When I arrived in Japan in 1994, I wasted little time in traveling across the country as much as I could, assuming, as most of us do, that I'd only be here a year or two. I saw a good deal that initial year — despite my limited Japanese and only a basic understanding of whatever it was I was looking at.
Now with over two decades of experience as my guide, I've recently begun to revisit some of those places.
I believe I visited Asuka sometime in 1995. I remember little of that trip to this corner of Nara Prefecture, but its pull for travelers interested in Japan’s deep history is undeniable. During the Yamato Period (300-710), this village was one of the earliest capitals of the nascent Yamato state, even meriting its own aptly named Asuka Period (552-645) — a time of cultural blooming and political consolidation (indeed, it was during this era that the country of Japan began to refer to itself by the modern name of “Nihon” instead of the archaic “Wa”).
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