Kyoto, Japan Kyoto is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture, located in the Kansai region of Japan. It is most well known in Japanese history for being the former Imperial capital of Japan for more than one thousand years, as well as a major part of the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area. Kyoto is the home to the headquarters of technology software giant Nintendo. All the greats were created here – Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong and Metroid to name but a few. Nintendo, a company native to Kyoto, has been doing business in the city for a very long time – since 1889, in fact.