May the gods save us from this version of the 21st century.
To me Kyoto Station represents everything that is wrong with modern Japanese architecture. Its design is totally divorced from Kyoto culture and tradition, from the site it was built on, from the lives of the people who pass through its soulless hulk. From the fact that this is freakin' Kyoto for goodness sake. Clearly no thought was given to the way this edifice would mesh with the ancient temples a few blocks away - the graceful five story wooden spire of Toji, or the elegant roofs of the Honganji. Indeed, Kyoto Station seems almost deliberately designed to deny everything that Kyoto typically represents - antiquity, tradition, elegance, and culture.
No, Japan is a modern country. And to prove it they must have steel and glass and concrete to blot out the sun for several blocks in every direction.
It is a monument to the ego and hubris of its designer and any who supported him.
For those of you who haven't seen it, I can only compare the appearance of Kyoto Station, both literally and figuratively, to a giant glass and steel tumor.