About Kyoto
Kyoto was the ancient capital for over 1000 years (794–1868). It is rare for a city to continuously serve as the national center for such a long time. Even now Kyoto is the most attractive historical and cultural city in Japan, featuring various museums and many historical buildings including temples, shrines and traditional wooden townhouses in beautiful natural settings. Kyoto is therefore one of the major tourist attractions in Japan and is visited by tourists from Japan and overseas all year around. Kyoto’s World Cultural Heritage sites include Nijo-Castle, as well as sixteen shrines and temples.
Their historical, carefully preserved grounds give visitors invaluable opportunities to encounter the
uniquely Japanese combination of natural environment, culture, history and philosophy. The city also
offers a full range of traditional, artistic, and nature-related events throughout the year, such as the
Gion Festival in July. The city also has modern-spirited, lively shopping areas and provides more than 20,000 rooms in hotels, guesthouses, traditional Japanese-style inns, and other inexpensive but pleasant facilities. Kyoto is located in the heart of Japan, and participants can easily reach there from the Kansai International Airport (KIX), Japan’s second largest and most comfortable international airport. Another important feature of the city is its well established academic atmosphere: there are nearly 40 scientific institutions of higher learning in the city, including universities having influential geography departments with long and distinguished histories, such as Kyoto University and Ritsumeikan University. The Human Geographical Society, one of the most important geographical societies in Japan with approximately 1,400 members, is headquartered in Kyoto. For more information on Kyoto, please visit the Kyoto Convention Bureau’s website:
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