The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. Vol. XXXVII. Part B5. Beijing 2008 
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(17th to late 19th century), and Heian era (late 8th to 12th 
century). 
4.1 Landscape changes before and after World War II 
Machiyas employ gable roof covered with roof tile. The 
observation of aerial photographs makes possible identifying 
machiyas distinguishing from other type of houses. Six sets of 
aerial photographs taken after World War II at approximately 
13 years of intervals since the 1928 have been used (Figure 11). 
The photographs are from the city of Kyoto; 1928, US Army 
Air Force; 1946, Geographical Survey Institute; 1961, 1974, 
1987, and Nakanihon Airline; 2000. The photographs were 
scanned and rectified to fit to the map. Then gable roofs were 
traced to make the building footprint data of machiyas. Based 
on the distribution data of machiyas identified by aerial 
photographs, VR data of machiyas automatically generated by 
“Machiya VR Generation Macro” were placed into the Virtual 
Kyoto. It clearly shows that machiyas facing major streets 
disappeared first, and the disappearance gradually expanded 
inward the street blocks. Modem high-rise buildings have 
become more and more dominant in urban landscapes (Figure. 
12). 
Figure 11. Identification of machiyas in the aerial photograph 
as of 1928 (left: aerial photograph of Kyoto (Source: Kyoto 
University Library), right: identified machiyas input in GIS) 
1928 
1948 
1974 2000 
Figure 12. Changes in urban landscape of Kyoto 
4.2 Kyoto during Meiji and Taisho eras 
Figure 13 shows landscapes of Shijo Street at present and that 
in 1910’s. The landscape at present has been visualized based 
on MAP CUBE® of Kyoto with additional textured models of 
the buildings along the street. The landscape in 1910’s has 
been visualized based on digitized cadastral maps of 1912 and 
Figure 10. Laser scanning of miniature Yamahoko and VR 
model 
4. 3D RECONSTRUCTION OF KYOTO OF THE PAST 
In the research, 3D reconstruction of Kyoto at different eras 
have been and are being conducted, starting from the present to 
the past, including times of soon after and before World War H, 
Meiji and Taisho eras (late 19th to early 20th century), Edo era 
Figure 9. Shijo Street and Minami-za theater 
3.4 Gion Festival and Yamahoko float 
Gion Festival, held in every July in Kyoto, is one of the most 
famous festivals in Japan. It originated in the mid 9th century, 
evolved to be the current style by the mid 14th century and 
continues until today. During the festival, 32 Yamahoko floats 
representing neighborhoods parade on the streets of downtown 
Kyoto, including Shijo Street. Yamahoko parade of Gion 
Festival becomes a symbolic landscape of Kyoto during the 
festival period. At present, four VR models of representative 
Yamahokos have been created by laser scanning of detailed 
miniatures and digital images of the real Yamahokos taken by 
digital cameras during the festival, as well as by manual 
modeling with reference so architectural drawings of the floats 
(Figure 10).