Ōmi Ōtsu Palace
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The was an imperial palace built by Emperor Tenchi in
Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...
Japan in what is now the city of
Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...
, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It served as the capital of Japan for a five-year period from 667 to 672 AD. Also known as the , , it was most frequently referred to in ancient sources as the . It was at this location that the Ōmi Code and the family registry system were promulgated, which laid the foundations for the later ''
ritsuryō is the historical Japanese legal system, legal system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Legalism (Chinese philosophy), Chinese Legalism in Feudal Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (). ''Kya ...
'' state. It location was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1979, with the area under protection expanded in 2007


History

In 660 AD, during the reign of Empress Saimei, the Korean kingdom of
Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...
fell to an alliance of
Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...
and
Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
. Baekje was a close ally of ancient Japan, it was viewed as a bulwark against possible Silla or Tang expansion and Yamato's foothold in the mainland. Crown Prince Naka no Ōe, later to become Emperor Tenji, and Empress Saimei decided to dispatch an expeditionary force to restore the Baekje kingdom, but this was decisively defeated by the Silla-Tang alliance at the Battle of Baekgang in 663 AD. This ended Japanese involvement in the Korean Peninsula for centuries, and fearing that Japan would be subject to a counter-invasion by Silla-Tang armies, a large number of mountain-top castles were constructed across western Japan. It was with this background that Emperor Tenchi decided to relocate the capital from Asuka to the shore of
Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan. It is located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13 ...
in
Ōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō Circuit (subnational entity), circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, ...
. The reason for the transfer is not entirely clear. It is speculated that the location of the new capital on the shores of Lake Biwa facilitated communications and transportation to the
Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...
coast, and the location was on the major ancient
Tōsandō is a Japanese geographical term. It means both an ancient division of the country and the main road running through it. It is part of the ''Gokishichidō'' system. It was situated along the central mountains of northern Honshu, specifically th ...
and Hokurikudō highways. Another possible reason was that the emperor felt the need to relocate from the entrenched political factions and interests in Asuka in order to have a freer hand at the radical reforms necessary to create a new political system to counter the threats from abroad. In any case, per the ''
Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...
'', there was great dissatisfaction in Asuka regarding the move, which led to major riots and arson. Emperor Tenchi died in 671. Emperor Tenchi had originally designated his brother, Prince Ōama, as his successor, but later changed his mind in favor of his son, Prince Ōtomo. This led to the Jinshin War, during which Prince Ōtomo killed himself after reigning for less than a year, and the Ōtsu Palace was burned down. Prince Ōama succeeded to the throne as the
Emperor Tenmu was the 40th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. He ascended ...
, and moved the capital back to Asuka. In the
Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...
, the capital was moved to Heijō-kyō, and the provincial capital of Ōmi Province was built at Seta (now a neighborhood of the city of Ōtsu). The site of ruins of the Ōtsu Palace was named , meaning "old port", but the name was restored to "Ōtsu" by order of Emperor Kanmu. However, over time the exact location of the palace became lost in later centuries, and especially with growing nationalism in the late
Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
and Taishō period, there was strong desire to relocate it. Theories were advanced whenever ruins were found in the approximate location, which included the sites of Sūfuku-ji and the Minamishigachō temple ruins amongst many other possible candidates. As the palace existed for only five years and did not make use of roof tiles, very little physical evidence survived. In 1974, during rescue archaeology on the site of a new residential area in the Nishikiori neighborhood of Ōtsu, 13 pillar holes which are thought to have been the remnants of a monumental south-facing gate were discovered. Further
archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
s have found Sue and Haji ware pottery, the presence of a double corridor extending from the South Gate to a large main hall, and the remnants of moats and earthen ramparts. The layout of structures were similar to that of the Naniwa Palace which had been discovered in Osaka and which was nearly contemporary with the Ōtsu Palace. The total area of the Ōtsu Palace site is estimated to be 700 meters north-to-south by 400 meters east-to-west. The site has been preserved as an archaeological park. The ruins of the Ōmi Ōtsu Palace are located in the western part of modern city of Ōtsu, about 500 meters north of
JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...
Nishi-Ōtsu Station or a two-minute walk from Ōmijingūmae Station on the Keihan Electric Railway Ishiyama Sakamoto Line.


See also

* List of Historic Sites of Japan (Shiga)


References

*


External links


Tourist Information



Omi Jingu homepage


Notes

{{Authority control Former capitals of Japan History of Shiga Prefecture Asuka period Archaeological sites in Japan Ōtsu Historic Sites of Japan Ōmi Province