The Heian Jingu (Heian Shrine) was built in 1895 to celebrate the 1,100th anniversary of the establishment of Heian Kyo (the original name of Kyoto), which was established as the capital city of Japan in 794AD and remained as capital until 1868AD, when the Emperor Meiji moved the capital to Edo (present-day Tokyo). You now understand why Kyoto's city motto is “Twelve Hundred Years of History”. The Heian Shrine has several beautiful gardens of different themes, of which these are just two of our favourites.