
Autumn in Kyoto attracts throngs of tourists to temples like this
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kyoto is a city in the central part of the island of Honshu, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area
Tourism forms a large base of Kyoto's economy. The city's cultural heritages are constantly visited by school groups from across Japan, and many foreign tourists also stop in Kyoto. In 2007, the city government announced that a record number of tourists had visited Kyoto for the sixth year in a row, and it was chosen as the second most beautiful city in Japan, in a regional brand survey.
The city's industry consists mainly of small plants, most of which are run by artisans who produce traditional Japanese crafts. Kyoto's kimono weavers are particularly renowned, and the city remains the premier center of kimono manufacturing. Such businesses, vibrant in past centuries, have declined in recent years as sales of traditional goods stagnate.
Kyoto's only sizable heavy industry is electronics: the city is home to the headquarters of Nintendo, OMRON, Kyocera, Shimadzu Corp. and Murata Machinery. The apparel giant Wacoal also operates in Kyoto. However, the growth of high-tech industry has not outpaced the decline in traditional industry, and as a result, Kyoto's total output has declined relative to other cities in Japan.
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