Northeast Asuka: From Yamada-dera Temple Site to Asuka Historical Museum, Sakafune-ishi Ruins, Asuka-dera Temple, and Amakashi Hill

This walking course visits the Yamada-dera Temple Site in the northeast of Asuka, goes on to the Asuka Historical Museum to see a corridor that was found in the ground still lying where it had fallen, views the mysterious stone monument at the Sakafune-ishi Ruins, stops at Asuka-dera Temple where the Asuka Great Buddha sits, and concludes at the Amakashi Hill observation deck looking out over the village of Asuka and the Yamato Sanzan Mountains.

History and Regional Appeal

The temples and the hill along this course are closely tied to the Soga clan. Soga no Umako vowed to build Asuka-dera Temple in 588, and it was completed in 596. Its founding spurred the successive construction of temples, shifting the symbols of power from kofun burial mounds to Buddhist temples. Yamada-dera Temple is a clan temple whose construction began in 641 through a vow by Soga no Kurayamada no Ishikawamaro, a member of the Soga clan.

According to the Nihon Shoki, the father and son Soga no Emishi and Soga no Iruka built their residences on Amakashi Hill in 644. It is said that they built houses side by side and fortified their defense by building walls and armories. During the Isshi Incident the following year (645), Prince Naka no Oe, having slain Iruka, barricaded himself inside Asuka-dera Temple. In 649, Ishikawamaro was also suspected of treason and took his own life at Yamada-dera Temple.

Furthermore, an entry for the second year of Empress Saimei's reign (656) in the Nihon Shoki states that stones were piled up on a mountain east of the palace to form a wall. The stone wall surrounding the hill of the Sakafune-ishi Ruins was considered to correspond to this account. The Asuka period remains of the Yamada-dera Temple Site, the Sakafune-ishi Ruins, and Asuka-dera Temple are included in the "Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara" inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2026.

Major Highlights

• ​Yamada-dera Temple Site​​: A Special National Historic Site marking the remains of a temple where the middle gate, pagoda, main hall (kondo), and lecture hall were arranged in a straight line. Construction was temporarily halted upon Ishikawamaro's death, but with the support of Princess Uno no Sarara (the granddaughter of Ishikawamaro and later Empress Jito), it was completed around 685. Today, a spacious lawn stretches out amid the rural landscape.
• ​Asuka Historical Museum​​: In an excavation in 1982, the east corridor of Yamada-dera Temple was found buried underground, lying where it had collapsed. It is an example of architecture older than Horyu-ji Temple, which is the world's oldest extant wooden structure. In Exhibition Room 2, the three bays of pillars that were best preserved have been reassembled in their original positions to reconstruct the corridor. In the lobby, you are greeted by the original stone human figure (Sekijinzo), an Asuka period water fountain.
• ​Sakafune-ishi Ruins​​: The Sakafune-ishi Stone atop the hill is a granite boulder about 5.5 meters long, carved with dish-like depressions and grooves on its flat surface. At the turtle-shaped stone structure at the base of the hill, spring water collects in an oval basin and then flows from the turtle's snout into its shell basin. While thought to be a facility related to imperial rituals, what actually took place here remains shrouded in mystery.
• ​Asuka-dera Temple​​: Sitting in the main hall is the Asuka Great Buddha (approx. 2.7 meters tall), said to be the work of Kuratsukuri no Tori. Excavations revealed that the Great Buddha rests on the site of the former middle golden hall (chukondo). On the temple's west side stands the gorinto stone pagoda known as Iruka's Head Mound, where according to legend, the severed head of Iruka flew after his assassination in the Isshi Incident.
• ​Amakashi Hill​​: A small hill with an elevation of about 148 meters located on the west bank of the Asuka River. To the east of the Amakashi Hill observation deck, you can see the hamlets of Asuka Village and look down upon Asuka-dera Temple. To the west, Mt. Unebi and Mt. Nijo behind it rise into view, and you can also gaze across all three Yamato Sanzan Mountains: Mt. Unebi, Mt. Miminashi, and Mt. Amanokagu.

Recommended Route and Travel Time

The recommended duration is about 5 hours, covering a walking distance of approximately 3 kilometers. From JR/Kintetsu Sakurai Station, take Nara Kotsu bus route 35 bound for Manyo Bunka-kan and get off at "Asuka Historical Museum". From Kintetsu Kashihara-jingu-mae Station, take the Asuka Loop Bus (Akakame) to "Asuka Okuyama / Asuka Historical Museum West". The Akakame is a bus that loops around between Kashihara-jingu-mae Station and Asuka Station.

First, walk about 460 meters east from Asuka Historical Museum to the Yamada-dera Temple Site. Check the arrangement of the temple buildings on the information board in the entrance plaza, then stroll across the lawn from south to north. After viewing the temple site, return to the museum to inspect the east corridor and Asuka artifacts. The garden also displays replicas of Asuka stone carvings, such as the Kame-ishi Stone and Saru-ishi Stone.

Exiting the museum, walk south for about 560 meters to Asukaniimasu-jinja Shrine. Climbing the stone stairs offers a view of Mt. Nijo, Mt. Unebi, and Amakashi Hill. Continue south for about 270 meters to the Nara Prefecture Complex of Man'yo Culture; after passing it, the Sakafune-ishi Ruins are about 210 meters to the southeast. Walk up the hill to see the Sakafune-ishi Stone, then proceed to the turtle-shaped stone structure at the foot.

Asuka-dera Temple is about 450 meters northwest of the Sakafune-ishi Ruins. After worshiping the Asuka Great Buddha in the main hall, visit Iruka's Head Mound on the west side of the temple, and head about 430 meters west-northwest toward Amakashi Hill. After surveying Asuka from the observation deck, walk down to the "Amakashino-oka" bus stop. It takes 15 minutes to walk from the bus stop to the Amakashi Hill observation deck. For the return trip, take the Akakame bus from this stop to the station.

Experience Summary

The site of a temple built by a member of the Soga clan, the first tiled-roof temple in Japan vowed by Soga no Umako, and the hill where the residences of the Soga clan were recorded to have stood. Walking through this northeastern corner of Asuka, you will realize that the places where the Soga clan flourished and where history unfolded before and after the Isshi Incident lie within easy walking distance of one another. Finally, standing on the observation deck of Amakashi Hill, compare the view of Asuka-dera Temple below with the broader landscape of Asuka spreading out beyond.