Asuka

Asuka was the seat of government through the sixth and seventh centuries, before the court moved to Nara and then Kyoto, and it is where Buddhism was established, the first legal codes drafted and the name Nihon adopted. Almost nothing stands. What is there is a valley of rice fields and low hills with things in them: Ishibutai, a burial chamber whose earth mound has eroded away leaving the bare granite structure with a capstone of about seventy-seven tonnes; Takamatsuzuka and Kitora, painted tombs whose murals include a star chart and the four directional animals; Asukadera, holding a bronze Buddha of 609; and a scatter of carved stones - the monkey stone, the turtle stone, the two-faced stone - whose purpose is genuinely unknown. The way to see it is by bicycle from the station, and the landscape is protected from development by a specific law.

History

The present village of Asuka was formed in 1956 by merging three villages, on the land where the ancient Asuka palaces stood. In 1966 it was named a historic town under the law for preserving historic sites, as Kyoto, Nara and Kamakura were, and in 1967 about 391 hectares were designated for preservation; the painted murals of the Takamatsuzuka Tomb were found in 1972, and because the rules restrict any visible change to the landscape, the Asuka Law of 1980 was passed to protect the sites and support the residents (Wikipedia, Asuka, Nara).

What to look for

• Ishibutai - a bare granite burial chamber with a seventy-seven-tonne capstone.
• Painted tombs - Takamatsuzuka and Kitora, with a star chart and directional animals.
• Unexplained stones - carved monkey, turtle and two-faced stones of unknown purpose.
• A protected landscape - rice fields kept undeveloped by a law written for this valley.

When to go

April to November; spring and autumn for cycling. A day.

Things to know

There is very little standing - this is a landscape with objects in it, not a monument site. Sites are spread out and a bicycle is close to essential. Tomb murals are preserved off-site and shown as reproductions. English explanation is limited.

Nearby

Nara city is north; Mount Yoshino is south.