Heian-kyō

thumb|Scale model of Heian-kyō thumb|Daidairi (, palace in the center) and the cityscape of Heian-kyō (miniature model at the Kyoto City Life-long Learning Center) was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the de jure capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1869. However, Heian-kyō was never explicitly abandoned as the capital. Today, it is said that Tokyo has effectively replaced Kyoto as the capital, but there is a viewpoint that, in theory, Kyoto still holds the position of the capital. Emperor Saga also declared that Heian-kyō would remain the capital forever.

Emperor Kanmu established it as the capital in 794, moving the Imperial Court there from nearby Nagaoka-kyō at the recommendation of his advisor Wake no Kiyomaro and marking the beginning of the Heian period of Japanese history. According to modern scholarship, the city is thought to have been modelled after the urban planning for the Tang dynasty Chinese capital of Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an). It remained the chief political center until 1185, when the samurai Minamoto clan defeated the Taira clan in the Genpei War, moving administration of national affairs to Kamakura and establishing the Kamakura shogunate.