Wakimoto
Located in the city of Sakurai in the southeastern portion of the Nara basin, this is a multicomponent sitewith remains from the Jōmon through the Nara periods. Unfolding atop a narrow terrace between thesouthern base of Mt. Miwa and the north bank of the Hase river, it held down the entranceway to the east,
leading through Haibara and on to the eastern provinces. In particular, it is well-known as a strong
candidate for the Hatsuse Asakura palace, the royal residence of Emperor Yūryaku at the end of the Middle
Kofun period.
Features at this site, dividing broadly into groups of three periods, have drawn attention. Namely, thesethree periods are (1) from the latter half of the Late Yayoi to the Shōnai period (bridging the Yayoi andKofun periods), (2) from the latter half of the Middle to the Late Kofun periods, and (3) the Asuka period.
1. Within an area 400 m in length, more than 20 pit-structures have been detected. In particular,
artifacts related to bronze casting and to iron implement production, found in the vicinity of structure
SB13004, are noteworthy. For this period, artifacts related to bronze casting are found in the Narabasin only in the southeastern portion sites of Wakimoto and Daifuku. Moreover, as signified by thepresence among these artifacts of fragments of dōtaku (bronze bells) and defective bronze
arrowheads resulting from casting failures, it may be presumed that symbolic implements of theYayoi period were being broken up and used as part of the raw materials for the manufacture of newimplements. This is most likely an event symbolizing the start of a new era. Incidentally, while theMakimuku site, where the nucleus of kingly authority at the time is inferred to have been located, isalso situated in the southeastern portion of the basin, at present no artifacts related to bronze casting
have been recovered. But as dōtaku fragments have been found, there is still room for furtherexamination.
2. After a short interval following the situation in (1) above, within the same area more than five pitstructures, more than five embedded-pillar buildings, plus a large-scale stone-lined pond or moatlike feature were detected. This group of features is very possibly related to the Hatsuse Asakurapalace. The pond or perhaps moat was built to the western side of the area leading to the Nara basin,
and at the eastern end on a slightly higher location was the group of embedded-pillar buildings, withthe group of pit-structures placed just below, so that a royal residence was possibly set up in themanner of a checking station at the entranceway to the eastern provinces.
3. In the environs of the location where the embedded-pillar buildings of (2) above spread out, a largescale embedded-pillar building was detected, with eight inter-pillar spans along the main east–west
axis by three transverse spans. Around this unfolded a feature in the shape of a fence aligned to true
north, and it is inferred that a group of large-scale embedded-pillar buildings spread over an area ofnearly 100 m square. This is possibly a group of features related to the Hatsuse Itsuki palace of theTenmu court.
In this manner, particularly in the three periods described above, features having strong political tinges
developed atop a narrow terrace corresponding to the entranceway to the eastern provinces. This would

appear to be a phenomenon that occurred when there was need to secure the channel to the eastern
provinces, at different times during the span from the Kofun to the Nara periods when the nucleus of kingly
authority was located in the Nara basin. In that sense, while the site itself is certainly not large, it may besaid to have been a strategically vital location for the monarchy.