In the town of Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture, in the Tohoku region, one can still visit the remains of a brief blossoming of culture and architecture that is said to have rivaled the capital of Kyoto in its time.
The historic monuments and sites of Hiraizumi, comprising five sites associated with Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, were granted UNESCO World Heritage site status in June of 2011. Their history begins with a man named Fujiwara no Kiyohira, who founded a unique dynasty that would last a century.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.