PTE Reading MC Single Answer: Kyoto is a city located in the central part of the island of Honshu, Japan. Formerly th…

Kyoto is a city located in the central part of the island of Honshu, Japan. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan for more than one thousand years, it is now the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture located in the Kansai region, as well as a major part of the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area. With its 2,000 religious places – 1,600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines, as well as palaces, gardens, and architecture intact – it is one of the best-preserved cities in Japan. Among the most famous temples in Japan are Kiyomizu-Dera, a magnificent wooden temple supported by pillars of the slope of a mountain; Kinkaku-Ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion; Ginkaku-Ji, the Temple of the Silver Pavilion; and Ryan-Ji, famous for its rock garden. The Heian Jingu is a Shinto shrine, built-in 1895, celebrating the Imperial family and commemorating the first and last emperors to reside in Kyoto. Three special sites have connections to the Imperial family: the Kyoto Gyoen area including the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Sento Imperial Palace, homes of the Emperors of Japan for many centuries; Katsura Imperial Villa, one of the nation’s finest architectural treasures; and Shugakuin Imperial Villa, one of its best Japanese gardens. In addition, the temple of Sennyu-Ji houses the tombs of the emperors from Shijo to Komei.