Kyoto was the seat of the Emperor of Japan for nearly 1,000 years. Although the seat of power shifted to Tokyo in 1869 Kyoto remains a center of culture and an image of "old Japan." Kyoto is surrounded on three sides by mountains and the site is said to have been chosen in the 8th century and according to the rules of geomancy introduced by the Chinese. Geomancy is a fore runner of Fengshui which has to do with the management and arrangement of landscape in harmany with hidden powers within the earth.