Since historian Sadakichi KIDA believed in the existence of a street plan and began using the word "Otsu-kyo" never mentioned in historical documents during the Meiji period, historical geographers and archaeologists started to use this word.
明治時代に歴史学者の喜田貞吉が条坊制の存在を信じて文献史料にはみえない「大津京」という語を用いて以降、歴史地理学や考古学の研究者がこの語を用いるようになった。