Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara
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How it came to be
The royal capital stood at Asuka in the southern Nara basin from 588 to 694, and at Fujiwara from 694 to 710. In these years Buddhism arrived through exchange with China and the Korean peninsula, along with East Asian ideas of how a capital should be built. The property has 19 parts, including palace and government office sites, temple sites and mounded tombs.
Asuka-dera was the family temple of the Soga clan, built at the instigation of Soga no Umako and completed around 596. In 588 monks, temple builders and roof-tile makers were sent from Baekje. A bronze Buddha was finished in 609, and the main image is said to be the work of Kuratsukuri no Tori.
Fujiwara-kyō was a planned city on a square grid, its construction resumed under Empress Jitō in 690, with a palace about 1 km across. Around 1,200 inscribed wooden tablets have been dug up at the palace site. In 710 Empress Genmei moved the capital to Heijō-kyō. The Takamatsuzuka tomb came to light in 1970 when villagers digging a hole to store ginger hit cut stones, and excavation in March 1972 revealed painted murals. The murals were designated a National Treasure in 1974, and the tomb is dated to the Fujiwara years of 694 to 710. The capitals were inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2026.
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