ABSTRACT
Among the larger cities of Japan, Kyoto and Kanazawa are the only two that were not heavily damaged by air raids during World War II. Nevertheless, many of their historic buildings have been lost in the decades since. The municipal government and people of Kyoto have been working for the preservation and conservation of what remains. This effort, however, has been insufficient. If it has been insufficient, it is not for want of a regulatory framework. The contemporary conservation system for historic landscapes in and around Kyoto is made up of several layers, and the central ordinance regulating Kyoto's landscape was significantly altered in 1996. In this chapter, I will introduce the recent changes first, before examining two highly controversial developments that occurred shortly before the changes came into effect, and then finally travel forward again in time to consider some of the problems issuing from an anti-conservation ethos reflected in an underlying and implicit hostility to traditional wooden structures.
