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Nara Heijō-kyō

Type Object Region Japan Time 710–784

Heijō-kyō in Nara was the ritsuryō capital of Japan's Nara period (710–784), located in modern Nara;…

Timeline

  1. 710Heijō-kyō · NaraEmpress Genmei ordered the capital moved from Fujiwara-kyō to Heijō-kyō, marking the beginning of the Japanese ritsuryō state's construction of a long-term capital modeled on Tang Chang'an, with the city planned on the jōbō block system and a symmetrical left-right capital layout.
  2. c. 710–720Heijō Palace · NaraThe main halls of Heijō Palace, the court ceremonial compound, and the capital's block roads were built in succession; central government offices and aristocratic residences moved in, and the capital's population and administrative functions rapidly concentrated, forming the spatial core of ritsuryō state operations.
  3. 724–752Heijō-kyō · NaraLarge-scale Buddhist projects such as the eye-opening of the Great Buddha at Tōdai-ji made the capital a center of East Asian Buddhist culture; temples abounded, and envoys to Tang and students traveled frequently, bringing Heijō-kyō to its zenith.
  4. 784Heijō-kyō · NaraEmperor Kanmu moved the capital to Nagaoka-kyō; Heijō-kyō lost its capital status, and offices and population gradually moved out, ending the 74-year history of the ritsuryō capital as Japan's political center.

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