Gojo-dori Street (五条通)

Gojo-dori Street is one of the major east-west streets in Kyoto City.

Overview

The street, which runs east and west through the center of the city, is the main arterial highway with most of the section designated as a general national highway. The east of Horikawa Gojo is National Highway Route No. 1, and the west of Karasumaru Gojo is National Highway Route No. 9 (the section between Karasuma Gojo and Horikawa Gojo is shared with National Highway Route No. 1). Additionally, it is shared by National Highway Route No. 8 (east of Karasuma Gojo) and National Highway Route No. 162 (between Tenjingawa Gojo and Nishioji Gojo).

In the east, the street starting around Gojozaka Crossing with Higashioji-dori Street is called Gojozaka. The street from Gojozaka Crossing is narrow toward Kiyomizu-dera Temple but merges with Matsubara-dori Street (at the eastern end of Matsubara-dori Street). National Highway Route No. 1, after it crosses Higashioji-dori Street, becomes the Gojo Bypass, merges with Shibutani-dori Street, runs through Higashiyama (Kyoto Prefecture) and continues to Yamashina Basin (the Gojo Bypass running in Yamashina Ward is widely referred to as Gojo-dori Street). In the west the street, designated as National Highway Route No. 9, crosses the Nishiohashi Bridge of Katsura River (Yodo-gawa water system), goes to Katsura and leads to the Kutsukake Interchange of the Kyoto Jukan Jidoshado Expressway.

History
The street corresponds to Rokujo-bomon-koji Street in Heiankyo. It was originally called Gojo-dori Street because the Gojo-ohashi Bridge crossing the Kamo-gawa River (Yodo-gawa water system) was moved to Rokujo-bomon-koji Street by Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI, who wanted to visit Hoko-ji Temple. The former Gojo-oji Street began to be called Matsubara Street.

The school anthem 'Ushiwakamaru' begins with, 'On a bridge of Gojo in Kyoto,' and the statues of Ushiwakamaru and Benkei stand at the western end of the Gojo-ohashi Bridge and on the median strip of the street. Considering that the Gojo-ohashi Bridge in the era of Ushiwakamaru and Benkei was located on the former Gojo-oji Street (the present-day Matsubara-dori Street), the historical evidence may not be properly examined, but the encounter of Ushiwakamaru with Benkei on Gojo-ohashi Bridge, which in fact occurred in a different place, may have been a contrived tale.

During World War II, houses along the section between Higashioji Street and Senbon-dori Street were forced to move in order to build a fire-blocking belt, like in Oike-dori Street and Horikawa-dori Street; however, after the war, the street was widened to about 50 meters using the site. Road-widening work is now under way to extend the 50-meter-wide lanes to Nishioji-dori Street.