Mino Provincial Capital

The Mino Provincial Capital Site (美濃国府跡, Mino Kokufu ato) is an archaeological site consisting of the ruins of the Nara period to early Heian period Provincial Capital of Mino Province, located in what is now of the town of Tarui, Gifu in the Chubu region of Japan. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 2006.[1]

Mino Provincial Capital Site
美濃国府跡
Mino Provincial Capital Site
Mino Provincial Capital (Japan)
LocationTarui, Gifu, Japan
RegionChubu region
Coordinates35°22′39″N 136°31′26″E
TypeSettlement
History
FoundedNara period
Site notes
Conditionruins
OwnershipNational Historic Site
Public accessYes

Overview

Following the Taika Reform (645 AD) which aimed at a centralization of the administration following the Chinese model (ritsuryō), provincial capitals were established in the various provinces, headed by an official titled kokushi, who replaced the older Kuni no miyatsuko.[2] With a square layout, the provincial capitals were patterned after the Capital of Japan, first Fujiwara-kyō and then Heijō-kyō, which in turn were modelled on the Tang capital Chang'an, but on a much, much smaller scale.[3]

The Mino Provincial Capital had dimensions of approximately 400 meters east to west by 430 meters north to south. An excavation survey was conducted by the Tarui Town Board of Education from FY 1991 to FY 2003, which found the foundations of the main gate, the main government building (approximately 67 meters east-west and 73 meters north-south, flanked by building to the east and west, forming a U-shaped courtyard. Originally, all the buildings were raised pillar buildings, but were rebuilt with foundation stones in the late Nara period. Numerous artifacts, including many pottery and porcelain fragments were found, as well as fragments of ornaments which were originally attached to official's belts. The site was abandoned sometime around the middle of the 10th century.

See also

References
  1. "美濃国府跡" [Mino Kokufu ato] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs.
  2. Atsuru Yagi (March 1986), "国府の成立と構造　－文献史料からみた－" [Formation and Structure of Kokufu (Provincial Capitals)], 国立歴史民俗博物館研究報告 [Bulletin of the National Museum of Japanese History] (PDF) (in Japanese), p. 343, ISSN 0286-7400, archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-29
  3. Martin Schwind (1981). Das Japanische Inselreich (in German). Band 2: Kulturlandschaft, Wirtschaftsgroßmacht auf engem Raum. Berlin: de Gruyter. pp. 69–70. ISBN 3-11-008319-1.
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