View source for Kuni-kyō

{{Short description|Capital city of Japan between 740 and 744}}
[[File:Yamashirokokubunji Kizugawa Kyoto pref Japan03n.jpg|thumb|260px|Kuni-kyō ruins]]
'''Kuni-kyō''' (恭仁京, or ''Kuni no miyako''), was the capital city of Japan between 740 and 744, whose imperial palace (恭仁宮 ''Kuni-kyū'' or ''Kuni no miya'') was built in the present-day city of [[Kizugawa, Kyoto|Kizugawa]] in [[Kyoto Prefecture]] by the order of [[Emperor Shōmu]].
==History==
The city of Kuni-kyō was never completed, as the capital was moved once again to the present-day city of [[Kōka, Shiga|Kōka]], [[Shiga Prefecture]], more specifically the {{Nihongo|[[Shigaraki Palace]]|紫香楽宮}} in 744, only four years later.<ref name=naoki>{{cite book|last=Naoki|first=Kōjirō|contribution=4. The Nara state|title=Ancient Japan|volume=1|editor-last=Hall|editor-first=John W. |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1993|format=preview|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A3_6lp8IOK8C&pg=PA260|pages=252|isbn=9780521223522}}</ref> In 745 Emperor Shōmu moved the capital yet again to [[Naniwa-kyō]] ([[Osaka]]),<ref name=naoki/> and before the year was out, reverted the capital back to [[Heijō-kyō]] in [[Nara, Nara|Nara]].<ref name="Naoki 1993 254">{{Harvnb|Naoki|1993|p=254}}</ref>
The Kuni area was a power base for [[Tachibana no Moroe]], who was then the minister with de facto power over the cabinet, known as the "[[dajō-kan]]" or "Great Council". The later preference of Shigaraki as the capital possibly points to the rival [[Fujiwara clan]] mounting a comeback,<ref name=naoki/> since their influence extended around the Shigaraki area in [[Ōmi Province]]. The subsequent move to Naniwa may have been a compromise.<ref name=naoki/>
Emperor Shōmu moved the capital yet again [[Naniwa-kyō]] ([[Osaka]]) in 745, which may have been a spot the two factions could compromise on,<ref name=naoki/> but that same year reverted the capital back to Heijō-kyō in Nara.<ref name="Naoki 1993 254"/>
==Archaeological finds==
Excavations so far (as of 2006) have revealed key buildings, laid out following the Chinese pattern, as the ''Daigokuden'' (大極殿) and ''Dairi'' (内裏). The area of palace is estimated to have been 560 meters wide east to west and 750 meters long, north to south.<ref>{{cite web|title=恭仁宮跡の発掘調査 (Excavations on the Kuni Palace site, Kyoto Prefectural Board of Education)|language=Japanese|url=http://www.kyoto-be.ne.jp/bunkazai/kunikyu.html|accessdate = 2007-03-14}}</ref>
== See also==
* [[Shoku Nihongi]]
== References ==
<references/>
==External links==
{{Commons category|Kuni-kyō}}
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{{succession box|title=Capital of Japan| before=[[Heijō Kyō|Heijō-kyō]]|after=[[Naniwa-kyō]]|years=740–744}}
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{{Imperial Palaces Japan}}
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[[Category:Former capitals of Japan]]
[[Category:Nara period]]
[[Category:History of Kyoto Prefecture]]
[[Category:Planned capitals]]
[[Category:Historic Sites of Japan]]
[[Category:Emperor Shōmu]]
[[Category:Yayoi period ruins]]
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