---
node: nara
type: period
slug: nara_period
title: "Nara period"
lead: "In the Nara period (710–794), the capital Heijo-kyo was laid out on the model of Tang Chang'an, and the Chinese-style ritsuryo state reached its fullest form."
published: 2026-07-09
updated: 2026-07-09
image_file: nara_period.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Japan-_Nara,_Todaiji_Shosoin_2009.jpg"
image_author: "M-Louis from Osaka, Japan"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 2.0"
---

## Overview

Heijo-kyo (Nara) was laid out on the model of Tang Chang'an, and the ritsuryo state was at its most Chinese. Japan's oldest chronicles were compiled here — the Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720) — along with the Man'yoshu poetry anthology (mid-8th century, some 4,500 poems).

## Key developments

A devastating smallpox epidemic (735–737) killed a large share of the population — estimates run as high as a quarter or even a third. Emperor Shomu answered the crisis with state Buddhism: provincial temples across the country and the Great Buddha at Todai-ji, consecrated in 752. The Chinese master Ganjin (Jianzhen) arrived in 754 to found the precepts tradition.

## End and transition

The court left Nara, moving via Nagaoka (784) to Heian-kyo in 794.