Stone civilization of 6th century Asuka in Nara

On sunny day of September 22nd, I visited Asuka village in Nara prefecture first time in my life. Kyoto city and Nara city are often called ancient capital, but Asuka is at least 2 centuries older than Nara city as capital of Japanese Yamato court. Recommended way to explore Asuka area is to rent a bicycle, so I obediently followed the recommendation.

Fist stop was Takamatsuzuka area. Takamatsuzuka is famous for its wall paintings from Manyo(万葉) era. The meticulous reproduction of wall paintings were exhibited at Mural Museum. I can not tell the historical and cultural value of these paintings, but Japanese must have seen these in school textbook. So I see them as one of the root of Japanese civilization. Also, the scenery around this area was very rural and beautiful. Kyoto and Nara has famous temples and shrines, but still they are cities with convenience stores. On the other hand, Asuka is village with no convenience store. Thus I think this scenery is preserved.

Beautiful landscape near Takamatsuzuka area

Takamatsuzuka tumulus(tomb)

After Takmatsuzuka area, I bicycled on automobile road and small walk path. And I arrived at this very small spot with Tortoise Stone. The legend has it that when this Tortoise Stone faced west, heavy rains poured and the surrounding area was submerged. There was a rest place around this unique spot.

The Tortoise Stone

Short bicycle ride from Tortoise Stone got me to Tachibana-dera temple. This is said to be the birthplace Prince Shotoku, who became Regent and governed the court instead of Emperor. He had played pivotal role of introducing Buddhism to Japan. There were a lot of legendary stories associated with Prince Shotoku, and he was the face on 10,000 yen bank note until 1984.

Inside Tachibana-dera ground, there was another stone spot called Two-faced stone. North side represents Good and the south side represents Evil, meaning "Works of good and evil stem from one another". The surroundings of this temple was also very beautiful and rice paddies seemed to be near harvest time.

Tachibana-dera temple

Two-faced stone at Tachibana-dera temple

Walk path just outside of Tachibana-dera temple

To me, biggest mystery in Asuka village is Ishibutai tumulus tomb. I took Cliffs of Moher and Burren bus tour in Ireland, and saw dolmen there, which is I guess stone tomb from very old time. So this Japanese stone tomb and Irish dolemen may have some similarities. At least from the look of it, I feel so.

Ishibutai tumulus(tomb)

Entrance to Ishibutai tumulus

I continued bicycling among the rural surroundings. It is refreshing to see no tall concrete buildings at Asuka village. I got to Ishibuki-no-miya court ruins. There is said to be court house at this place. Now only stone foundations of old court house are seen. It itself is not impressive.

Rice paddy

Asuka Itabuki-no-miya ruins

Sakafune stone ruins was excavated around 2000. You dig, and you may find the ancient ruins. That is the beauty of Asuka.

Sakafune stone ruins

Soga-no-Iruka was noblemen and had strong influence in court in 7th century in Japan. Actually he and his family dominated the court and tried to limit the Emperor's governance. So Taika Reform of 645 took place spearheaded by pro-Emperor groups. In this incident, Soga-no-Iruka was assassinated and legend has it that his head flew to this place, Tomb of Soga-no-Iruka' Head(首塚). It can not be imagined that such a bloodshed took place in this rural place.

Tomb of Soga-no-Iruka's Head

Walk path in rural background

Final stop of Asuka bicycling was at Asuka temple. This temple was build by Soga-no-Umako, grandfather of Soga-no-Iruka. The statue of Buddha at this temple is 2.7m high and the oldest in Japan. You can listen to the storytelling of the temple monks, and you can take photos inside the temple, including statue of Buddha. There was restaurant-like establishment where the food from Asuka era is served, with prior bookings. I did not try, but still quite interesting. It must be quite different from Kyoto's haute cuisine or monk's all vegetarian meal(精進料理). Asuka beat even Kyoto and Nara when it comes to "ancient".

Asuka Buddha in Asuka temple