The is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

with the ruins of a

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

government administrative complex located in what is now the Jinryo neighborhood of the city of Ōtsu in

Shiga Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...

in the

Kansai region The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropol ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The site has been protected as a National Historic Site from 1978, with the area under protection expanded in 2002.

Overview

In the late

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 ...

, after the establishment of a centralized government under the ''

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 ...

'' system, local rule over the

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

was standardized under a ''

kokufu were the capitals of the historical Provinces of Japan from the Nara period to the Heian period. History As part of the Taika Reform (645), which aimed at a centralization of the administration following the Chinese model (''ritsuryō''), the '' ...

'' (provincial capital), and each province was divided into smaller

administrative districts Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

, known as (郡, gun, kōri), composed of 2–20 townships in 715 AD. Each of the units had an administrative complex, or built on a semi-standardized layout based on contemporary Chinese design. The Dōnoue ruins are located along the ancient route of the

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 ...

highway. It is located on a small plateau east of the Seta Bridge on the Seta River (which flows out 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 ...

), and southwest of the Ōmi Kokufu ruins. As the result of several

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, it was found that the ruins follow roughly the standardized ''kanga'' format, with a large rectangular enclosure surrounded by an earthen rampart and wooden palisade, with a base width of 3.5 meters, and a moat ranging in width from 11,5 meters in the north and south to 26.1 meters in the east and west. Within, there were several buildings built with foundation stones, with a large main hall, smaller rear hall and east and west side halls, forming a U-shaped courtyard. The building used the same

roof tile Roof tiles are overlapping tiles designed mainly to keep out precipitation such as rain or snow, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay or slate. Later tiles have been made from materials such as concrete, glass ...

s as the Ōmi Kokufu. Although the ruins are very close to the Ōmi Kokufu, it is believed from the type and layout of the buildings, as well as the dates, that this is the ruin of some unknown county-level administrative complex for Ōmi Province. The facility was built in the middle of the 8th century in the Nara period, and was abolished in the early Heian period (late 9th century to early 10th century). It is also believed to be the location of a post station called the mentioned in the ''

Engishiki The is a Japanese book of laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ''Engishi ...

'' records. The site was backfilled after excavation and is now an empty field. It is about a five-minute walk from Karahashimae Station on the

Keihan Electric Railway The , known colloquially as the , , or simply , is a major Japanese private railway operator in Osaka, Kyoto, and Shiga Prefectures. The transit network includes seven lines; four main lines with heavy rolling stock, two interurban lines, and a ...

Ishiyama Sakamoto Line The is a railway line in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Keihan Electric Railway The , known colloquially as the , , or simply , is a major Japanese private railway operator in Osaka, Kyoto, and Shiga Pref ...

References

External links

Otsu City Museum of History

Shiga Prefecture Board of Education home page
{{in lang, ja History of Shiga Prefecture Nara period Heian period Ōtsu Archaeological sites in Japan Historic Sites of Japan Ōmi Province

Overview

See also

References

External links