Emperor Shōmu and the Great Buddha of Nara

Shōmu's reign began in 724, at the heart of the Nara period. The capital had been officially founded in 710, and its palace stood at the northern end of the city; the Daigoku-den there was where governmental affairs were conducted. It was from here that Shōmu would later move the capital, first to Kuni-kyō and then to Shigaraki, between 740 and 745. The palace ground is now an archaeological site: the Suzaku Gate and the East Palace Garden were restored and opened to the public in 1998.

Visitor guidance: The restored Suzaku Gate and East Palace Garden are open to the public.

After Fujiwara no Hirotsugu's rebellion, Shōmu left Nara and travelled east, and on 15 December 740 he decreed that the capital be moved. The Daigokuden was dismantled and carried over from Heijō-kyō. Yet Kuni-kyō was never completed. In 748 its Daigokuden was donated to the Yamashiro Kokubun-ji, and the temple's hall foundation is believed to be that re-purposed building.

Location precision: The capital's exact extent is only partly known; the pin marks the Kuni-kyō area, not a single building.

In 741 Shōmu ordered that a monastery and nunnery be established in every province, to promote Buddhism as the national religion. Each temple was to have a seven-story pagoda, and Tōdai-ji headed the whole network. Musashi Kokubun-ji, in today's Tokyo, is one of them. Its ancient temple and nunnery site covered 1,500 by 1,000 metres. Today a ruins museum keeps excavated artifacts, and the modern temple is about 15 minutes on foot from Nishi-Kokubunji Station.

Location precision: The edict covered every province; Musashi Kokubun-ji is one example, and the pin marks the modern temple on part of the ancient site.

Visitor guidance: About 15 minutes on foot from Nishi-Kokubunji Station.

In 742 Shōmu decided to make his mountain villa at Shigaraki his main residence. There he planned a monumental Vairocana Buddha, and in November 744 its central pillar was erected at Kōka-ji. But the cost and a series of disasters forced him back to Heijō-kyō, and the plan was transformed into the Nara Daibutsu project. The palace site was lost for many years; the ruins are about 20 minutes on foot from Shigarakigushi Station.

Location precision: The palace site was lost for many years; the pin marks the Shigaraki Palace ruins area, not a single building.

Visitor guidance: About 20 minutes on foot from Shigarakigushi Station; the site was backfilled after excavation.

Tōdai-ji was founded in 738 and opened in 752, after epidemics and disasters had shaken the country. It became head of all provincial temples. According to its records, more than 2,600,000 people helped build the Great Buddha and its Hall. The sixteen-meter Vairocana Buddha is Shōmu's best-known legacy, and later chroniclers said it exhausted the country's bronze. The Eye-opening Ceremony in 752 celebrated its completion. The Shōsōin storehouse still holds artifacts from the Tenpyō period.

Visitor guidance: An active temple complex in central Nara, open to visitors.