Transfer of the Capital to Tokyo and Decline of the Court Nobles’ Residential Areas
The capital’s move to Tokyo in 1869 began a difficult transition for the people of Kyoto. Indeed, for some it was as if the life of the city itself had been extinguished. When the nobility moved to Tokyo, they left their splendid compounds vacant. An administrative office, which later became the Imperial Household Agency, was created to maintain and manage the Imperial Palace itself, but the court nobles’ residential area lost its special status and fell into disrepair. Some of the compounds were converted into restaurants and the Palace area eventually became just another part of the city.
Kyoto Shimbun, early Meiji Period
*Unrelated to today’s Kyoto Shimbun.
Kujo Pond and Shusuitei garden in the early Meiji Period