Kyoto's original name, Heiankyō (平安京) or the “Capital of Peace and Tranquility,” was both prescient and overly optimistic. 

For almost 1,200 years, Kyoto served as the official capital and the seat of the imperial court. Over this period, it experienced long periods of political and social stability, and attendant cultural vibrancy. Today, over a millennium after its foundation, Kyoto continues to thrive. Though an undeniably modern city, Kyoto is famed as a place of traditional Japanese virtues and life rhythms; and, inside and outside Japan, it is frequently troped in terms of serenity, rest, and repose — a place to escape the hustle and bustle of the modern world, its competition and conflicts.

An alternative perspective on the city, however, could as easily narrate Kyoto in terms of war and armed struggle. War has repeatedly devastated Kyoto's urban landscape, and — like peace — thereby played its own role in shaping the city layout and its character. A war-related perspective on Kyoto also draws attention to how the city has served as a strategic hub for planning, conducting, and supporting both domestic and international conflicts, and drawn military attention from home and abroad.

Focusing on the war memorials and other war-related sites that can be found in Kyoto today, this online resource explores war in the "capital of peace and tranquility" from foundation to the Cold War. See the map for locations and follow the links below to read each section.