Chapter Eight
Kyoto is a city in the central part of the island of Honshu and has a population fast approaching one and a half million. Once the imperial capital of Japan it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area. Archaeological evidence places human settlement in the area to sometime just before the 6th century AD, at around which time the Shimogamo Shrine is believed to have been established. Once the country’s capital, it has not held that honour for some time now but remains still a place of culture and learning as well as commerce and trade.
It is, also, along with these reminders of a more influential past, the birthplace of Rin Hasekura and the place to which she had returned, newly wealthy after the death of her d
