Heijō-kyō
was the Capital of Japan during most of the Nara period, from 710 to 740 and again from 745 to 784. The imperial palace is a listed UNESCO World Heritage together with other places in the city of Nara (cf. Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara). Empress Genmei ordered the Imperial capital moved from Fujiwara-kyō to Heijō-kyō in 708, and the move to Heijō-kyō was complete in 710. Heijō-kyō was modeled after Chang'an, the capital of Tang-dynasty China, although Heijō-kyō lacked walls. In the city, merchants and traders from China, Korea and India introduced various foreign cultures to Heijō-kyō through the Silk Road. As a result, Heijō-kyō flourished as Japan's first international and political capital, with a peak population of between 50,000 and 100,000. The overall form of the city was an irregular rectangle, and the area of the city was more than 25 km2. Architecture In the area of Heijō-kyō, there are ancient Buddhist temples, and some temples are ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Heijō Palace
was the imperial residence in the Japanese capital city Heijō-kyō (today's Nara), during most of the Nara period. The palace, which served as the imperial residence and the administrative centre of for most of the Nara period from 710 to 794 AD, was located at the north-central location of the city in accordance with the Chinese models used for the design of the capital. The palace consisted of a , a large rectangular walled enclosure which contained several ceremonial and administrative buildings including the government ministries. Inside this enclosure was the separately walled residential compound of the emperor or the ''Inner Palace''. In addition to the emperor's living quarters the Inner Palace contained the residences of the imperial consorts as well as certain official and ceremonial buildings more closely linked to the person of the emperor. The original role of the palace was to manifest the centralised government model adopted by Japan from China in the 7th ce ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fujiwara-kyō
280px, Map of Fujiwara-kyō was the Imperial capital of Japan for sixteen years, between 694 and 710. It was located in Yamato Province (present-day Kashihara in Nara Prefecture), having been moved from nearby Asuka, and remained the capital until its relocation to Heijō-kyō present-day Nara. It was the first in Japanese history to have been a planned city based on a square grid pattern modeled after the Chang'an, the capital of Tang dynasty China. History Per the ''Nihon Shoki'' in the 5th year of Emperor Tenmu's reign (676), the emperor began selecting the site of a new capital. Construction work was carried out over a number of years, based on the different standards of grid-like grids discovered during excavations, and was halted by the emperor's death. It was resumed in 690 under Empress Jitō and continued under the reigns of Emperor Mommu and Empress Genmei. Empress Genmei (661–721) moved the capital from Fujiwara-kyō to Nara (then Heijō-kyō) in 710 mainly t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Capital Of Japan
The capital of Japan is Tokyo."About Japan" The Government of Japan. Retrieved 9 March 2022."Japan - The World Factbook" CIA. Retrieved 9 March 2022."Japan country profile" BBC News. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015. Throughout history, the national capital of Japan has been in locations other than Tokyo. The oldest capital is Nara (city), Nara. Legal status While no laws have designated Tokyo as the Japanese capital, many laws have defined a that incorporates Tokyo. Article 2 of the of 1956 st ...[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gangō-ji
290px, Model of Gangō-ji in the Nara period; the temple at the top of the photo is Kofuku-ji 290px, Site of the Five-story Pagoda was one of the first Buddhist temples in Japan, and was ranked as one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Nara, Japan. It was mostly destroyed in the Muromachi period and the old town of Naramachi occupies most of what was once the temple's precincts. Three small portions of the temple have survived to the present day, and each is now a separate temple. History With the relocation of the capital to Heijō-kyō in 710, the temples of Yakushi-ji, Umayasaka-ji (later Kofuku-ji), Daikandai-ji (later Daian-ji), and other temples in Asua were moved to the new capital. Hōkō-ji ( Asuka-dera) was also moved to Heijō-kyō in 718, but the original Hōkō-ji in Asuka was not abolished and remained in its original location. The temple in Asuka retained the name "Hōkō-ji" or "Hon-Gankō-ji," while the temple in Heijō-kyō was named "Gangō-j ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nara Period
The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kanmu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784, before moving to Heian-kyō, modern Kyoto, a decade later in 794. Japanese society during this period was predominantly agricultural and centered on village life. Most of the villagers followed Shintō, a religion based on the worship of natural and ancestral spirits named ''kami.'' The capital at Nara was modeled after Chang'an, the capital city of the Tang dynasty. In many other ways, the Japanese upper classes patterned themselves after the Chinese, including adopting the Chinese writing system, Chinese fashion, and a Chinese version of Buddhism. Literature Concentrated efforts by the imperial court to record its history produced the f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nara, Nara
is the capital city of Nara Prefecture, Japan. , Nara has an estimated population of 367,353 according to World Population Review, making it the largest city in Nara Prefecture and sixth-largest in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara is a core city located in the northern part of Nara Prefecture bordering the Kyoto Prefecture. Nara was the capital of Japan during the Nara period from 710 to 784 as the seat of the Emperor before the capital was moved to Nagaoka-kyō, except for the years 740 to 745, when the capital was placed in Kuni-kyō, Naniwa-kyō and Shigaraki Palace. Nara is home to eight major historic temples, shrines, and heritage sites, specifically Tōdai-ji, Saidai-ji, Kōfuku-ji, Kasuga Shrine, Gangō-ji, Yakushi-ji, Tōshōdai-ji, and the Heijō Palace, together with Kasugayama Primeval Forest, collectively form the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Etymology By the Heian period, a variety of different characters had ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Daian-ji
is a Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temple located in the city of Nara, Nara , Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It was founded by Emperor Jomei in 639 as one of the first official temples in Japan at the capital of Asuka-kyō and was subsequent relocated to Heijō-kyō with the relocation of the capital, where it became one of the Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples of Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. It subsequently fell into decline and now is only a small fragment of its former size and importance. Its former precincts were designated a Monuments of Japan, National Historic Site in 1929. History The history of this temple is based on the ''Daianji Garan Engi'' and ''Ruki Shizaichō'' (''Daianji Zaichō'') from 747 and the ''Nihon Shoki'' and ''Shoku Nihongi''. According to these, when Prince Tamura (later Emperor Jomei) visited the sick Prince Shōtoku, he asked him to rebuild the Kumagoi Seisha as an official temple. By tradition, the Kumagoi Seisha was located in what is no ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Empress Genmei
, also known as Empress Genmyō, was the 43rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 元明天皇 (43) retrieved August 22, 2013. according to the traditional order of succession. Genmei's reign spanned the years 707 through 715. She established the capital at Heijō-kyō in 710, marking the beginning of the Nara period. In the history of Japan, Genmei was the fourth of eight women to take on the role of empress regnant. The three female monarchs before Genmei were Suiko, Kōgyoku/Saimei, and Jitō. The four women sovereigns reigning after Genmei were Genshō, Kōken/Shōtoku, Meishō, and Go-Sakuramachi. Traditional narrative Before her ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, her personal name (''imina'') was Abe''-hime''.Brown, p. 271. Empress Genmei was the fourth daughter of Emperor Tenji; and she was a younger sister of Empress Jitō by a different mother. Her mother, Mei-no-Iratsume (also known as Soga''-hime''), was a daughter of '' Udaijin'' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Historic Monuments Of Ancient Nara
Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara is a UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of eight places in the old capital Nara in Nara Prefecture, Japan. Five are Buddhist temples, one is a Shinto shrine, one is a Palace and one a primeval forest. The properties include 26 buildings designated by the Japanese Government as National Treasures as well as 53 designated as Important Cultural Properties. All compounds have been recognized as Historic Sites. The Nara Palace Site was designated as Special Historic Site and the Kasugayama Primeval Forest as Special Natural Monument. Tōdai-ji, Kōfuku-ji and the Kasugayama Primeval Forest overlap with Nara Park, a park designated as one of the "Places of Scenic Beauty" by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). UNESCO listed the site as World Heritage in 1998. List of sites The table lists information about each of the 8 listed properties of the World Heritage Site listing for the Historic Monuments of An ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Special Places Of Scenic Beauty, Special Historic Sites And Special Natural Monuments
To protect Japan's cultural heritage, the country's government selects through the Agency for Cultural Affairs important items and designates them as Cultural Properties of Japan, Cultural Properties under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. Designated items are classified in a number of categories, one of which is . This category includes historic locations such as Midden, shell mounds, ancient tombs, sites of palaces, sites of forts or Japanese castle, castles, monumental dwelling houses and other sites of high historical or scientific value; gardens, bridges, gorges, mountains, and other places of great scenic beauty; and natural features such as animals, plants, and geological or mineral formations of high scientific value. The government further designates "significant" monuments classifying them in three categories: , , and . Items of particularly high significance receive higher classifications: , , and respectively. As of October 24, 2023 there are 1,040 Natu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Yakushi-ji
is one of the most famous imperial and ancient Buddhist temples in Japan, and was once one of the Seven Great Temples of Nanto, located in Nara. The temple is the headquarters of the Hossō school of Japanese Buddhism. Yakushi-ji is one of the sites that are collectively inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name of "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara." The temple's main object of veneration, Yakushi Nyorai, also known as "The Medicine Buddha", was one of the first Buddhist Deities to arrive in Japan from China in 680, and gives the temple its name. History The Jinshin Wars in Japan in 672 resulted in moving the capital from Otsu back to Asuka. The movement of the capital was due to family disputes over money and power leading to civil war between Prince Naka and Prince Ōama. Prince Ōama desired power over Prince Naka's son, who was favored by his father to take the throne after him. After disagreements between Prince Ōama and Prince Naka's son, Prince Ōtomo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Saidai-ji
} 280px, Model of Nara period Saidai-ji is a Buddhist temple located in the Saidiaji-Shiba neighborhood of the city of Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It became the head temple of the sect after the sect's founder, , took over administration in 1238. The '' honzon'' of the temple is a statue of Shaka Nyorai, enshrined by Eison in 1249. The temple was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples of the ancient capital of Heijō-kyō. History According to the from 780, in September 764 when the retired Empress Koken requested the construction of a gilt bronze statue of the Four Heavenly Kings to pray for the end of the Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion. In October of the same year, Empress Koken re-enthroned as Empress Shōtoku. The following year, in 765, the aforementioned statues of the Four Heavenly Kings were completed and Saidai-ji Temple was founded. These four statues are still enshrined in Saidai-ji's Shiōdō Hall, but only the demons that each statue steps on are fr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |