The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. Vol. XXXVII. Part B5. Beijing 2008 
977 
Figure 5. Automatic generation of machiya VR model (upper) 
and machiya models in Virtual Kyoto (lower) 
3.2 Architectural Heritage 
Kyoto city has been the cultural capital of Japan and 
consequently houses the largest collection of architectural 
heritage including famous temples, shrines and western-style 
modem buildings, which were built before World War II. 
There are 375 designated or registered cultural heritage 
buildings (Figure 6), and the city itself constitutes the cultural 
legacy. 
★World Heritage Sites 
• National Treasure 
• Important Cultural Asset 
* National Registry Site 
, Prefectural Designated 
Cultural Property 
* Prefectural Registry Site 
City Designated 
Cultural Property 
. City Registry Site 
Figure 6. Distribution of designated and registered cultural 
heritage buildings, Source: Kyoto city 
There are approximately 2,000 modem heritage buildings, 
based on the recent survey by the city of Kyoto. These 
buildings were designed and built when architects in Japan 
started to incorporate western design in their works. Typical 
western-style buildings are made of brick. However, we can 
also find many modem buildings with other structures 
including reinforced concrete, wood, and the combination of 
wood and modem structures (Figure 7). 
Needless to say, Kyoto has large number of temples and 
shrines: approximately 1,300 temples and 350 shrines. Among 
them, 16 temples and shrines, and the Nijo Castle are 
designated as World Heritage sites, and the areas around them 
are subject to the restriction against real estate developments to 
preserve the urban landscape of Kyoto. 
In addition to 3D geometry model of Kyoto, 3D models of well- 
known buildings such as those in World Heritage sites have 
been made with detailed geometry and texture (Figure 8). 
Figure 7. Distribution of modem heritage buildings 
by type (Source: the field survey by the authors) 
Figure 8. Detailed VR model examples 
(left: Kiyomizu-dera, right: Kinkaku-ji) 
3.3 Minami-za theatre and Shijo Street 
Minami-za theater was originally constructed in 17th century 
on Shijo Street, which was close to the place where the first 
Kabuki was performed in early 17th century. Although there 
were seven major theaters along Shijo Street in 17-18th 
century, Minami-za theater solely remains on the street today. 
The creation of 3D model of the theater has been an important 
issue in the project. A detailed 3D model including interior 
space of the building was also created based on architectural 
drawings. 
A detailed 3D model of Shijo Street, on which Minami-za 
theater is located, has also been created, allowing walk-through 
of the street and interior space of Minami-za theater (Figure 9). 
In the VR environment, it is planned to show virual Kabuki 
performance or traditional dance, created by motion capture 
techniques applied to real performances.