noun
grid city plan for the Imperial capital
Historical term referring to the grid-based urban layout used in ancient Japanese capitals such as Heijō-kyō and Heian-kyō, modeled on Chinese precedents.
平城京は条坊制に基づいて設計された。
Heijō-kyō was designed based on the grid city plan.
条
The influence of the grid city plan can still be seen in the streets of Kyoto today.
From 条 (jō, 'avenue' or 'row') + 坊 (bō, 'ward' or 'block') + 制 (sei, 'system'). The term describes the orthogonal grid plan used in ancient Japanese capitals, derived from Chinese city planning models.