page_title: Asuka period
section_title: Foreign relations
hierarchical_section_title: Asuka period / Foreign relations
context_page_description: The Asuka period was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the Asuka region, about 25 km south of the modern city of Nara.
  The Asuka period is characterized by its significant artistic, social, and political transformations, having their origins in the late Kofun period but largely affected by the arrival of Buddhism from China. The introduction of Buddhism marked a change in Japanese society. The Asuka period is also distinguished by the change in the name of the country from Wa to Nihon.
context_section_description: Chinese culture had been introduced to Japan by the Three Kingdoms of Korea before the imperial Japanese embassies to China were established. Although the missions continued, the transformation of Japan through Chinese influences declined, despite the close connections that had existed during the early Kofun period. Meanwhile, the kingdoms of the Korean peninsula, often at odds with each other, frequently sent diplomatic missions with gifts to Japan, probably with the aim of securing Japanese neutrality or diplomatic/military support in their rivalries; ultimately, this proved to be of the greatest benefit to Baekje, as Japanese military support for that kingdom increased. People, many of them artisans and skilled workers, also emigrated to Japan from the Korean peninsula, including two high priests who arrived in Japan in 595: Eji from Goguryeo and Esō from Baekje. Kanroku also came from Baekje, and was a tutor to Prince Shōtoku, counseling him politically. When Japan allied with Baekje, the Goguryeo priests left Japan.
  The Yamato court, concentrated in the Asuka region, exercised power over clans in Kyushu and Honshu, bestowing titles, some hereditary, on clan chieftains. The Yamato name became synonymous with all of Japan as the Yamato rulers suppressed the clans and acquired agricultural lands. Based on Chinese models (including the adoption of the Chinese written language), they developed a central administration and an imperial court attended by subordinate clan chieftains but with no permanent capital. By the mid-seventh century, the agricultural lands had grown to a substantial public domain, subject to central policy. The basic administrative unit was the county, and society was organized into occupation groups. Most people were farmers; other were fishers, weavers, potters, artisans, armorers, and ritual specialists.
  From 600 to 659, Japan sent seven emissaries to Tang China. But for the next 32 years, during a period when Japan was formulating its laws based on Chinese texts, none were sent. Though Japan cut off diplomatic relations with China, Japan sent 11 emissaries to Silla, and Silla is also recorded in Nihon Shoki as sending embassies to Japan 17 times during the reigns of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō. The ruling classes of Yamato and Baekje were on amicable terms, and Yamato deployed its navy to aid Baekje, in 660–663, against an invasion by Silla and Tang China (see battle of Baekgang).
  Numerous official missions of envoys, priests, and students were sent to China in the seventh century. Some remained twenty years or more; many of those who returned became prominent reformers. In a move greatly resented by the Chinese, Shotoku sought equality with the Chinese emperor by sending official correspondence addressed "From the Son of Heaven in the Land of the Rising Sun to the Son of Heaven of the Land of the Setting Sun." Shotoku's bold step set a precedent: Japan never again accepted a subordinate status in its relations with China. Although the missions continued the transformation of Japan through Chinese influences, the Korean influence on Japan declined despite the close connections that had existed during the early Kofun period.
caption: A stone foundation section of the Mount Shioji Ōnojō Castle Ruins, where construction began in 665
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