By the 8th century, the Nara Period began with the capital “Heijō-kyō” established in present-day Nara City, Nara Prefecture. This era saw the flourishing of “Tenpyō culture,” centered around the Emperor and nobility.
The Kojiki, recording oral traditions, and later the Nihon Shoki, Japan’s oldest official history, were compiled. These chronicles depicted the process of national unification achieved by the ancestors of the Emperor.
While these works contained myths featuring numerous deities (the eight million gods), many scholars suggest they may also be based on some historical facts underlying the formation of our nation centered around the Emperor.
At the end of the 8th century, the capital was moved to Heian-kyo in Kyoto, and the period from then until the end of the 12th century is known as the Heian period. For a very long time thereafter, Kyoto was the political center of Japan, with the aristocracy playing a central role.
Meanwhile, exchanges with the continent brought various Buddhist sects, and in particular, Esoteric Buddhism, which originated in India and was introduced by Saicho and Kukai, became highly influential as it was believed to bring benefits in this life.
Furthermore, armed groups known as “samurai,” who had bases in the provinces and were skilled in martial arts, gradually rose to power, and among the samurai, the Taira and Minamoto clans, who were descendants of the Emperor, gained power. In the Kanto region, the power of the samurai gradually grew after the Rebellion of Taira no Masakado, a member of the Taira clan, the Zenkunen War and Gosannen War in the Tohoku region, in which Minamoto no Yoritomo and Minamoto no Yoritomo Yoshiie, both members of the Minamoto clan, played an active role, and the Hogen Rebellion and Heiji Rebellion, in which Genji and Taira warrior groups clashed in Kyoto.
★Minato Ward in this era
⇒Azabusan Zenpukuji Temple (founded by Kukai in 824)
⇒Well of Yanagi (on the approach to Zenpukuji Temple. It is said that water gushed forth when Kukai, one of the monks who brought esoteric Buddhism to Japan, placed his willow staff there.)
⇒Azabu Hikawa Shrine (It is said to have been founded in 942 during the Heian period, when Minamoto no Tsunemoto led an eastern expedition to quell the Taira no Masakado Rebellion.)
⇒Nishikubo Hachiman Shrine (It is said to have been founded by Minamoto no Yorinobu near Kasumigaseki during the Kanko era (1004-1012). It was relocated to its current location in Iikura by Ota Dokan during the Muromachi period. Also known as Iikura Hachiman Shrine.)