A timeless city of ancient tradition — this is how Kyoto, arguably more than any urban center in Japan, projects itself. From tourism posters to its recent kimono-wearing mayor, the image of Kyoto as rooted in the premodern is omnipresent in its external (and often internal) branding. Far from being a natural continuation of the past, however, this image has been shaped and nurtured throughout the modern period, particularly in response to two major factors. Crisis: the destruction of much of the city and the loss of capital status between the 1850s and 1870, then the upheavals of the Pacific War and postwar Occupation. And tourism: Kyoto’s redevelopment from the Meiji period as a destination for recreational travellers from overseas and across Japan.

From the start, the (re-)invention of Kyoto as, perhaps, the most celebrated symbol and site of traditional Japan was a fundamentally modern process, shot through with distinctly modern iterations of feelings like nostalgia and loss, and carried out through distinctly modern technologies, institutions, and practices. And moreover, of course, behind the touristic promotions and besides (and often inside) the heritage buildings, another city has always been present, a city of everyday life, its pleasures and its tensions, populated by flesh and blood people studying, working and playing.

The “Modern Kyoto Research” online resource follows recent research on Kyoto’s modernity and explores continuity and change in Kyoto from the Bakumatsu (1853–1868) to the postwar and into the present day. Based on up-to-date scholarship, and making full use of visual and other primary sources, various thematic units investigate not only how Kyoto’s image was constructed in the modern period but open a window on people and places often excluded from popular histories and public promotions. 

Modern Kyoto Research will be regularly updated and new units added over time. Click on the links above to enter.