefectural assembly has 60 members from 25 electoral districts and is still elected in unified local elections (last round: 2019). As of September 2020, it was composed as follows: Liberal Democratic Party 30, Japanese Communist Party 12, Democratic Party 11, Kōmeitō 5, Japan Restoration Party 2.Kyoto Prefectural Assembly: caucuses
National representatives Kyoto's delegation to the National Diet consists of six members of the House of Representatives and four members (two per election) of the House of Councillors. After the national elections of 2022, 2024 and 2025, the prefecture is represented by two LDPs, two CDPs, a Ishin, and an independent in the lower house, and two LDPs, one CDP and one Ishin in the upper house.
Representatives (lower house) ConstituencyNamePartyKyoto 1stYasushi KatsumeLDPKyoto 2ndSeiji MaeharaIshinKyoto 3rdKenta IzumiCDPKyoto 4thKeiro KitagamiIndependentKyoto 5thTaro HondaLDPKyoto 6thKazunori YamanoiCDP
Councillors (upper house) ClassNameParty2022Akira YoshiiLDPTetsuro FukuyamaCDP2025Shohei NiimiIshinShoji NishidaLDP
Prefectural symbols The prefectural flower of Kyoto is the weeping cherry. The Kitayama Sugi is the official tree, and the streaked shearwater the bird that symbolizes the prefecture.
Defense facilities On 1 August 2013, prefectural and municipal authorities gave consent for a USFJ missile monitoring station to be set up in the city of Kyōtango. It will be co-located with a JASDF facility already based in the city. At least initially, its primary sensor will be a mobile X-band radar used to gather data on ballistic missile launches which will then be relayed by the station to warships equipped with Aegis air defense systems and to ground-based interceptor missile sites. A hundred and sixty personnel will be based at the station.U.S. to deploy mobile radar in Kyoto Prefecture to detect missile launches The Asahi Shimbun, 2 August 2013
Economy + GDP (PPP) per capita Year US$ 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 Kyoto prefecture's economy is supported by industries that create value that is unique to Kyoto, such as the tourism and traditional industries supported by 1,200 years of history and culture, as well as high-technology industries that combine the technology of Kyoto's traditional industries with new ideas.
Northern Kyoto on the Tango Peninsula has fishing and water transportation, and midland Kyoto has agriculture and forestry. The prefecture produces 13% of the domestic sake and green tea. Japan's largest vertical farm is located in the prefecture.
The Kyoto-based manufacturing industry holds shares of Japan's high-technology product markets and others. As of 2021, eight Forbes Global 2000 companies were located in Kyoto prefecture: Nintendo, Nidec, Kyocera, Murata Manufacturing, Omron, Rohm, Bank of Kyoto, SCREEN Holdings. Takara Holdings, GS Yuasa, Mitsubishi Logisnext, Maxell, and Kyoto Animation are also based in the prefecture.
the minimum wage in the prefecture was per hour.
Education
Colleges and universities
Bukkyo University Doshisha University Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts Doshisha Women's Junior College Hanazono University Heian Jogakuin University Ikenobo College Kacho College Kyoto Bunkyo University Kyoto Bunkyo Junior College Kyoto City University of Arts Kyoto College of Economics Kyoto College of Graduate Studies for Informatics
Kyoto Institute of Technology Kyoto Junior College of Foreign Languages
Kyoto Koka Women's University
Kyoto Notre Dame University Kyoto Pharmaceutical University Kyoto Prefectural University Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
Kyoto Saga University of Arts Kyoto Sangyo University Kyoto Seika University Kyoto Seizan College Kyoto Tachibana University Kyoto University Kyoto University of Advanced Science Kyoto University of the Arts
Kyoto University of Education Kyoto University of Foreign Studies Kyoto Women's University Meiji University of Integrative Medicine Ōtani University Otani University Junior College Ritsumeikan University Ryukoku University Ryukoku University Faculty of Junior College Shuchiin University Temple University, Japan Campus Kyoto University of Fukuchiyama
Primary Schools
Kyoto Municipal Shimogyo Shousei Elementary School Kyoto Municipal Suzakudaiyon Elementary School Kyoto Municipal Ansyu Elementary School Kyoto Municipal Umedukita Elementary School Kyoto Municipal Kamigamo Primary School Kyoto Municipal Kenryu Primary School Kyoto Municipal Shogaku Elementary School
Primary/Secondary Schools
Toei Gakuen Ittoen Elementary, Junior and Senior High School
Secondary Schools
Heian Jogakuin (St. Agnes) Junior and Senior High School
Upper Secondary Schools
Kyoto Prefectural Toba High School St. Joseph Gakuen Nissei High School Kyoto Gaidai Nishi High School Kyoto Municipal Murasakino Senior High School Kyoto Prefectural Sagano High School Kyoto Prefectural Nishiotokuni Senior High School
Transportation
Railways
JR Central Tōkaidō Shinkansen—Kyōto Station JR West Kyoto Line Biwako Line Kosei Line Nara Line Kansai Line (Kizu-Kamo) Sagano Line Sanin Line Fukuchiyama Line Maizuru Line Obama Line Keihan Keihan Line Uji Line Keishin Line Outou Line Hankyu Kyoto Line Arashiyama Line Kintetsu Kyoto Line Kyoto Municipal Subway Karasuma Line Tōzai Line Sagano Scenic Railway (Arashiyama-Kameoka) Kyoto Tango Railway Miyafuku Line Miyamai Line Miyatoyo Line
City tram Eiden Eizan Line Kurama Line Randen Arashiyama Line Kitano Line
Seaports