I’m sure many people know that Tokyo is the capital of Japan today, but did you know that it has actually moved many times going back and forth from Kyoto and the Kanto area? This video will help you get a better understanding of Japanese history, and also might make your trip to Japan someday even more exciting. ・ In this channel, you can take a closer look at Japanese traditional culture, tips upon traveling to Kyoto, and social problems in Japan. So learners and lovers of Japanese language and culture, be sure to subscribe to enjoy more content! Please check out the description box for more videos recommended for you! ▼Join our Membership▼ ru-vid.com/show-UCn7DCb9ttrcw9h3vh9dfnVwjoin ●Membership benefits -Limited behind-the-scene videos ru-vid.com/group/UUMOn7DCb9ttrcw9h3vh9dfnVw -Weekly live stream -Priority reply to comments Every single yen we earn from this membership, we will be donating to groups of people who are fighting to solve social problems in Japan, the Japanese schools where foreign students can study, or use it to spread the works of people working with traditional culture in Japan to preserve the arts they are doing. ▼Sub channel “Shogo’s Podcast”▼ ru-vid.com/show-UCZAe1VayWxp5NLO4Net78DA The perfect channel to learn about Japanese culture and history in your spare time, during your walk to school or work, and when you are cooking or doing house chores. Not only will I be covering the topics in this main channel, but also some topics that you will only be able to enjoy in the sub-channel, like answering questions I receive, and my opinions towards some of the comments. ▼Instagram▼ instagram.com/lets_ask_shogo/ *Please ask me questions through the DM here!（⚠️I do not use e-mail） Thank you again very much for watching!
I live in Italy, and since the unification of Italy was proclaimed in 1861, the capital has been moved 3 times, first to Turin (1861-1864), then to Florence (1865-1871), and after the breach of Porta Pia, occurred on September 1870, it decreed the end of the Papal State as a historical-political entity, and the next year (1871) Rome became the definitive capital of Italy. I apologize if I wrote a fairly concise summary. 🙂
Hello I am from Russia and respect very much Japan traditions. (And it's my only personal opinion ) It's like compare Moscow and St.Petersburg. Kyoto is the city when that old, tradtional Japan spirit still live today. Very traditional city and people of Kyoto more open and cultured than i meet in Tokyo. I been there and it's like very weird feeling when you go to the very liberal Tokyo and than go to conservative Kyoto. I prefer Kyoto. I love traditions and very beautiful places of traditions and nature.
Saludos from Mexico, our capital was decided by a vision that the Aztecs would see a Eagle eating a Snake on a cactus. (which is shown on our flag) When the Aztecs saw this they settled on the lake islands and built the "Venice" of the Americas.
@@DonMeaker The Spanish conquered the Aztecs, correct. I’m afraid you have been misinformed about the flag’s shield national symbolism. I suggest you look up credible sources. This comment thread should not deviate away from the theme of the video any longer.
I'm playing Pokemon HeartGold now, its setting is based on the Kansai region that includes Kyoto. I named my character Kyoto and his rival Tokyo and I'm having wicked fun every time they fight :)
A dozen years ago, I made a tour of the historic capitols of Japan: Nara, Kamakura, Kyoto, and Tokyo. But I had no idea that there are a few people who still insist that Kyoto is the capitol of Japan! Thank you for this edifying video, as always, Shogo.
The end of the video was a treat. Thanks Shogo! In Canada, the capital city was originally going to be Kingston Ontario. Previously, Britain and France had both set up colonies in Canada. The British defeated the French in Canada. When the time came for Canada to become independent Queen Victoria decided that the capital city should be on a border between what had been the English and French portions of the country and between the two largest cities Montreal and Toronto. Montreal being the largest city in the french speaking region and Toronto being the largest in the english speaking region. The mindset at the time was very colonial in nature. The indigenous peoples played little, if any role in decision making regarding Canadian politics. At the time Canada was founded the indigenous peoples were treated horribly and, sadly, that treatment continued (and to some extent continues) long after the founding of the nation.
Thank you for putting in so much effort in to your video production and curriculum. Your videos are exciting to watch and you speak clearly and concisely. I liked, subscribed, and hit the notification bell 🔔 already!
If you translate literally: Beijing = North Capital Nanking/Nanjin = South Capital Tokyo is technically Tokyo-To. Kyoto isn't Kyo-to but Kyoto-fu Interesting huh 😂
I'm from the Philippines and I got interested inJapanese culture because it looks so interesting. I found your channel and now I can't stop watching. These videos take a lot of effort to do with all that research and I appreciate your work. Keep it up man!
Wonderful video Shogo! I’ve been living in Madrid my whole adult life. Prior to Madrid it was Toledo but essentially in 1561 King Phillip II, tired of stuff political life in the crumbling old medieval city, moved the capital to Madrid where it was more spacious and had better hunting and less politicians.
Since I am feasting on your videos, this is appropriate: ごちそうさま I am from Japan and did not live there long, but went back later for a little while. It was wonderful to see and learn where I was from and to experience a sense of connection with everything that surrounded my birth (including the little typhoon). I was glad that many of the old ways exist loud-and-proud in everyday life, and others exist as vestiges if you know where to look. Living in the US, there's so little opportunity to continue to learn about the country, the history, the people and the funny stuff. Your channel is exactly what I need. Thank you so much for doing what you're doing. I often put on a live stream and just let it play for some sense of belonging even though I don't speak the language.
Interesting! Didn't know it changed back and forth several times. It's always great to learn more history. In the case of Argentina, during colonial times Buenos Aires became a wealthy port city. The capital was Lima (Peru), but then the viceroyalty split in 1776 and Buenos Aires became capital of the new one. The independence process started in Buenos Aires in 1810 and it remained the main political center, but due to its centralist aristocratic ambitions, there have always been tensions with the rest of the provinces, leading to long civil wars; it's in large part the reason why Uruguay is an independent country. After a government was deposed in 1852, the capital of Argentina became Paraná and Buenos Aires Province became a separate country. Following several battles, the country reunified in 1861 and Buenos Aires has been the capital since. The country nowadays suffers a lot from the centralization that ensued. There have been several initiatives to change the capital to Rosario (19th century) and Viedma (20th), with strong political backing, on some occasions they came close but unfortunately all of them ended up failing.
Switzerland, where I live, has officially no capital at all, as there is no law stating what city is the capital. Bern is the de facto capital, because of the parliament and government, but e.g. the three highest courts (constitutional, administrative, and penal) are spread across the country in Lausanne, St. Gallen and Bellinzona, respectively. And economically, the capital is definitely Zürich.
Thanks for the history lesson. From the comments it seems that many countries have experienced similar shifts in their capitals for a variety of reasons.
Very nice, Brasil changed capitals 2 times, Salvador to Rio and then Rio to Brasilia. The latest was to promote a March to the west of Brasil, going inland, which is less populated than the cost ( previous cities )
You may watch it now and disregard it as a nuisance or minor thing, but that small portion of the video at it’s very end, with the “ending” music already playing, where Shogo explains the kanji for both capital cities was very well done. Don’t know why, but I found that it fitted perfectly with the rest of the video.
I am interested about the history and ancient culture in Japan, so prefer to know much more Kyoto, Nara and Osaka. Excellent video. Arigatougozaimashta!!!
My introduction to Japan was visiting my children teachers in Kansai. I fell in love with a culture I was already admiring for its gardens and houses esthetics.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada was chosen because it was centrally located between the cities of Montreal and Toronto, and was along the border of Ontario and Quebec (the centre of Canada at the time). It was also far from the American border, making it safer from attacks. Ottawa is close to the St Lawrence River, which was and is a very important trade route for Canada.
Ah these are always so fun to watch. Thank you Shogo for making such fine content~ As for my country's capital... Canberra the capital of Australia was pretty much entirely built only because the States of New South Wales and Victoria were so fiercely competitive over which of their respective capital cities (Sydney and Melbourne) would become the main capital of the country that in the end neither was chosen and eventually a compromise of a city being built within NSW but over 100 miles/160 km away from Sydney was agreed upon. So yeah, city planned and built from the ground up with the intention of being the political centre of the country, with the location specifically chosen as a compromise between competitive States who could only agree on the single idea that if they couldn't be the country's capital, then at least that title wouldn't go to their rivals. To the point the Canberra area is officially not considered part of NSW but rather it's own state with its own laws named the 'Australian Capital Territory' or ACT for short~ XD As for the capital's name, Canberra is definitely a native Indigenous Australian name but the meaning is apparently unknown as there are several claimed meanings and origins for the name but a lot are kind of shaky. The most popular claim is that it's a word from the Ngunnawal peoples language meaning 'meeting place' but there's no actual evidence to support that so... *Shrugs a tad helplessly at that* - Side note: The site of Canberra was originally inhabited by several Indigenous Australian groups with the Ngunnawal people being the main ones for up to 21,000 years and apparently they're still in the area and becoming more visible, and actively involved in things at a local and national level but well... Looking them on the government's site about Canberra, the note of "government policies and the pressures of this new occupation created severe social pressures on the Ngunnawal community and neighbouring Indigenous peoples" has me rather worried about what isn't being listed (our Government LOVES to downplay 'unpleasant happenings' in regards to how our indigenous people have been treated in the past so that line is probably a extreme understatement). So yeah. Bit of a downer but figured it needed to be noted. -- Anyway, hope you found that kinda interesting and thanks again for making these great videos. Only found you in the last few days but definitely subscribing and recommending this channel to my friends and family as a great look into Japanese history and culture (also your vid with you and your wife on Chinese and Japanese relationship difficulties and the wedding style differences was the cutest/most inspiring thing ever and I wish you both all the best with everything and yeah. If I hadn't been won over by the rest of these great vids already those two *definitely* ensured I hit that subscribe XD).
The first capital of Spain was established in Toledo by the visigoths during the middle ages. Cordoba was the capital of muslim Spain since the islamic conquest in 711 until the fall of the caliphate in 1031. Spain is the result of the union of the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarra. The modern capital of Spain was established in Madrid by the King Phillip II.
In Canada, Ottawa was decided because it's the closest English speaking settlement to the province of Quebec which is a predominantly a French speaking province. However the city of Hull, Quebec is located right across the river from Ottawa and sort of shares the Capital. So it would be Ottawa-Hull.
Greetings from Malaysia ✌🏻 Our capital is in Kuala Lumpur. We have the Parliament, Embassies and the National Palace in that city. One of the 10 Kings from 10 states in Malaysia will be the King of Malaysia based on turns & will live there. The Parliament, National Palace & Embassies are still in Kuala Lumpur today but (for some reasons I haven’t researched yet) since 1999 the Prime Minister’s and Ministries’ offices moved to Putrajaya, about 30 km from Kuala Lumpur Putrajaya itself was just an area of jungle until our Prime Minister decided in the late 1980s that Malaysia should move its administrative capital from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya Putrajaya was intended to be a garden city & the government kept 38% of Putrajaya lands as forest. so if you search Putrajaya’s images on google, you can see trees & lakes everywhere
Washington DC is the capital of the USA bc Congress was chased out of the original capital, Philadelphia, by unpaid revolutionary war soldiers. They then moved to various locations for safety reasons until deciding on NYC to be the temporary capital. Here, George Washington would serve out his first term as president. The constitution gave the govt the power to choose and establish a proper capital city. As such they eventually decided on the area along the Potomac River that would become Washington DC. The location was picked to serve as an intermediate point btwn the North and South to keep both the pro and anti slavery states happy. The name of the capital comes from George Washington and DC (District of Columbia) is a reference to Christopher Columbus, with Columbia being the female name equivalent.
Great video. I grew up in Costa Rica. Since you asked, its capital San Jose wasn't always the capital. Costa Rica gained its independence in 1821 from the Spanish Empire and at that time its capital was the city of Cartago. Soon after its independence there was a huge debate among two population groups. The ones who wanted Costa Rica to join the Mexican Empire, mainly from Cartago, and the ones who wanted Costa Rica to remain an independent republic, from the city of San Jose. The debate will end in 1823 at the Battle of Ochomogo where it was won by the Republicans "Josefinos". As a consequence the capital was moved to San Jose and it made Costa Rica the country that it is today.
the kanji in the names of both cities are actually different although they are pronounced the same way..one is 东, the other is 都..both are pronounced as ' 'to' though.
Can you talk about the history of the samurai or an in depth look about the Heian era next time? Would be nice if you take a tour of the relevant historical places.
Very good video but you missed two points, 1 in Japanese Kyoto literally means capital city and that Tokyo's original nam was Tokyoto or literally east capital city, later shortened to just Tokyo. 2) You did not discuss the interference by the Shinto and later Buddhist monks in the government. The capital was moved from Nara to Kyoto to remove temple politics from the government, temples do not move and Kyoto being farther from Nara than a monk could walk in a day greatly diminished the temples power. Like wise the move to Edo left the monks far from the levers of power after all the big temples grew up in Kyoto.
@@lyhthegreat No, but if I can find a copy I wil Although I had nothing to do with the making of Shogun, I was involved with the next film about Hong Kong, Taipan
Well, in the US, there was a bit of shifting between New York City and Philadelphia, early on, until Washington DC was asically built from scratch, the idea being it was neither North nor South an centrally located and once, basically neutral and doing not much more than housing the federal government. Of course it's a real multifaceted city long since, now. :)
Paris (France) was first settled by the Parisii Gallic tribes, around 250 B.C. and then became known as Lutecia under Roman rule. It became the capital city of France in 987 A.D., and with the exception of a short interruption during the German occupation of France during WWII, has remained it to this day.
I'd read a book on Meiji that covered the 'Kyoto is still the capital idea" because when Meiji initially left to "visit" Edo, his new government promised the people of Kyoto that the Emperor was just going on a trip but Kyoto was, and will always be, the capital. Meiji's "visit" lasted a decade before a brief return to Kyoto, during which time the government decreed all organs of government would move to Tokyo and any new ones would be setup in Tokyo.
It's also interesting that the Kanji for Kyoto ’京都‘ translates directly to 'Capital City', where the Kanji for Tokyo ‘东京’ translates to 'Eastern Capital'... Did you think that the renaming of Edo '江户' to Tokyo instead of a more definitive term like 'New Capital' would have contributed to this ongoing 'debate'?
8:56 Well,here on spain I think that madrid got it's title bcz was on the middle of the country, so it was easy to both defend and send stuff to the rest of the country
The house of Hohenzollern bought the electorate of Brandenburg from the house Luxemburg. After a couple of marriges and generations the Elector of Brandenburg also became king of Prussia. that personal union was called Brandenburg-Prussia. The Capital City of Brandenburg is Berlin and with the rising power of Brandenburg-Prussia, later kingdom of Prussia the country established great power status. In the 7 years war Prussia shows Austria who is the boss of all german states. After the invasion of Napoleon, Prussia was used as a shield to protect smaller german states. Thats why they got the Rhine-area to buffer the french. In the Victorian time, Otto von Bismarck used his abilities to unite all north german states. the capital was of cause Berlin, because its basicly Prussia just bigger. After this unification, Otto von Bismarck provoke a war with France and with this war and money he could draw the southern german states into the prussian influence. After the victory of Prussia, they got some land from France and united all german states besides Austria to one big Germany or as you could say to a bigger prussia and thats why Berlin became the capital of the first german national state. After world war 2 germany was non existing for a couple of years. When Germany was newly created there were two Germany's. A Democratic one with the capital of Bonn and the Communist with the capital of Berlin. Bonn became the capital of Democratic german because the chancelor was old and doensn't wanted to drive long ways to Frankfurt, so he decided Bonn as Capital. After the Cold war Germany is one country like today with the capital of Berlin. So its more like tradition with the capital I think. ( I skipped many parts of history, because i dont know them well)
For Malaysia, its Kuala Lumpur because its located on the tin mines. Founded by Sutan Puasa and owned by Sultanate of Selangor before seperated as one of Federal State in Malaysia. Administration Capital is in Putrajaya.
@@MyMelody5 is it bigger/better than the meiji castle though? Afaik the meiji castle was used by the tokugawa shogunates, the real rulers of japan during the edo period.
Indonesia also have this name reversal of old kingdom's capital. We have Kartasura, old capital of Mataram, and Surakarta, new capital of Surakartan Mataram Sunanese 😄
@@LetsaskShogo Thank you for this fascinating video as always, and related book suggestions in the background. I left my answer about my native country's capital above. I have a question for you Shôgo-san: Most people think of traditional Japanese culture as based in Kyôto. However, as you said, most traditional aspects of Japanese culture that Japan is known for to this day are indeed a legacy of the Edo period. So would you please tell us some day what aspects of Japanese culture that we can see and enjoy today can actually be traced back to the Heian period? 宜しくお願い致します。
In the netherland the capital is neither the place where the royal family lives and neither the political city that is the city the hague but the capital is Amsterdam why I dont know
Moving out of the countryside and moving to Tokyo is called ”Jokyo” (Up to the capital) in Japan. But in Kyoto, "Jokyo" means coming to Kyoto and going from Kyoto to Tokyo is called "down to Tokyo" by Kyotoites...
Italy was a smattering of little fiefdoms from the end of the Roman empire until 1861, when all the peninsula was conquered by the Savoy dynasty (who squandered everything in the WWII. Long story) Rome became the capital ten years later. The first Italian capital was Turin, but was moved in interim first to Florence and then, after the hostile takeover of the papacy lands, was moved where it is now, Rome. Turin was the city where the Savoy hailed from, but the intent had been to have Rome as the capital form the very moment the nation was reunited under a single ruler, both because if its central position in the peninsula that made it ideal as a capital and for the long history of Roma Caput Mundi, capital of the Roman Empire in the faraway past. The Savoy only needed to "convince" the pope he was a ruler of the spiritual and not a king of the lands as well. It took some time.
Canberra, the capital of Australia, only exists because the two largest cities (Melbourne and Sydney) couldn't stop arguing over who should be the capital. So the government built Canberra in a location that is the geographic halfway between the two cities.
Santiago de Chile was founded by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, February 12, 1541. He had told the locals that now they weren't subjects to the Inca empire anymore, but to the Spanish King, so everything was okay. On September 11 of the same year the Mapuche people attacked and burned the city. Valdivia's mistress led the defense, and the Spanish could save their lives, the clothes they wore, some seeds, two sows, a pig and a few chickens. Valdivia sent for help from Peru. The help took two years to arrive. And that was just the beginning.
Interesting history of the capital city of Japan. As for my country, unfortunately, it was decided by the foreign powers of the Era and not by the Greeks. After independence from the Turkish rule in the first half of the 19th century, the first capital was Nafplio, decided by the Greeks. But the foreign powers of the Era, UK, France, and Russia, because the supposedly helped the Greeks against the Turks, they wanted to establish a puppet King in Greece. They decided for the German Otto, prince of Bavaria, who himself and his father, The king of Bavaria Leopold, were fascinated with ancient Greece. King Otto then decided to transfer the capital city from Nafplio to Athens, because of the ancient monuments, its history and its healthy climate. This is roughly speaking, how the then insignificant village of Athens became the capital city of Greece.
If I were king of the world... the Border with Turkey would be at the bosphorus straights, some of Asia Minor like Smyrna would be Greek... I don't wish the Turks ill, but I've always loved Greeks.
Question for @shogo. I'm curious about Japanese comedy. Is sarcasm a part of the culture? I see that sometimes non-English speakers are confused by sarcasm. Thanks for your time.
Capital is 都 miyako or 首都 shuto the kanto region which is Tokyo and the prefectures around it is called the 首都圏 Shutoken it means capital area in English it’s called Greater Tokyo
I am here early for first time! I can't talk about my capital since they're are a lot of things that happend untill this city became the capital but the name is Athens it's in Greece (it would be an essay comment which I am bored to write right now if I had to explain) I enjoyed the video learning about Japan I like your country and I am planning visit it for a few months.
I belong from India... And heyy, we have thousands and thousand years of history, so we have so so many capitals... But every king dreamed to make his capital as Delhi...(even the British 😅)
it's not, 東京 (とうきょう - Toukyou) and Kyoto is 京都 (きょうと - Kyouto), it's different even for both kanji and hiragana...it only looks and sound similar when people write it in english...
Fun fact:Every East Asian nations’ capital has profoundly same name😂 Tokyo as 東京（Capital in the East）Beijing as 北京（Capital in the North）Seoul as 首爾/都（Captial）
cuz you need to read it in Chinese or let's say kanji. 京都，东京。 you need to understand the individual meaning of those 3 different characters. The character 京 means big and tall building in the very beginning( just image those typical tower building in east aisa). And 丰镐>>>镐京 is the first city and capital city been name with the character 京 in any history. Which is the capital city of Zhou dynasty back to about 300AD or earlier(Near by 長安（京）ChangAn(XiAn西安 in nowadays), which is the origin of half of Kyoto. The character 都 original meaning is a big city with the temple of ex-monarchs(Zhou dynasty) . And It turns to represent set capital city or capital city after the Tang dynasty. Which is when Kyoto learned the other half from China and it's based on LuoYang(洛陽), which is way Kyoto would like to call itself 京洛（kyouraku) The story for Tyoko then becomes easier to understand, 東 basically means east, so. Kyo in the East. Cuz by expending this term, you have 西京（長安京），東京（captial city of Japan），南京(Captial city of ROC)，北京(capital city or PROC). Which gives you Kyo of the east, west, north, and south.
