By combining the Chinese characters hoku (north) and kyoku (edge), the name hokkyokuwas given to the earth's northern tip. Combining the same character for "edge" with the name of the city of Kyoto, kyogoku came to represent "the edge o! the capital." Some 1200years ago, at the time of heiankyo (the ancient capital of Japan), kyogoku Street ran from north to south along the easternmost edge of the city. That street still exists and is called Teramachi today. The current name can be traced back to the 16th century Tensho Era,when the Imperial Regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi had many of the city's temples relocated tokyogoku Street. His intent was to re-organize the city center and provide for better defenseof the capital. He renamed the street Teramachi or "temple town" after the row of temples which came to line it.Many events, etched as turning points in Japan's history, took place on or aroundTeramachi Street. The historical accounts in which the Honno temple and the warriors Oda Nobunaga and Akechi mitsuhide make their appearances are compressed into this narrow geographical sphere.Over time, in an effort to have the grounds of the many temples serve as staging areas for the festivals of the day, the region around Teramachi Street was gradually developed as a nucleus for various kinds of shows and events. In this spirit a Kyoto Prefectural government councilor of the meiji Era, makimura Masanao, decided to fashion the area into a permanently bustling city hub. He had each temple put its grounds in order and a new streetconstructed just east of Teramachi. On both sides of the new kyogoku Street, places forevents and entertainments, stores and the like were neatly laid out in rows. The area wasthus reborn as Kyoto's new downtown. It was in the 5th year of Meiji (1872) that the newkyogoku, or Shinkyogoku Street,was born.With not only the Seigan Temple and the spacious grounds of the Shijo Dojo KonrenTemple located on it, but with also a row of over 20 other temples on the adjacent Uradera Street (street behind the temples), the new Shinkyogoku area became, as Teramachi Street before it,a "temple town." There was Somedono Sanctuary, where the Lady Somedono Kogo prayed to have an easy delivery, Nishiki Temman Shrine, where the soul of Sugawara Michisane is enshrined, Seigan Temple, where Anrakuan Sakuden, the founder of Kamigata Rakugo (a form of comic monologue) was chief priest, Seishin Sanctuary of the Izumi Shikibu Temple, and other religious sites, steeped in history. All are still in good condition and line Shinkyogoku Street today.The 10th year of Meiji saw signs of a transformation of the area from "temple town" to"business district." During this time a plethora of small businesses were established. It is reported that there were 3 general drama houses, 3 joruri drama houses, 3 Kyogen drama houses, 12 exhibition houses, 2 Chongare recital houses, 9 large-bow archery houses, 3 small-bow archery houses, 15 miniature-bow archery houses, 11 general cuisine restaurants, 2 beef soup restaurants, a boiled cuisine restaurant, a soba noodle restaurant, 29 tea houses,and various other kinds of shops, one jutting out from the next, all situated on Shinkyogoku Street. In Meiji 30 (1897), due to the efforts of Inabata Katsutaro, a motion picture premier was held at Shinkyogoku's Higashi-Muko Theatre. This premier represented the start of the show business industry, and was to have a major influence on the world of entertainment at Shinkyogoku. In addition, a modernized system for managing the new industry was set-up by twin brothers Shirai Matsujiro and Otani Takejiro, whereby capital was raised from the various entertainment establishments. This led to a wave of reform in the show business industry. With this as starting point, a storm of changes swept across Shinkyogoku's entertainment industry, with many new facilities opening, others changing once and changing again,and others disappearing altogether. This period of unbelievable transformation continued into the early part of the Taisho Era. After the war the presence of drama theatres and movie theatres in great number along Shinkyogoku Street could, as with temples before them, be held up as a special characteristic of the Street. In more recent times, a diversification of media forms and a change in life. styles has, in a similar way, recast the area as a multifaceted, folksy district of souvenir shops, restaurants, and fashion merchants. Even if something, which was at one time the backbone of Shinkyogoku, is replaced as times change, the Street may be said to still upholdits inheritance in accordance with historical tradition. Indeed, the fact that the motion picture premier of Inabata Katsutaro was, after a similar event in Kobe, Japan's earliest success in picture projection, makes it clear that a spirit of always wanting to be at the forefront ofthe times is one of the most important characteristics of Shinkyogoku. This special characteristic has been inherited in unbroken succession up to the present. Even today Shinkyogoku Street is a popular, multifaceted, cheerful place to drop in on. In this spirit, today's Shinkyogoku can also be happily visited via the Internet from all over the world.