Introduction
Kyoto Station is Japan's third-largest station building and a major railway and transportation hub in Kyoto, serving Shinkansen, JR lines, subway, and buses. Opened in 1997 for the city's 1200th anniversary, its striking futuristic design by architect Hara Hiroshi houses a shopping mall, hotel, movie theater, and Isetan department store. The station's cavernous main hall, known as the Matrix, features an exposed steel-beamed roof echoing Kyoto's grid-like street layout.