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| A period from the 3rd-7th CE and named for the keyhole shaped tombs for the elite |
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| Literally means "cord pattern" created on the vases at the time. Lends it's name to the period between 14000-300 BCE |
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| The first recorded name for Japan. Chinese officials were first sent to the "Land of Wa" in order to find allies within the country. They described early Japan as a land of "countries" with different "kings |
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| A shaman empress who was said to use her powers in order to keep peace in the land of Wa during the Yaiyoi period. Said to have lived in a fortress surrounded by guards and her brother was the only medium between her and the rest of the people within her kingdom. |
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| The area between Nara and Kyoto where the final chapters of "The Tale of Genji" are located. |
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| Terrecotta clay figures made for ritual use and buried with the dead during the Kofun period. They represented the people, figures and animals that the dead would be with in the afterlife. |
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| The domain of Empress Himiko, where she lived, ruled and died (around 248 CE). It is debated where the location is and is thought to be in Northern Kyushu or Sourthern Honshu |
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| An imperial line dating from the 6th century. They played a major role in the spread of Buddhism. In 587, war broke out between the clan and Nakatomi priests. The Soga Clan won and Buddhism began to receive government support. |
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| The founder of the Fujiwara clan and was also the head of the Shinto ritualists. He also helped overthrow the Soga clan. He was also the chief opponent against Buddhism in the Imperial Court and was also a friend and advisor to Prince Naka No Oe (later known as Emperor Tenji). |
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| Capitol of Japan from 710-794, lending its name to the Nara Period. It was modeled after Chang'an, a city in China. In N. |
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| A city in China in which the Japanese city of Nara was architecturally modeled after. The capitol city of 14 different Chinese dynasties. |
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| A politician during the Asuka period in Japan. He served under Empress Suiko and he was involved in the defeat of the Mononobe Clan. A successive cult developed around him and is seen as a protector of Japan. |
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| An age known for its social,artistic and political transformation. Originally influenced by the arrival of Buddhism from the Korean peninsula. |
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| One of three kingdoms in the Korean Peninsula. It was a Yamato ally as well as the Tang Dynasty in China. It became the source for many skilled immigrants. Silla became hostile towards the kingdom but Japan unsuccessfully intervened, eventually becoming unified under the Silla kingdom. Paekche also helped introduce Buddhism to Japan. |
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| Relations between this kingdom in the Korean Peninsula and Japan became hostile in the 700's due to Silla terminating its alliance with the Tang and unifying the Korean Peninsula leading Japan fearful of an invasion. |
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| A Buddhist temple in the Nara prefecture and helped begin the Asuka Enlightenment. The temple was the start of traditional Japanese palace architecture. One of the oldest wooden buildings in existance and was originally commissioned by Prince Shotoku. |
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| In 645, leadership fell to Princes Naka and Karu and a handful of the elite. They killed the Soga and began to copy the Chinese political system by taking control of all land and human resources on the islands. For the next 15 years, the leaders of the revolution struggled to play local leaders off against each other so as to concentrate power in their own hands |
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| Rule by retired emperors who have taken Buddhist vows. By abdicating the throne, they went to a monestary. The edicts of the cloistered Emperor, not the reigning one that were obeyed. They were able to surround themselves with Non-Fujiwara aristocrats. Emperor Go-Sanjo, a non-Fujiwara used this system to unseat the Fujiwara and reclaim previous Fujiwara lands. |
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| The 1st set of civil statues written in Chinese in 690 under Emperor Tenmu after his death. His consort Jito carried out a comprehensive registration of the population to draft soldiers and collect revunue. Jito also finished the first Chinese style capital at Fujiwara, south of Nara. |
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| Literally means "way of the Gods". An indigenous spirituality of Japan which centered on worshiping the Kami; spirts that reside in abstract things in nature. |
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| One of the mainstream major schools of Buddhism which spread from India to China. It arose during the Haien period and is one of the surviving Esoteric Buddhist lineages that started in the 3rd and 4th century in India. |
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| A Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism and is also a descendent of the Chinese Tiantai school. It flourished under the Fujiwara clan and became the dominate form of Buddhism in Japan after the capital was moved to Kyoto in 794. |
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| A sun goddess and one of the principal Shinto deities. Born from the left eye of Izanagi. It is said to be directly linked to the Imperial household of Japan, who are also said to be descendents of the Kami themselves. |
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| He represents the highpoint of Fujiwara regents control of the government. He gained control though manipulation and fear. Between 995 and 1028, his power was unchallenged. |
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| Indigenous people of Northern Japan and lived in Hokkaido. Hunter gatherers and followed their religion on the phenomenon of nature. Seen as barbaric to the Japanese. |
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| A region in Northeastern Honshu. The last stronghold of the Imishi people and was settled between the 7th and 9th centuries. Many battles took place between the Japanese military and the Imishi people. |
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| Literally means "blowing out" to the fires of greed, hatred and delusion. The Buddhist idea of achieving supreme enlightenment through reincarnation. In order to reach Nirvana, one is constantly reincarnated until Nirvana is reached. In order to reach Nirvana as a women, she must be reincarnated into a man in order to do so. |
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| Originally the area around modern Sakurai City in the Nara prefecture of Japan. The term is also systematically extended to mean "Japan" or "Japanese" in general. It can also refer to the dominant ethinic groups in Japan: Imishi, Ainu and Yamato. |
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