Launch app →

East Asia · Sui, Tang and the khaganates

Nara Japan

710–794

The Nara period (710–794) began with the establishment of Japan's first permanent Chinese-style capital at Heijō-kyō (Nara). The ritsuryō state matured; the great chronicles Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720) were compiled, along with the Man'yōshū poetry anthology.

Existed
710–794
Shown on the map
AD 710–792
Peak area
231k km²
Region
East Asia

Overview

The Nara period (710–794) began with the establishment of Japan's first permanent Chinese-style capital at Heijō-kyō (Nara). The ritsuryō state matured; the great chronicles Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720) were compiled, along with the Man'yōshū poetry anthology. State Buddhism flourished under Emperor Shōmu, who built the great Tōdai-ji temple and its Great Buddha. Overweening monastic power at Nara prompted the move of the capital, ultimately to Heian-kyō (Kyoto) in 794.

Common questions

What was Nara Japan?
The Nara period (710–794) began with the establishment of Japan's first permanent Chinese-style capital at Heijō-kyō (Nara). The ritsuryō state matured; the great chronicles Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720) were compiled, along with the Man'yōshū poetry anthology.
When did Nara Japan exist?
Nara Japan existed 710–794. On this map it is drawn AD 710–792.
How large was Nara Japan?
At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Nara Japan covered about 231,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Sources

This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia article for each polity as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, chinaknowledge.de, the World History Encyclopedia, museum and university sources, and the academic works it lists. The article this entry is anchored on:

This entry was last updated .

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

See Nara Japan in its world

Open the atlas at AD 751 and every neighbour, rival and successor is on screen with it — then drag the slider and watch what happens next.

Open the map at AD 751 →