Japan’s first urban railway was in Kyoto, starting in 1895, and one of the cars (not one of the 1895 ones, but a later version) is preserved in a corner of the garden at Heian Shrine which, truth be told, is barely older than the streetcar. The train was powered by the first hydroelectric plant in Japan (you can visit it across the street from the International Community Center). Japan’s first elementary school, first movie showing (on a Lumiere projector) and first symphony orchestra were all in Kyoto. It’s not all tea and incense.