Heijō-kyōHeijō-kyō was the Capital of Japan during most of the Nara period, from 710 to 740 and again from 745 to 784. The imperial palace is a listed UNESCO World Heritage together with other places in the city of Nara (cf. Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara). Empress Genmei ordered the Imperial capital moved from Fujiwara-kyō to Heijō-kyō in 708, and the move to Heijō-kyō was complete in 710. Heijō-kyō was modeled after Chang'an, the capital of Tang-dynasty China, although Heijō-kyō lacked walls.
Minamoto clanwas a noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility since 814. The Minamoto was the most powerful and most important clan of all four great clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura, Muromachi and Edo periods in Japanese history—the other three were the Fujiwara, the Taira, and the Tachibana.
Japanese calligraphyJapanese calligraphy, also called 習字, is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. Written Japanese was originally based on Chinese characters only, but the advent of the hiragana and katakana Japanese syllabaries resulted in intrinsically Japanese calligraphy styles. The term shodō (書道, "way of writing") is of Chinese origin and is widely used to describe the art of Chinese calligraphy during the medieval Tang dynasty. Early Japanese calligraphy was originated from Chinese calligraphy.
Muromachi periodThe Muromachi period or Muromachi era, also known as the Ashikaga period or Ashikaga era, is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shōgun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kenmu Restoration (1333–1336) of imperial rule was brought to a close. The period ended in 1573 when the 15th and last shogun of this line, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, was driven out of the capital in Kyoto by Oda Nobunaga.
Fujiwara-kyōFujiwara-kyō was the Imperial capital of Japan for sixteen years, between 694 and 710. It was located in Yamato Province (present-day Kashihara in Nara Prefecture), having been moved from nearby Asuka. However, the name itself was never used in the Nihon Shoki; during those times it was recorded as Aramashi-kyō. As of 2006, ongoing excavations have revealed construction on the site of Fujiwara-kyō as early as 682, near the end of the reign of Emperor Tenmu.
Gangō-jiis an ancient Buddhist temple, that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Nara, Japan. The original foundation of the temple was by Soga no Umako in Asuka, as Asuka-dera. The temple was moved to Nara in 718, following the capital relocation to Heijō-kyō. Gangō-ji initially held as many as seven halls and pagodas in its precincts, which occupied a wide area within what is now Naramachi, the preserved district of modern Nara city. The original architecture was lost in fires during the 15th through 19th centuries (Muromachi and Edo periods respectively).
CryptomeriaCryptomeria (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae. It includes only one species, Cryptomeria japonica (syn. Cupressus japonica L.f.). It used to be considered by some to be endemic to Japan (see remark below under 'Endemism'), where it is known as Sugi. The tree is called Japanese cedar or Japanese redwood in English. It has been extensively introduced and cultivated for wood production on the Azores.
YamataiYamatai or Yamatai-koku 邪馬台国 (c. 1st century – c. 3rd century) is the Sino-Japanese name of an ancient country in Wa (Japan) during the late Yayoi period (c. 1,000 BCE – c. 300 CE). The Chinese text Records of the Three Kingdoms first recorded the name as /*ja-maB-də̂/ () or /*ja-maB-ʔit/ () (using reconstructed Eastern Han Chinese pronunciations) followed by the character for "country", describing the place as the domain of Priest-Queen Himiko (died c. 248 CE).
HaniwaThe Haniwa are terracotta clay figures that were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries AD) of the history of Japan. Haniwa were created according to the wazumi technique, in which mounds of coiled clay were built up to shape the figure, layer by layer. Haniwa can also refer to offering cylinders, not the clay sculptures on top of them as well as the "wooden haniwa" found in Kofun tumuli.
Emperor Tenmuwas the 40th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He reigned from 673 until his death in 686. Tenmu was the youngest son of Emperor Jomei and Empress Kōgyoku, and the younger brother of the Emperor Tenji. His name at birth was Prince Ōama (大海人皇子:Ōama no ōji). He was succeeded by Empress Jitō, who was both his niece and his wife. During the reign of his elder brother, Emperor Tenji, Tenmu was forced to marry several of Tenji's daughters because Tenji thought those marriages would help to strengthen political ties between the two brothers.
