A lice Y. T seng . Modern Kyoto

When the Meiji state declared Tokyo the modern capital of Japan, it relegated all other cities to secondary status, including the old imperial capital of Kyoto. Alice Y. Tseng’s Modern Kyoto: Building for Ceremony and Commemoration, 1868–1940 is a rarity for its exclusive focus on the city’s modern built environment. Copiously illustrated, the book vividly documents the reinvention of an “aged city” as a modern metropolis (2). As Tseng aptly quips toward the end of her study, Kyoto may have become a “second [city], but surely not a secondary city” (207). So how was Kyoto’s rejuvenation accomplished? As the author convincingly shows, Kyoto attracted a host of movers and shakers on the national and local levels determined to exploit the city’s long imperial history. One way they did this, unsurprisingly, was to engage in “heritage management” of Kyoto’s many historic buildings and sites. But they also revitalized the city through...

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