Ancient Capital (2)

? Kyoto City is a basin surrounded by mountains on three sides from the northwest to the east. Arashiyama to the west is the boundary between Kyoto and Kanoka, and it extends to the Kaohsiung area with the Kitayama cedar forest in "The Ancient Capital". The mountainous area to the north is home to Kibune Shrine and Kurama Temple, where I once went to look for fireflies. On a midsummer night When I went to Lake Biwa to watch the fireworks, I discovered that I could take the JR train and cross Mount Hiei and Higashiyama to the east to reach Shiga Prefecture. Suddenly, I seemed to understand very well what Lao She described in "Winter in Jinan", the kind of comfort that a city feels when it is surrounded by mountains.

? Most of the streets in Kyoto are arranged in a horizontal and vertical checkerboard style. From east to west, from north to south, there are the Kyoto Imperial Palace on Kitaoji, Imadegawa-dori, and Marutamachi-dori, Nijo Castle in Nijo, shopping street in Sanjo, Gion in Shijo, Kiyomizudera in Gojo, Kyoto Station in Shichijo-hachijo, and Toji Temple in Kujo-jujo. From north to south, from west to east, Nishi-Oji, Senbondori, Horikawa-dori, Karasuma-dori, Kawaramachi-dori, and Higashi-Oji. The main roads are intertwined with equally horizontal and vertical paths. This probably outlines the current main urban area of ??Kyoto City. When I was still unfamiliar with Kyoto, I once tried wandering around on the small roads in the neighborhood near the Shijo Karasuma intersection without using map navigation. To find the target location, I only needed to count how many intersections I passed and how many 90-degree turns I made. .

? For some reason, I felt at this time that the four sides, right angles, and crosses were more stable than the triangular structure. The vertical and horizontal warp and weft weaved an ancient capital. In the blink of an eye, the shuttle of time has been spinning steadily for thousands of years.

? Therefore, the presence of intersections in Kyoto’s road traffic layout naturally becomes stronger. A teacher who has lived in Kyoto for a long time said that especially in the Kamigyo area, the traditional way of telling an address is to tell which intersection you turn from to east, west, south or north. Most of the larger intersections have bus stops, named after the two intersecting roads. The same bus stop is divided into ABCD or more pick-up and drop-off points, which are located at different locations at the intersection and go in different directions. Even if you know which stop to board the bus from, the location still depends on the bus number and direction to your destination. The feeling of figuring this out is like figuring out what the train system's regular, rapid, express, limited express, and shinkansen are all about.

I feel more and more that, as someone who has not yet used a private car, understanding a city’s public transportation can instantly bring me much closer to a city. This is the difference from being unable to go out without a map to being able to put aside the map to see the scenery, the difference from asking people to guide people, and the difference from a passerby to a returner, although I am not a returner to Kyoto at all.

? It is said that the checkerboard layout of Kyoto City originated from the Chang'an city layout of the Tang Dynasty during the Heian Kyo period. But I haven’t been to Xi’an yet, so I don’t know much about Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty, and I don’t know to what extent Xi’an now retains the style of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. In Kyoto, you can often see "Luobei" and "Luoxi" mentioned in tourism promotions. "Luo" compares Kyoto to Luoyang and refers to the north and west of Kyoto.

? Of course, Kyoto is surrounded by mountains and rivers, so the roads will not be straight or horizontal. There is the Katsura River to the west, and the Kono River and Kamo River merge to form the Kamogawa River to the east. The part of the Kamogawa River that passes through the urban area actually runs in a straight north-south direction. Roads in the east-west direction can build bridges to cross the Kamogawa River vertically. I once looked at the Sumida River winding at my feet from the 300-meter observation deck of the Tokyo Skytree. The bridges on it also showed different directions and postures. If there was a high point overlooking the Kamogawa River, perhaps the focus would be to wonder how the river could be so straight.

? Maybe this is the first time that I have unconsciously and naturally spelled out the boundaries and skeleton of the city I am living in in my mind through on-site tours or passing by it, not through Facing a map that doesn’t create a sense of immersion and space, it’s not through anyone’s description. Once I went to climb Mount Daimonji behind Ginkakuji Temple. From the observation deck on the mountainside, I could see most of Kyoto city. From a height, I could recognize where I had been before and where I had been in the place below. Whenever I go somewhere, I feel a subtle sense of solidity.

? The setting sun that day shone on the vast rooftops, and actually reflected a sparkling light path, just like the sea surface two or three hours before sunset.