Asuka 飛鳥

飛鳥京 asuka-kyō

Asuka Historical National Government Park

Asuka or Asuka-kyō (also: Asuka no miyako = “Imperial Residence City of Asuka”), was the seat of the tennō (emporer) and thus the capital of Japan several times during the Asuka period (538-710 or 592-645). It was located in the present-day village of Asuka in the Nara Basin. The Yamato polity (250-710), the actual beginning of Yamato’s reign is disputed – when the Imperial court ruled from modern-day Nara prefecture, then known as “Yamato Province” – evolved greatly during the Asuka period.