Kyōto, city, seat of Kyōto fu (urban prefecture), west-central Honshu island, Japan. It is located some 30 miles (50 km) northeast of the industrial city of Ōsaka and about the same distance from Nara, another ancient centre of Japanese culture. Gently sloping downward from north to south, the city averages 180 feet (55 metres) above sea level. Kyōto fu is at the centre of Kinki chihō (region). The city is one of the centres (with nearby Ōsaka and Kōbe) of the Keihanshin Industrial Zone, the sec