page_title: History of Japan
section_title: Asuka period (538–710)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Japan / Classical Japan / Asuka period (538–710)
caption_attribution_description: English: Golden Hall and Five-storied Pagoda of Hōryū-ji are Japan's National Treasures. Hōryū-ji is a Buddhist temple in Ikaruga, Nara prefecture, Japan. It was registered as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area". 日本語: 法隆寺金堂と五重塔は国宝。法隆寺は、奈良県斑鳩町にある聖徳宗の寺院。ユネスコ世界文化遺産『法隆寺地域の仏教建造物』の一部。
context_page_description: The first human habitation in the Japanese archipelago has been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi people in the first millennium BC when new technologies were introduced from continental Asia. During this period, the first known written reference to Japan was recorded in the Chinese Book of Han in the first century AD.
  Between the fourth century and the ninth century, Japan's many kingdoms and tribes gradually came to be unified under a centralized government, nominally controlled by the Emperor of Japan. This imperial dynasty continues to reign over Japan. In 794, a new imperial capital was established at Heian-kyō, marking the beginning of the Heian period, which lasted until 1185. The Heian period is considered a golden age of classical Japanese culture. Japanese religious life from this time and onwards was a mix of native Shinto practices and Buddhism.
  Over the following centuries, the power of the emperor and the imperial court declined, passing first to great clans of civilian aristocrats – most notably the Fujiwara – and then to the military clans and their armies of samurai.
context_section_description: The Asuka period began as early as 538 CE with the introduction of the Buddhist religion from the Korean kingdom of Baekje. Since then, Buddhism has coexisted with Japan's native Shinto religion, in what is today known as Shinbutsu-shūgō. The period draws its name from the de facto imperial capital, Asuka, in the Kinai region.
  The Buddhist Soga clan took over the government in the 580s and controlled Japan from behind the scenes for nearly sixty years. Prince Shōtoku, an advocate of Buddhism and of the Soga cause, who was of partial Soga descent, served as regent and de facto leader of Japan from 594 to 622. Shōtoku authored the Seventeen-article constitution, a Confucian-inspired code of conduct for officials and citizens, and attempted to introduce a merit-based civil service called the Cap and Rank System. In 607, Shōtoku offered a subtle insult to China by opening his letter with the phrase, "The ruler of the land of the rising sun addresses the ruler of the land of the setting sun" as seen in the kanji characters for Japan (Nippon). By 670, a variant of this expression, Nihon, established itself as the official name of the nation, which has persisted to this day.
  In 645, the Soga clan were overthrown in a coup launched by Prince Naka no Ōe and Fujiwara no Kamatari, the founder of the Fujiwara clan.  Their government devised and implemented the far-reaching Taika Reforms. The Reform began with land reform, based on Confucian ideas and philosophies from China. It nationalized all land in Japan, to be distributed equally among cultivators, and ordered the compilation of a household registry as the basis for a new system of taxation. The true aim of the reforms was to bring about greater centralization and to enhance the power of the imperial court, which was also based on the governmental structure of China. Envoys and students were dispatched to China to learn about Chinese writing, politics, art, and religion. After the reforms, the Jinshin War of 672, a bloody conflict between Prince Ōama and his nephew Prince Ōtomo, two rivals to the throne, became a major catalyst for further administrative reforms. These reforms culminated with the promulgation of the Taihō Code, which consolidated existing statutes and established the structure of the central government and its subordinate local governments. These legal reforms created the ritsuryō state, a system of Chinese-style centralized government that remained in place for half a millennium.
  The art of the Asuka period embodies the themes of Buddhist art. One of the most famous works is the Buddhist temple of Horyu-ji, commissioned by Prince Shōtoku and completed in 607 CE. It is now the oldest wooden structure in the world.
caption: Buddhist temple of Horyu-ji is the oldest wooden structure in the world. It was commissioned by Prince Shotoku and represents the beginning of Buddhism in Japan.
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