Asuka Exhibition Hall of the Nara Prefectural Cultural Property Research Institute

Nara Kokuritsu Bunkazai Kenkyujo Asuka Shiryokan (The Asuka Exhibition Hall of the Nara National Cultural Property Research Institute) is located in the Asuka region of Nara Prefecture. The Asuka region was once the center of Japanese political and cultural life, with the capital sited here for more than 100 years from late in the 6th century. The Asuka period is so-named because this is the period when Buddhism was brought from the Asian continent and Buddhist art flourished, a time when new learning and technologies were arriving in Japan in rapid succession. Many historical artifacts remain in Asuka, including the remains of shrines and temples, tumuli (burial mounds) and stone structures. The museum provides easy-to-understand displays on these remains and artifacts. Displays include relics from the Takamatsu-zuka Tumulus with its colored murals, and from Asuka-dera, which was the full-scale Buddhist temple in Japan. A replica of a stone structure called a shumisen-seki, typical of the Asuka period, can be seen in the garden.