Kio′to or Kyoto is a city of Japan on the island of Hondo or Honshu. It is an inland city, and owes its present importance chiefly to the large number of religious shrines it contains, to the many forms of art that are produced there in the highest excellence and to the Imperial University. In 1908 its population was 442,462, and it is increasing in size. From 794 to 1868 it was the capital of Japan, losing this distinction with the fall of the shogunate and the rise of new Japan.
