1) A Short Guide to the History of Kyoto: The Beginning
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| Nigastu-do Temple (Second month temple). |
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| Kasuga Grand Shrine. | Todai-ji Temple. | Bronze lanterns at Kasuga Shrine. |
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| Autumn in the fields of Kasuga (Mt. Mikasa). | Kofuku-ji's Pagoda. | Nara's Great Buddha (Daibutsu). |
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London, like so many European capitals, was once a fishing village huddled amonst the hills and streams that run down into what was to one day be called the Thames Estuary. Because there were forests to provide wood and filled with game, because there were waterways to navigate by, for drinking from and to fish in, and because the hills protected it from the harsh weather and gave a person clear views for miles around, it grew into a scattering of villages, became a town, then a fort, then a walled city. And in each stage of its development it exploded ever outward, swallowing settlements that had once sat in the plentiful countryside, until it became not only the Capital but one of the great cities of Europe. The factors that led to its growth were natural, with few other places offering such a marriage of location, providence and sustenance. But not all cities grow in this way. Kyoto had protective mountains, it had wide rivers, but it was chosen as capital and built from scratch. From a small village, Kyoto was made (in a matter of four or five years) into the greatest of Japan's cities.
Under the pretence of hunting trips, Emperor Kammu (the 50th Japanese Emperor) and a few trusted men set off from Nagaoka-kyo to scower the countryside to the North-East in an attempt to find a suitable position for a new capital. Nara had been abandoned a mere ten years previously, but the fledgling capital Nagaoka was struggling to survive. In fact it was already in its death-throes. |
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| Nagaoka Shrine. | Hachijo-ga-ike Pond. | The torii gate at Nagaoka Shrine. |
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The reasons for Kammu's change of heart will never be known, but they can certainly be guessed at. The intrigues of Nara had -sadly for Kammu- carried over to the new capital making it increasingly difficult to rule and frustrating his initiatives to centralise his authority. Also Kammu appears to have suffered great personal loss during this short time, losing both close friends and family to disease because of continued flooding from the very waterways he had hoped would serve his aims at expanding trade and tying the provinces closer to his rule (the fact that Nara had very few rivers had given Kammu the excuse he needed in the first place to wrench power away from the temples). Then there is -no matter how unlikely- the story that evil spirits were abroad in Nagaoka. These rumours came from the death of his own brother Prince Sawara, who had been implicated in an assassination (likely he coveted the throne) and banished to Awaji. Sawara had died mysteriously during the journey, and his unhappy ghost was spotted walking the streets of the capital spreading plague with his wrath. Whatever the reasons, Kammu was most probably more tired of the bad luck and memories associated with Nagaoka than anything else. There was no question, the palace would have to be dismantled and relocated.
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| Koryu-ji Temple. | The pond at Koryu-ji. | Becki sits outside the Kodo* of Koryu-ji. |
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Emperor Kammu knew very well the necessity of freeing himself from the influence of those powerful Nara temples that had so threatened stronger men before him. In 769 a priest by the name of Dokyo had gone so far as seducing an empress in his lust for the throne. Although he failed, it showed how desperately weak the Emperor was becoming, blackmailed by the priests and their armies of warrior monks. So when Kammu took the throne he did the only sensible thing he could. He moved the capital a little way to the North under the guise of hoping to find better navigational waterways and then prevented the strong Buddhist sects from following in his wake. The need for secrecy in both moving to Nagaoka and then to Kyoto was primarily because of his justified fear of Nara's parochial powers.
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| The Kamo River (Eastern Kyoto). | Mt. Hiei (North Eastern Kyoto). | The Katsura River (Western Kyoto). |
| One of the men Kammu had sent out reported on a thriving town called Uda. It was flanked by a river (the Kamo) and to the North East was a huge mountain (Hiei). Geomancy was still an important part of every day life for the Japanese (the Chinese belief in certain superstitions that dictate where a house should be built, what day a journey should be made, a wedding performed and so on). The mountain was a positive sign as bad luck flowed from the North East (the Devil's Mouth). The influential Hata family (already with estates in Uda, patrons of Koryu-ji Temple, the oldest in Kyoto, and originally migrants from Korea) filled Kammu's coffers and he started construction on a new city. It was eventually to become Miyako, what we now know as 'Kyoto' (meaning Western Capital, Tokyo means Eastern Capital). Translated as 'City of Peace and Tranquility', Heian-kyo (named after a poetry competition) was in reality a new beginning. Buddhism would be barred, all bad luck would be left in Nagaoka and Kammu could concentrate upon actually ruling his country. Freed from misfortune, he would produce 36 children, centralise taxation laws and push the Ainu into the wilderness of the North and onto the great island of Hokkaido under the supervision of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro. If the start of his career was marred by misfortune, it would end with the construction of a grand capital, the greatest city Japan had known. | ||
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*Buddhist Temples in Japan usually conform to the Shichido-garan (Seven Halls) style. Walking through the main gate, you can find seven buildings scattered around the grounds. In the seven-hall style there is a Pagoda (To - where the nominal remains of buddha are held), a Buddha Hall (Kondo - literally Golden Hall), a Lecture Hall (Kodo - the largest building, for studying), a Bell or Drum Tower (Koro), a Sutra Repository (Kyozo), Dormitories (Sobo), and a Dining Hall (Jikido). The complex is divided in sectors: the inner sanctuary (Naijin) is where the priests perform their rituals and the outer sanctuary (Gaijin) is where laymen can pray. There are usually more than one set of gates. The Daimon are the outer gates, the Nan-Daimon are the Southern (usually main) gates, and the Chumon are the gates to the main precinct (where the pagoda, buddha hall and lecture hall usually sit).
