---
node: asuka
type: period
slug: asuka_period
title: "Asuka period"
lead: "In the Asuka period (538–710, though some reckonings start it in 592), Buddhism officially arrived and Japan began building a centralized state on the Chinese model."
published: 2026-07-09
updated: 2026-07-09
---

## Overview

The period is named for the Asuka region south of Nara, where the palaces sat. Buddhism officially arrived — in 538 or 552, by tradition. Some reckonings date the period from 592.

## Key developments

Prince Shotoku, regent under Empress Suiko, introduced the twelve cap-rank system (603) and the Seventeen-Article Constitution (604), and sent embassies to Sui China from 607 (Ono no Imoko). The Taika Reform (645) began building a centralized state on the Tang model; the Jinshin War (672) brought Emperor Tenmu to power; and the Taiho Code (701) completed the ritsuryo legal state. Horyu-ji temple, founded in 607 and rebuilt after a fire in 670, preserves the world's oldest surviving wooden buildings (late 7th century).

## End and transition

In 710, the capital moved to Heijo-kyo (Nara).