Nara period
Nippon Wakoku Nippon (日本) Wa-koku (和国) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 710–794 | |||||||||
Mon of the Fujiwara clan
| |||||||||
Gokishichidō system showing ancient regions and provinces during the Nara period after the introduction of the Yōrō Code (720) | |||||||||
| Capital | Heijō-kyō (710–740; 745–784) Kuni-kyō (740–744) Naniwa-kyō (744–745) Shigarakinomiya (745) Nagaoka-kyō (784–794) | ||||||||
| Official languages | Japanese | ||||||||
| Common languages | Old Japanese | ||||||||
| Religion | Buddhism Shinto | ||||||||
| Government | Feudal monarchy | ||||||||
| Emperor | |||||||||
• 710–721 | Genmei | ||||||||
• 781–794 | Emperor Kanmu | ||||||||
| Daijō-daijin | |||||||||
• 760-764 | Fujiwara no Nakamaro | ||||||||
• 765-766 | Dōkyō | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established at Nara | 710 | ||||||||
| 735–737 | |||||||||
| 740 | |||||||||
• Kuni-kyō, Naniwa-kyō, and Shigarakinomiya as capital | 740–745 | ||||||||
• Yōrō Code promulgated | 757 | ||||||||
| 764 | |||||||||
• Capital moved to Nagaoka-kyō | 784 | ||||||||
• Capital moved to Heian-kyō | 794 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Part of a series on the |
| History of Japan |
|---|
The Nara period (奈良時代, Nara jidai, Japanese pronunciation: [na.ɾa (d)ʑiꜜ.dai]) 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.