Japan's Asuka-Fujiwara sites

Japan's Asuka-Fujiwara sites

File photo taken on April 19, 2026, shows the Fujiwara Palace site (front) in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, western Japan. A UNESCO advisory body has recommended adding Asuka-Fujiwara archaeological sites to the World Cultural Heritage list.

Japan's Asuka-Fujiwara sites

Japan's Asuka-Fujiwara sites

File photo taken on April 20, 2026, shows the Asuka Palace site in Asuka, Nara Prefecture, western Japan. A UNESCO advisory body has recommended adding Asuka-Fujiwara archaeological sites to the World Cultural Heritage list.

Ruins of Asuka period garden pond found in Nara

Ruins of Asuka period garden pond found in Nara

The 1,300-year-old remains of what may possibly be the first garden pond ever built for an imperial palace in Japan have been found in the village of Asuka in Nara Prefecture, western Japan. The find suggests that an imperial pond fashioned after those in China and the Korean Peninsula existed before Japan's first capital was established in nearby Fujiwarakyo in 694.

Horyuji Yumedono (Dream Hall)

Horyuji Yumedono (Dream Hall)

Horyuji is a monastery temple located in the town of Ikaruga, some distance north of the Asuka region, Nara Prefecture. Originally it was a modest temple said to have been built in the early 7th century by order of Prince Shotoku, the prince regent, whose palace, Ikaruga no Miya, was being erected nearby. In time Horyuji was enlarged into a monastery famous for Buddhist studies, especially the doctrines of the Hosso Sect. Yumedono (Dream Hall) was buit on the site of Shotoku's chapel. According to legend, the prince was instructed by a golden being who appeared to him in a dream.

Ruins of Asuka period garden pond found in Nara

Ruins of Asuka period garden pond found in Nara

The 1,300-year-old remains of what may possibly be the first garden pond ever built for an imperial palace in Japan have been found in the village of Asuka in Nara Prefecture, western Japan. The find suggests that an imperial pond fashioned after those in China and the Korean Peninsula existed before Japan's first capital was established in nearby Fujiwarakyo in 694.

Ruins of Asuka period garden pond found in Nara

Ruins of Asuka period garden pond found in Nara

The 1,300-year-old remains of what may possibly be the first garden pond ever built for an imperial palace in Japan have been found in the village of Asuka in Nara Prefecture, western Japan. The find suggests that an imperial pond fashioned after those in China and the Korean Peninsula existed before Japan's first capital was established in nearby Fujiwarakyo in 694.