Nara is the capital and largest city of Nara Prefecture, with other major cities includingKashihara,Ikoma, andYamatokōriyama.[6] Nara Prefecture is located in the center of theKii Peninsula on Japan'sPacific Ocean coast, and is one of only eightlandlocked prefectures. Nara Prefecture has the distinction of having moreUNESCO World Heritage listings than any other prefecture in Japan.[7]
The Nara Prefecture region is considered one of the oldestregions in Japan, having been settled for thousands of years, and is widely viewed as the Japanesecradle of civilization. LikeKyoto, Nara was one ofImperial Japan's earliestcapital cities.[8][9] The current form of Nara Prefecture was officially created in 1887, when it became independent ofOsaka Prefecture.
Historically, Nara Prefecture was also known asYamato-no-kuni or Yamato Province.[10]
From the third century to the fourth century, a poorly documented political force existed at the foot ofMount Miwa, east of Nara Basin. It sought unification of most parts in Japan. Since the historical beginning of Japan,Yamato was its political center.
Ancient capitals of Japan were built on the land of Nara, namelyAsuka-kyō,Fujiwara-kyō (694–710)[11] andHeijō-kyō (most of 710–784).[12] The capital cities of Fujiwara and Heijō are believed to have been modeled after Chinese capitals at the time, incorporating grid layout patterns. The royal court also established relations withSui and thenTang dynasty China and sent students to the Middle Kingdom to learn high civilization. By the 7th century, Nara accepted the many immigrants, including refugees ofBaekje who had escaped from war disturbances of the southern part of theKorean Peninsula. The first high civilization with royal patronage ofBuddhism flourished in today's Nara city (710–784 AD).
In 784,Emperor Kanmu decided to relocate the capital toNagaoka-kyō inYamashiro Province, followed by another move in 794 toHeian-kyō, marking the start of theHeian period. The temples in Nara remained powerful beyond the move of the political capital, thus giving Nara a synonym of "Nanto" (meaning "South Capital") as opposed to Heian-kyō, situated in the north. Close to the end of Heian period,Taira no Shigehira, a son ofTaira no Kiyomori, was ordered by his father to depress the power of various parties, mainlyKōfuku-ji andTōdai-ji, who were backing up an opposition group headed byPrince Mochihito. The movement led to a collision between theTaira and the Nara temples in 1180. This clash eventually led toKōfuku-ji andTōdai-ji being set on fire, resulting in vast destruction of architectural heritage.
At the rise of theMinamoto to its ruling seat and the opening ofKamakura shogunate, Nara enjoyed the support ofMinamoto no Yoritomo toward restoration.Kōfuku-ji, being the "home temple" to theFujiwara since its foundation, not only regained the power it had before but became ade facto regional chief of Yamato Province. With the reconstruction ofKōfuku-ji andTōdai-ji, a town was growing again near the two temples.
TheNanboku-chō period, starting in 1336, brought more instability to Nara. AsEmperor Go-Daigo choseYoshino as his base, a power struggle arose in Kōfuku-ji with a group supporting the South and another siding the North court. Likewise, local clans were split into two. Kōfuku-ji recovered its control over the province for a short time at the surrender of the South Court in 1392, while the internal power game of the temple itself opened a way for the local samurai clans to spring up and fight with each other, gradually acquiring their own territories, thus diminishing the influence of Kōfuku-ji overall.
Later, the whole province of Yamato got drawn into the confusion of theSengoku period. Tōdai-ji was once again set on fire in 1567, whenMatsunaga Hisahide, who was later appointed byOda Nobunaga to the lord of Yamato Province, fought for supremacy against his former masterMiyoshi family. Followed by short appointments ofTsutsui Junkei andToyotomi Hidenaga byToyotomi Hideyoshi to the lord, theTokugawa shogunate ultimately ruled the city of Nara directly, and most parts of Yamato province with a few feudal lords allocated atKōriyama,Takatori and other places. With industry and commerce developing in the 18th century, the economy of the province was incorporated into prosperousOsaka, the commercial capital of Japan at the time.
From the establishment of Nara Prefecture to the present
A first prefecture (briefly-fu in 1868, but-ken for most of the time)[13] named Nara was established in theMeiji Restoration in 1868 as successor to the shogunate administration of the shogunate city and shogunate lands in Yamato. After the 1871Abolition of the han system, Nara was merged with other prefectures (from former han, seeList of Han#Yamato Province) and cleared of ex-/enclaves to encompass all of Yamato province. In 1876, Nara was merged intoSakai which in turn became part of Osaka in 1881. In 1887, Nara became independent again, withSaisho Atsushi as the first governor.[14][15] The first prefectural assembly of Nara was elected in the same year and opened its first session in 1888 in the gallery of the main hall of Tōdai temple.[15]
Nara Prefecture is 78.5 kilometres (48.8 mi) from east to west and 103.6 kilometres (64.4 mi) from north to south.
Most of the prefecture is covered by mountains and forests, leaving an inhabitable area of only 851 square kilometres (329 sq mi). The ratio of inhabitable area to total area is 23%, ranked 43rd among the 47 prefectures in Japan.[16]
Nara Prefecture is bisected by theJapan Median Tectonic Line (MTL) running through its territory east to west, along theYoshino River. On the northern side of the MTL is the so-called Inner Zone, where activefaults running north to south are still shaping the landscape. The Ikoma Mountains in the northwest form the border with Osaka Prefecture. The Nara Basin, which lies to the east of these mountains, contains the highest concentration of population in Nara Prefecture. Further east are the Kasagi Mountains, which separate the Basin from the Yamato Highlands.
South of the MTL is the Outer Zone, comprising the Kii Mountains, which occupy about 60% of the land area of the prefecture. The Ōmine Range is in the center of the Kii Mountains, running north to south, with steep valleys on both sides. The tallest mountain in Nara Prefecture, and indeed in the Kansai region, isMount Hakkyō. To the west, separating Nara Prefecture from Wakayama Prefecture, is the Obako Range, with peaks around 1,300 metres (4,300 ft). To the east, bordering Mie Prefecture, is the Daikō Range, includingMount Ōdaigahara. This mountainous region is also home to aWorld Heritage Site, theSacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range".
In the Nara Basin, the climate has inland characteristics, as represented in the bigger temperature variance within the same day, and the difference of summer and winter temperatures. Winter temperatures average about 3 to 5 °C (37 to 41 °F), and 25 to 28 °C (77 to 82 °F) in the summer with highest reaching close to 35 °C (95 °F). There is not a single year over the last decade (since 1990, up to 2007) with more than 10 days of snowfall recorded by Nara Local Meteorological Observatory.
The climate in the rest of the prefecture are mountainous, and especially in the south, with below −5 °C (23 °F) being the extreme minimum in winter. Heavy rainfall is observed in summer. The annual accumulated rainfall ranges as much as 3,000 to 5,000 millimetres (120 to 200 in), which is among the heaviest in Japan.
Spring and fall are temperate. The mountainous region ofYoshino has been popular both historically and presently for itscherry blossoms in the spring. In the fall, the southern mountains are equally striking with the changing of theoak trees.[citation needed]
Since 2006, there are 39municipalities in Nara Prefecture: twelve [by definition: district-independent]cities and seven remainingdistricts containing 15towns and twelvevillages:
In the 2005 census, Nara Prefecture had a population of 1,421,310, a decrease of 1.5% since the year 2000.[19]
The decline continued in 2006, with another decrease of 4,987 people compared to 2005. This includes a natural decrease from previous year of 288 people (11,404 births minus 11,692 deaths) and a decrease due to net domestic migration of 4,627 people outbound from the prefecture, and a decrease of 72 registered foreigners. Net domestic migration has turned into a continuous outbound trend since 1998.[20]
The largest internal migration destinations in 2005 were the prefectures of Kyoto, Tokyo, and Hyōgo, with respectively a net of 1,130,982 and 451 people moving over. The largest inbound migration was fromNiigata Prefecture, contributing to a net increase of 39 people. 13.7% of its population were reported as under 15, 65.9% between 15 and 64, and 20.4% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 52.5% of the population.[20]
In 2004, the average density of the prefecture was 387 people per km2. By districts,[21] the Yamato flat inland plain holds as much as about 90% of total population within the approximately 23% size of area in the north-west, including the NaraBasin, representing a density of 1,531 people per km2. In contrast, the combined districtGojō andYoshino District occupies almost 64% of the land, while only 6% of people lives there, resulting in a density of 39 people km2.
Nara prefecture had the highest rate in Japan of people commuting outbound for work, at 30.9% in 2000. A similar tendency is seen in prefectures such asSaitama,Chiba, andKanagawa, all three of them having over 20% of people commuting for other prefectures.[16]
A governor and members of prefectural assembly is elected by citizens in accordance with theLocal Autonomy Law.
Shōgo Arai was governor between 2007 and 2023, a formerLDP member of the national House of Councillors. In theApril 2019 gubernatorial election, he was re-elected to a fourth term with major party support (LDP,DPFP,Kōmeitō) with 47.5% of the vote against former Democratic Diet member and vice-ministerKiyoshige Maekawa (32.3%) and independent physician Minoru Kawashima (20.2%).[22]
As of 2019, there are 43 seats in the Nara Prefectural Assembly, elected in 16 constituencies (4 single-member, 12 multi-member).[24] After the April 2019 assembly election, theLDP is by far the largest party with 21 members while no other party won more than four seats,[25] but its members are split between several parliamentary groups; by group, the composition as of May 2019 was: LDP 10, LDP Nara 9, Sōsei Nara [of independents] 5, Shinsei Nara [mainlyDPFP] 5,JCP 4,Nippon Ishin no Kai 4,Kōmeitō 3, LDP Kizuna 2.[26]
There was a clear tendency seen through the results of Lower House election in 2005, that the younger generation executes its voting right much less compared to the older. Only 48.8% of citizens age 20–29 voted, whereas all older generations (grouped by decades) votes more than its younger, reaching the highest voting rate of 86.3% at ages 60–69. The only exception was the 72.1% voting right executed by citizens of 70 or older. The overall average of the prefecture who voted was yet higher, at 70.3%, than that of nationwide average, 67.5%.[27]
As of October 2019, Nara's directly elected delegation to theNational Diet is all-LDP, namely:
for the1st district in the North consisting of most of Nara City and Ikoma City:Shigeki Kobayashi (LDP, 2nd term) who narrowly defeated long-time incumbentSumio Mabuchi in the 2017 House of Representatives election,
for the3rd district which covers the less urbanized, central and Southern parts of Nara:Taidō Tanose (LDP, 3rd term), member for the now-abolished 4th district before 2017,
in the2019–2025 class:Iwao Horii (LDP, 2nd term) who defended the seat 55% to 40% against an "independent", joint centre-left (CDP,DPFP,SDP) challenger in 2019.
The 2004 total gross prefecture product (GPP) for Nara was ¥3.8 trillion, an 0.1% growth over previous year. The per capita income was ¥2.6 million, which is a 1.3% decrease from previous year. Manufacturing has the biggest share in the GPP of Nara with 20.2% of share, followed by services (19.1%) and real estates (16.3%). The share of agriculture including forestry and fishery was a mere 1.0%, only above mining, which is quasi-inexistent in Nara.[28]
Tourism is treated by the prefectural government as one of the most important features of Nara, because of its natural environment and historical significance.
Nara is famed for itsKaki persimmon.Strawberry and tea are some other popular products of the prefecture, while rice and vegetables, including spinach, tomato, eggplants, and others are the dominant in terms of amount of production.
Nara is a center for the production of instruments used in conducting traditional Japanese artforms. Brush and ink (sumi) are the best known products from Nara forcalligraphy. Wooden or bamboo instruments, especially from Takayama area (in Ikoma city) are famous products fortea ceremony.
Goldfish fromYamatokōriyama in Nara have been a traditional aquacultural product since the 18th century.
Due to its rich history, Nara is also the location of many archeological digs, with many famous ones being located in thevillage ofAsuka.
The culture of Nara is tied to the Kansai region in which it is located. However, like each of the other prefectures of Kansai, Nara has unique aspects to its culture, parts of which stem from its long history dating back to the Nara period.
There are large differences in dialect between the north/central region of the prefecture, where Nara city is located, and the Okunoya district in the south. The north/central dialect is close to Osaka's dialect, whilst Okunoya's dialect favours a Tokyo-style accent. The lengthening of vowel sounds in the Okunoya dialect is unseen in other dialects of theKinki region, making it a special feature.
Manyjinja (Shinto shrines), Buddhist temples, andkofun exist in Nara Prefecture, making it is a centre for tourism. Moreover, manyworld heritage sites, such as the templeTōdai-ji andKasuga Shrine, exist in the capital city of Nara.
^"Population Census 2005" (in Japanese). Archived fromthe original on April 15, 2008. RetrievedApril 10, 2007. (Including official amendment of March 5, 2007)
.jpg)
.svg)
